Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1336798
32 | January - February 2021 | www . machinerylubrication.com ere is one metric in lubrication that has proven extremely important and effective at revealing hidden lubricant-and equipment-related issues. is metric is known as Lubricant Utilization." Reveal Hidden Problems with This Top Lubrication Metric " Lubrication is full of metrics. Whether it's oil analysis, equipment uptime, filtration or route compliance, all have a role to play. ere is one metric in lubrication that has proven extremely important and effective at revealing hidden lubricant-and equipment-re- lated issues. is metric is known as Lubricant Utilization. In short, this is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) based on the volume of lubricant applied to machines, rela- tive to the amount of lubricants that have been disposed of over a period of time. But more importantly, the data collected on Lubricant Utiliza- tion is directly associated with other important metrics and KPIs across all stages of the lubricant and can define some KPIs for the lubrication program. Some of these indicators may focus on controlling overall lubricant expen- ditures while others focus more on minimizing risk and reliability issues. Regardless of the indicator, it must begin with establishing the metrics and tracking good data. Tracking the Application of the Lubricant Lubricants, like many other consumables, are likely monitored by some sort of inventory tracking system, usually starting in a warehouse. Here, the warehouse management tracks the reception of each lubri- cant, by container or in batches as they arrive and are put into a storage location. Lubricants can be delivered in many different containers, such as pails and boxes of tubes for grease or in drums, totes or quart/gallon-size bottles for oil. But regardless of how it is contained, an amount of total lubricant delivered should always be known and recorded. Knowing this total delivered amount and associated costs are metrics by themselves, as well as monitoring when each lubricant reaches inventory minimums and maximums. But there's more. Warehouse metrics are more than just the inventory of your lubricants in storage. It can be an important piece of data that stretches across your entire plant's overall equipment reliability and helps monitor plant performance. As these lubricants become needed for equipment, inventory management can monitor their exits from the ware- house with date, time, by user, which machine(s) it will be used in, how much, how often, and so on. As this data is collected, it populates the first important piece of useful information for Lubricant Utilization. Tracking the Removal of the Lubricant For a variety of reasons, lubri- cants become removed from the machines they are used in. e most obvious and preferable reason is Bennett Fitch | Noria Corporation ENERGY CONSERVATION, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT / Lubricant Utilization Ratio = (Total Lubricant Purchases) (Total Lubricant Drain) Factor: E5K