Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1378657
12 | May - June 2021 | www . machinerylubrication.com COVER STORY QUICK WINS Some of the first improvements that were put in place were related to grease and regreasing practices. In the past, the Argos team had set grease intervals on electric motors to once per year. In examining their assets, it became clear that some motors needed more frequent regreasing, at least twice per year. Another quick fix was switching from guessing the right amount of grease to knowing the right amount. Grease storage was also an area of opportunity. While the Newberry plant had a designated storage area for oil lubricants, grease was stored in a variety of locations — including the trunks of electricians' service trucks. e hot Florida sun was impacting the performance of the grease, so one of the first improvement recom- mendations was to designate a grease storage area with less harsh conditions. is would help avoid large temperature changes or exposure to environmental contaminants that impact the performance of stored greases. e Ascend Assessment identifies "low-hanging fruit" like this, along with many more opportunities. e next step is to complete the Engineering Design phase of the process. During this phase, Noria experts gather engineering data from all lubricated assets and make hardware recom- mendations to improve inspections, lubrication practices, contamination control and many other aspects of lubrication. When the issue of grease storage was iden- tified, the Newberry plant was able to address these concerns quickly by designating a grease storage area within an existing space in the plant. Improvements like this can offer excel- lent returns on investment because they do not always require significant added expenses. "ere are things that we can do that don't cost any money," Devin said. "ey just come down to having a different mindset or mentality and doing the work a certain way." e updated grease room was a very visible sign of change, one that had a ripple effect through the plant. Other departments saw the clean, shiny new area that the lubrication team had created and asked themselves what they could do to improve other areas of the plant in the same way. "Just by us doing the lube room cleanup or modifications, I think that alone changed a lot of people's mindsets on what they were doing," John said. "ere were even a couple of emails that went out saying 'look what the lube team has done with their equipment and their lube room,' and it sparked other teams to modify or improve other areas of the plant." IMPROVED PROCEDURES Another quick win was spreading knowl- edge of improved regreasing procedures. While the plant has two lube techs on staff who are trained to handle most lubrication tasks, the plant's electric motors are regreased by electri- cians. Since these electricians are responsible for overall maintenance of the motors, they needed proper equipment and knowledge to do the job right. e Newberry plant supplied these elec- tricians with new grease guns equipped with counters (or "output meters"). Combined with engineering calculations and OEM recom- mendations, the electricians now had the knowledge and tools to properly regrease their motors, allowing lube techs to focus on more complex lubrication tasks. e value of these improvements is multi- plied when they are spread to more people in the plant in this way, but John said that certain hardware modifications had an even bigger effect on lubrication culture. VISIBLE LUBRICATION CULTURE A major part of Noria's Engineering Design recommendations is outfitting machines with hardware to improve inspections, better protect machines and help extend lubricant life by excluding or removing contaminants. Once Argos stored some greases in this area, but without the right mindset or plan, greases were unorganized and not properly controlled. New grease guns with counters allow electricians and others to put just the right amount of grease when it is needed — no more guesswork. With the grease room updated with proper storage equipment and procedures, greases are no longer cooked in the Florida sun before use. Before After