Maintenance Culture
and Management Support
As an initial step in program implemen-
tation at the plant level, SFI's management
hired an entirely new reliability team. For
the program to succeed, the new personnel
required commitment to the mission and
training in appropriate lubrication habits
without needing to break former practices.
"It's all about the people," Newman said,
"I had to bring in people who were unknowl-
edgeable to maintenance practices and train
them the way they needed to be trained. It
took about a year for the group to get fully
up to speed and functioning, and then it was
just amazing."
Over the next two years, SFI's manage-
ment sent approximately 30 technicians for
various training outside the company, where
several employees achieved a Level I Machine
Lubrication Technician (MLT I) certification
from the International Council for Machinery
Lubrication (ICML).
Today, all reliability team members must
achieve the MLT I certification by the end of
their first year and a Level II MLT certification
by the end of their second year.
High training standards resulted in not
only reliable machinery but also in reliable
employees. e turnover rate for the mainte-
nance department now sits below 3 percent.
The commitment to training, upgrading
equipment and consulting outside resources
increased the efficiency of the plant and
reduced the costs of downtime. e level of
asset care at SFI has become the expectation,
not the exception, as other Simmons facilities
integrate similar practices.
COVER STORY
www
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machinerylubrication.com
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September - October 2018
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7
FEEDING
THE FUTURE
How an Improved Lubrication
Program Enabled Simmons
Feed to Cut Downtime by
50 Percent
