Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1470959
ML www.machinerylubrication.com | May - June 2022 | 9 "I've served plants that are 100 years old, and those plants just haven't grown up with the world-class manufacturing and reliability standards we started out with," Megan said. at makes a measurable impact on the bottom line. In today's uncertain world of supply chain issues and increasing demand for food products, Megan told us, proactive maintenance — especially lubrication — play a major role in the plant's ability to compete. "COVID babies or COVID puppies are a totally real phenomenon…we can only meet that demand by proactively maintaining our equipment. Our lube guys and the program we have here truly are a competitive advantage for us." ose lube guys are Matt Felix and Kevin Keith. While Matt and Kevin did not start their careers with a focus on lubrication, it's their bread and butter today. Noria has been a source of knowledge and support for both of them during this process through training and onsite services. Learning & Preparing When Blue Buffalo called Noria, they were in the process of designing and building the plant. Before machines were installed, they worked with Noria to ensure that the right inspections, contamination control activities and lubrication procedures would be in place from day one of operations. Over the course of a year, Noria visited the Richmond site six times to identify lubrication points, document procedures and train staff on best practices. "I learned a lot about the right way to do things from the training with Noria," Matt Our lube guys and the program we have here truly are a competitive advantage for us." " said. "Where I came from before Blue Buffalo, it was just: 'throw some oil in it,' or 'throw some grease on it,' it didn't necessarily matter what oil or what grease, as long as it had some- thing in it." But through Noria's training courses, Matt has come a long way since those days, having successfully achieved MLT I, MLT II, MLA I, MLA II, and MLA III certifications to supplement what he learned through Noria's lubrication program development process. Today, Matt and Kevin are the lubrication experts in their plant. Maintenance techni- cians come to them for insights and advice on bearing health or related concerns, but it wasn't always that way. Early on, Kevin said there was some fric- tion in getting the lubrication program started. Maintenance technicians who had been greasing bearings themselves without the help of a lubrication technician their whole careers were unsure why a skilled position was needed for such a "simple" task: just add grease until you see it purge out the other side, right? It wasn't long before Matt and Kevin had cleared up that common misconception, and things only got better from there as the results Hear more about Blue Buffalo's N.A. policy at Reliable Plant 2022. Keynote: Creating and Sustaining a Strong Reli- ability Culture ft. Megan Johnson. Scan to learn more at conference.reliableplant.com/learn/ Blue Buffalo Lube Guys Matt Felix and Kevin Keith