Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1103301
12 | March - April 2019 | www . machinerylubrication.com I n r e g a r d t o t r a i n i n g , Wa r w i c k completely agrees. "e training, as far as our group, has had the biggest impact," he noted. "There were only a few people who really under- stood lubrication, and the ones who didn't who actually got the training, they realized what they weren't seeing. It's like, I know what you do, but until I actually see what you're doing, I don't understand." With all of these changes in place, the Winston-Salem facility has begun seeing differences in many aspects of the plant. The facility is now in a transitional phase, moving from reactive to more predic- tive and planned work. For Warwick, his daily work life has become more structured. "It's what I wanted it to be," he said. "We had started seeing fewer fail- ures, but now we see the professional side of it. (e lubrication technician) has his cart, he has his lubes, and he's making his equipment checks – I like it." e facility is also starting to see a time savings as well. "If you have a bad lubrication program, it's a leading indicator, but if you're doing OK, it's a lagging indicator," Warwick said. "It's hard to justify. It's hard to measure something so important that people take for granted. ere's still some fine-tuning, as we're not quite there yet." In addition to focusing on lubrication excellence, a bonus of the journey has been the awareness sparked in the facility. "In the beginning, when the lube building was going up, everyone was curious," Warwick said. "People would ask, 'What are you doing?' We'd say, 'Building a lubrication building.' 'Well, what do you need that for?' 'Because we've got a goal to achieve.'" A 24-hour surveillance system was installed in the lube room due to its contents. Surveillance footage showed that a lot of people were going into the lube room just to see it. From that point, the curiosity grew into more awareness of the lubrication program and its importance for the facility. In fact, the team has noticed an increase in the work orders stemming from operator awareness. "Awareness has been the biggest improvement," King said. "Everyone can see what the oil levels are. Everyone who has their hands in maintenance sees the benefit of it. Operations is coming around. I know they're noticing because we get work orders." e machine modifications have also led to increased awareness from operators. "With the visible sight glasses, we've gotten a ton of feedback when it's low," Warwick said. "I'd like to get to the point where the operator could come and top it off." Mohn believes one of the main factors in the increased awareness was the company-wide communi- cation during the lubrication program's transformation and Noria's involvement, particularly onsite. In addition to using a town-hall format as a way to communicate the objectives to accomplish, Mohn also went to individual shifts and began talking to people on that level. "We communicated why we were doing it and the impact," Mohn said. "We also talked about it from a corporate standpoint. We are working with Noria to develop an operator communications/training program so we can help our workforce better understand why we are doing what we're doing, and what our expectations are as well." Next year the facility will be moving to more of a lean mentality, which should couple well with what is being required of operators in terms of reliability. "Operator care marries up with what my tasks are from a lubrication standpoint," Mohn said. "You can look at a breather, sight glasses and all those things. As a company, we are working toward that. As a smaller facility, we have an advantage because things are commu- nicated organically. We still have a lot of training to do, and that's where we are heading." Winning the Battle Award While the day-to-day changes at the plant became visible to everyone at the facility, the importance – and excitement – behind the transformation became more palpable after receiving notification that Ingredion Winston-Salem had won the 2017 John R. Battle Award for excellence in the application of machinery lubrication. "at trophy changed things almost immediately, adding validity to and recognizing the changes we imple- mented," Mohn said. "I'm really glad we went after that award. It really made a difference." The Noria Difference e Winston-Salem facility's relationship with Noria has evolved since 2009, and the team realizes that a vital key to the plant's success stems from working with Noria. "Without Noria, to get where we are now, it would take us years," King said. "We implemented so much so fast, and 12 | March - April 2019 | www . machinerylubrication.com COVER STORY