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July - August 2019
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9
bearing attracts the Southern humidity,
working its way into the grease. My fi rst two
years witnessed fi ve failures, costing $130,210
in manpower, parts and opportunity. Bearing
analysis proved moisture was the root cause.
Automatic lubricators were added and
used to lubricate and purge moisture from
the bearing cavity. After installation of the
automatic lubricators, failures ceased to occur.
On the same production line, the oven
utilizes eight 50-horsepower circulation
fans and operates at temperatures up to 600
degrees F. e circulation fans experienced an
average of four failures per year. e cost to
profi tability totaled $107,787. After installing
automatic lubricators, no further failures have
occurred. It is important to note that the
plant's lubrication excellence program, which
will be discussed later, cost $112,000. Elimi-
nating these two failures more than paid for
the program.
Eyes Wide Open
Even with a dedicated engineer on each
production line, we worked in silos, not sharing
best practices. Across the plant on a diff erent
production line, a bearing failure was being
experienced each week. Realizing we needed to
work on lubrication, my supervisor sent me to
a lubrication training course, where I witnessed
a world-class facility practicing lubrication
excellence. Even with the new knowledge, we
made no changes. Our focus was near-sighted.
Consolidation
Several bearing failures led us to the discovery
that our grease application was incorrect. In
addition, diff erent types of grease were routinely
mixed. Testing has shown that most greases
aren't compatible, even those from the same soap
family. Mixing greases compromises the ability of
the base oil, risking machine longevity.
By Roger Story, Owens Corning
LUBRICATION'S BOTTOM-LINE IMPACT:
How Owens Corning Benefi ted from a Transformed Lube Program
