Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1316458
ML www . machinerylubrication.com | November - December 2020 | 11 ML ment is installed or lubricant suppliers are changed overtime. Lubricant Selection Training (S5M) Lubricant selection typically involves staff from maintenance, engineering and procurement. Each person involved in the process needs to have training in the fundamentals of how lubricants perform, physical and chemical properties as well as any environmental or regulatory compliance issues. is should not be a one-size-fits-all approach and should be tailored to the job function. For instance, purchasing would need to understand some of the performance characteristics to ensure they are getting the correct quotes and selecting the proper vendor. Engineering would need to be trained to ensure they are selecting the proper viscosity or additive package. Maintenance would require training related to the safety or regulatory compliance of the lubricant. Depending on the level of involvement and ownership of the lubrication program in you plant, the training may include repre- sentatives from other departments as well. Lubricant Selection KPIs (S6K) e adage "what gets measured gets done" holds just as true in lubrication as it does in other fields. Each lifecycle of your lubrication program will require metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) to help guide and evaluate the effectiveness of the individual lifecycle or the lubrication program as a whole. For lubricant selection, it is common to track items such as compliance of the lubricant identification system, number of technicians trained, current number of lubricants, supplier on-time deliveries, as well as a host of others. Whenever building metrics for any system, start with a list of questions you want answered. This will help guide the metrics to make sure they are impactful to your organization. While lubricant selection typically doesn't receive much attention, you can see how it can influence the robustness of your lubrication program. Remember, if you don't start with the correct lubricant the rest of the lifecycle of that lubricant or machine will likely be impaired. Take a walk through your plant or your lube room and try to identify what all lubricants are in use and how many you actually have. is activity may surprise you and show that there are opportunities to save money and eliminate waste right under your nose. ML About the Author Wes Cash is the Vice President of Services for Noria Corporation. He serves as a senior technical consultant for Lubrication Program Development projects and as a senior instructor for Noria's Oil Analysis I and Machinery Lubrication I and II training courses. He holds a Machinery Lubrication Engineer (MLE) Machine Lubrication Technician (MLT) Level II certification and a Machine Lubricant Analyst (MLA) Level III certification through the International Council for Machinery Lubrication (ICML). Contact Wes at wcash@noria.com.