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March - April 2020
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machinerylubrication.com
Why and How to Earn
an MLE Certification
Paul Hiller | ICML
The
engineering-
grade,
management-
level
certification
targets
reliability
and asset
leaders with
a strong
emphasis in
lubrication
and oil
analysis.
TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION
L u b r i c a t i o n P r o g ra m s
When the International
Council for Machinery
Lubrication (ICML) intro-
duced its new Machinery
Lubr ic at ion E n g i ne er
(MLE) certification last year, a
healthy amount of interest was
expected from those individuals
seeking to manage entire lubrication
programs. However, while the scope
of the MLE is beyond that of the
organization's other certifications,
practitioners of all stripes have been
sitting for the exam.
e engineering-grade, manage-
ment-level certif ication, which
targets reliability and asset leaders
with a strong emphasis in lubri-
cation and oil analysis, covers a
comprehensive, 24-part body of
knowledge (BoK) derived from
an extensive domain of resources.
ICML's committee of 35 subject-
matter experts researched, wrote
and vetted questions for several
years to produce a 150-question
exam. Rather than a continuation
of the Machine Lubricant Analyst
(MLA) or Machinery Lubrication
Technician (MLT) levels, the MLE
is a standalone certification that
was purposely developed alongside
the new ICML 55 standard for
lubricated asset management. Still,
it does benefit from the MLA and
MLT experiences.
With the MLE having no formal
training requirement, most candi-
dates in 2019 conducted whatever
amount of self-preparation they
deemed necessary to take the exam.
Several independent trainers have
since completed or are currently
developing optional preparation
courses to support the certification.
Now that practitioners from
around the world have sat for the
exam for the better part of a year,
potential candidates may be curious
about what these early adopters think
about the MLE experience. erefore,
ICML contacted those individuals
who have already taken the exam and
asked a few key questions.