Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1336798
12 | January - February 2021 | www . machinerylubrication.com LUBRICANT SELECTION Ideally, the plant should have a single lubricant supplier that is able to provide all the lubricants necessary to cover the normal usage in the plant. Some take it a step further and select a single supplier of lubricants corporate-wide instead of relying on regional agreements to be established. Regardless of the scope of the change or its motivation, there are many benefits to having a single supplier rather than multiple. Reduce the number of vendors Having multiple vendors creates more work for accounting, purchasing and receiving teams. By reducing the number of lubricant vendors, you streamline the whole purchasing and receiving process. Reduce the number of discrete purchase orders Each purchase order represents an item that must be tracked, accounted for and closed out. It requires staff oversight as well as administration to ensure they get issued and charged against properly. Having a single supplier creates an opportunity for a more open purchase order with less oversight required. Improve pricing though consolidation and volume buying As you purchase from a single supplier, there are opportunities to consolidate your product inventory and potentially negotiate volume discounts based upon your usage. is is even further magnified when the contract involves a corporate account rather than just a single plant account. Improve access to service through consolidation Most suppliers will have technical special- ists to provide support or service to accounts that purchase their lubricants. Often, their time is prioritized based upon volume or purchases per account. Having a single supplier could move you into having a more direct line to technical specialists or even having a dedicated specialist for your account. Improve quality of products purchased It is common to put quality standards in place for lubricants being delivered. You may want to request a specific cleanliness or dryness of incoming lubes as well as a preferred delivery method. Working with a single supplier may allow you to get "fresher" lubricants as opposed to inventory that may have become aged and possibly compromised while sitting in a warehouse. Improve delivery commitment Lead time on lubricants and product-on- hand can become issues, especially during unplanned events such as leaks or failures. Working with a single supplier to have enough stock or a more direct line to the lubricant manufacturer can help mitigate these risks. Questions to Ask About New Lubricant Suppliers Choosing a supplier is not a decision to be made lightly. It shouldn't be based solely on price, but rather a collection of many vari- ables to ensure that you are getting the quality or product and service that you need. Each facility or corporation may have different opin- ions on what would be the most important aspect of a lubricant supplier. It is important that you develop a selection committee and decide what factors will go into your decision process. Once the factors are decided on, they should be weighted and then you can begin to interview prospective suppliers and determine which one is the best fit for your organization. Below are some questions to ask yourself when selecting a supplier. What are the supplier's capacities? e supplier should not only be able to produce enough finished lubricant, but also have the packaged inventory to meet the normal demands of the plant or the corporate account. is normally isn't an issue if the supplier manufactures their own lubricant. If they rely on a third party to manufacture the products, it can cause some problems on occasion. What blending facility locations are available? Ideally the blending plants of the finished lubricants will be geographically convenient in relation to the plant. Having a blend facility within a day's drive can help with emergency deliveries and certainly mitigate issues with extensive lead times for products. It is also good to have multiple blending facilities to help with additional capacity if needed. What are their distributor warehousing standards? e distributor network of the supplier should be analyzed, not only for proximity in relation to the plant but also their quality assurance standards. e distributors should understand the importance of cleanliness and supplying fresh lubricants that are unaltered by storage conditions. Performing audits on the distributor warehouses is a great plan to ensure they are handling the lubricants in an ideal manner. Do they have a global supply chain? is is very important for corporate agree- ments that span multiple continents. ere are lubricant suppliers that have a global reach, but there are many that don't. If you are building a global corporate contract, this item should be highly considered in the decision process. Do they offer similar products, such as fuels, chemicals, or solvents? Many of the same benefits that come with a single lubricant supplier can be extended to using a single supplier of other materials. If the chosen supplier can provide other products that further streamline your supply chain, you may find even greater benefits. Other prod- ucts, for example, can be process chemicals, solvents, fuels and other items that may be used outside the standard lubrication program. How diverse is their product line? To help ensure that the supplier has products that not only meet all your current machinery needs, you may look to see how diverse the full product catalogue is as it pertains to planned future growth areas of your facility. For instance, if you are planning to take on fleet maintenance of mobile equipment or are adding a new produc- tion line that requires food-grade lubricants, selecting a supplier with a broad product line could increase efficiency and save money.