Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1148092
PERSPECTIVE team had been replacing numerous bearings in the scheduled shutdowns and were satisfi ed with this situation because they rarely had unforeseen downtime due to bearing failures. So, while the cost of unexpected production loss was low, the maintenance costs were high. A similar conclusion was reached at a wastewater treatment plant where a large, plain bearing for a mixer was replaced every two years. is was accepted as normal until someone further investigated the correct lubri- cant for the component. When the grease was upgraded, the bearing life was extended to more than 10 years. No Budget for New Projects I recently met with a maintenance team and a plant manager at a large facility to discuss their opportunities for cost reduction and investments in a reliability strategy. Someone remarked that the benefi ts were obvious but the concern was obtaining corporate approval for the required technology, training, new lube room and lubri- cation procedures. e current budget also was already allocated for other purposes. A few questions were then asked. How much money was already invested in components and spare parts that were waiting in the warehouse to be used when something failed? e answer was probably several millions. Also, how many bearings were replaced across the plant over the last 12 months? e answer was several hundred. You may be wondering how it's possible to have money to fi x equipment issues while at the same time dealing with a restricted budget for investing in the elimination of the root causes. When there is inertia with corrective practices, it's like a snowball that cannot be quickly stopped. at's why it is essential to allocate your budget and human resources to drive the change. Failure Rates Are Already Low A phenomenon some industries often cope with might be termed "waves of reliability." is is when someone proposes implementing a better reliability strategy while failures are frequent and corrective maintenance is the norm. A more stable maintenance deployment plan is put into place. Changes occur, and positive results are seen. en, after a few years, when there is pressure to lower costs or new management is brought in, the successful reliability practices are reduced or elim- inated, returning the facility to its previous state and increasing the number of failures. 34 | July - August 2019 | www . machinerylubrication.com Full Productivity Machine Productivity Expected Time Interval Reliability: two-dimension results LUBRICATION EXCELLENCE GOALS The goals of lubrication excellence can be defi ned as: • The four rights: right lubricant, right amount, right frequency and right lubricated component • Keep the lubricant contaminants controlled: clean, cool and dry (no excess temperature). • Do it consistently. Regardless of who is executing the job, it must be done following the same best practices. This requires training, procedures, tools, communication and team alignment. • Follow best practices according to machine criticality, operation- al conditions and risk.