Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1148092
12 | July - August 2019 | www . machinerylubrication.com COVER STORY each and every piece of rotating equipment in the facility. During the expansion phase, we changed the oils and fl uids in the equipment, hung tags, and added bull's-eye and level gauges. Filter carts were used to maintain cleanliness standards. Oil sampling helped to build a history of where the plant had been and where it was going. is phase is the front line of lubrication. Level Up Owens Corning is a data-driven organiza- tion. When a machine fails to operate, reactive data tells us we need to work on the machine. We needed better data. Oil analysis is a tool that can provide both proactive and predictive data, seeing inside a machine without disassembly. After oil analysis training opened my eyes, we constructed a database and sampled equip- ment that was 4 gallons or larger or classifi ed as critical. While in the training class, I heard fi rsthand stories from other attendees about their issues with lubrication quality, such as oil mix-ups and cross-contamination. With this knowledge, a lubricant receipt sampling process was implemented. Aiken's new lubricants are now sampled before being released for use. e status of a lubricant throughout the receipt process is indicated by a label placed on its container. Four months later, a delivery of ISO 46 oil was sampled and determined to be ISO 68. Our receipt process continues to protect machines and provide assurance of sustained uptime. D-I-P-F Curve For several years, the maintenance industry focused solely on the P-F curve. is curve highlights technologies used to detect a machine fault before the machine reaches functional failure. e P-F curve is a portion of the larger D-I-P-F curve. e D-I-P-F curve describes the condition of an asset from its design to the end of its life. If you are not familiar with the D-I-P-F curve, consider educating yourself about how each segment integrates within a maintenance organization. When I fi rst arrived at the Aiken plant, a contractor was hired to perform vibration anal- ysis. Report after report revealed one common thread: lubrication. At the time, the facility didn't have a lube program. In essence, we had the cart before the horse. After two years, the plant stopped using vibration analysis. Aiken would have been better served by fi rst developing a lubrication excellence program than to invest in vibration analysis. is is not meant to suggest that vibration analysis is unimportant. In fact, Aiken currently has a fully functional vibration analysis program. However, by building programs out of sequence, valuable time and money were lost. Autonomous Maintenance in Action Aiken's lubrication program is now fully developed. In several areas, autonomous maintenance (AM) is in practice. e waste- water operator lubricates his machines using a posted lubrication matrix. is matrix informs the operator what, where and when to lubricate. In addition, the matrix includes inspection points for sight glasses and auto- matic lubricators. e AM process makes Grease guns are now tagged with labels indicating which grease should be used in each gun.