Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1449093
44 | January - February 2022 | www . machinerylubrication.com is begins to let us determine where our biggest offenders are for our consumption ratio. Once we have finished the data gathering and auditing stages, we are ready to begin devel- oping our Oil Consumption Ratio dashboard. is can simply be a spreadsheet where we house the information. At the highest levels, we would place the total volume of lubricant purchased under the total volume of lubricant needed in the plant. A simple division of purchase volume by machine volume gives us the consump- tion ratio. Starting out, it is not uncommon to see a ratio of over two (purchasing more than twice the volume of lubricant needed to outfit the plant), but ideally, we should try to get as close to 0.2 as possible. To truly make the most out of this metric, you can break it down into more detail by showing the total volume of each specific lubricant purchased to the machine charge for that lubricant to find where the biggest offenders are and where areas of opportunity exist. When you have the dashboard built, the focus shifts to automating data retrieval (to update the KPI). While this is often a yearly metric that is tracked, it can be updated monthly to show improvements on equip- ment classes that we are focusing on, such as hydraulics or gearboxes. is is where the work orders for oil changes and top-ups really help us understand where all the lubricant is going. For an even better look at consumption, you can compare purchase volume to disposed volume; this is an indicator of how well your lube disposal program may be running. While this metric may sound like some- thing that is simply "nice" to do, you need to realize that it is focused on more than just the amount of money we're spending on lubricants. When we stop to analyze the data, this metric can serve as a necessary check on many of our processes, including: • Leakage — is is perhaps one of the biggest offenders to this metric. Not only does leakage require more lubricant, but it also cuts into our manpower. The hidden costs of leakage are no secret; there are disposal costs, spill cleanup costs and decreased equipment efficiency. • Failures — One of the first things to happen when there is a significant equip- ment failure is the draining of oil. Once the repair is finished, the oil is refilled. is eats into the consumption ratio as many failures are avoidable and, with proper lubrication practices, shouldn't occur in the first place. • PM Optimization — As mentioned previously, many activities are done within a timeframe that was established without any reasoning. is leads to relubrication occurring more often than needed, thus consuming more lubricant than needed. Focus on dialing in the relubrication frequency based upon the remaining useful life of the lubricant and analysis of the data collected during the equipment audit. You might be amazed to find that the machines you are greasing weekly or changing oil in yearly might be able to go two to five times longer between relubri- cation, even on a conservative scale. • Storage/Stock Rotation — if the equip- ment isn't consuming the lubricant, then look at the storage areas. is may shine the light on products that are sitting static and not moving through the lube room as quickly as we once thought they were. Periodic walk-downs of these areas are great, but seeing in the ratio that lubri- cants are sitting in storage can be eye-opening to most program owners. • Inventory "Shrink" — While it will be extremely difficult to account for every drop of lubri- cant coming into the plant, by compa ring our usa ge to purchases to disposal volumes, we can start to uncover where our lubricant "shrink " may exist. is may be coming from leaks or spills that aren't recorded or top-ups that aren't turned in because our route sheets are "pencil whipped." If the oil is consumed and not disposed of, this gives a great clue that our problem may be internal leakage. e Oil Consumption Ratio has much to offer in terms of deliverable data. is KPI should be updated whenever new equipment is installed to keep it as accurate as possible. It also serves as a useful dataset to show how the lubrication program is maturing. We should try to minimize the consumption ratio year-over-year. is falls in line with many of the sustainability and environmental goals of companies. Plus, this provides us a great platform to show- case savings based upon hard dollars and not cost avoidance. Use the KPI to win over management and to get people on board with investments in the lubrication program. ML About the Author Wes Cash is the Vice President of Services for Noria Corporation. He serves as a senior technica l 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 Tech- nician (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. START YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION machinerylubrication.com ENERGY CONSERVATION, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT