Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1480588
www.machinerylubrication.com | September - October 2022 | 15 ML ML Leading Indicators Let's begin with some leading indicators for our lubrication selection process — leading indicators meaning that we are tracking items that are intended to get our desired result. For example, if you are dieting, caloric intake would be a leading indicator of weight loss. For selecting the ideal lubricant, a few items we may track are: (Side note: The lead time for delivery of lubricants is becoming a large issue due to supply chain disruption. While it may not require a long-term metric, some are using this as a criterion when selecting a lubricant right now. Having a dialogue with your supplier about lead time or volume on hand may help minimize any surprises in the future.) OEMs often spec a lubricant based upon the design of their equipment. We need to ensure the lubricant we select meets or exceeds the spec from the OEM and is adjusted based on our unique environment and application. A lubricant that doesn't meet these standards could result in sub-optimum performance. Lubricants that match/exceed the OEM specification This could be viewed as a way to track the consoli- dation of lubricants in the plant. Ideally, we minimize the lubricants, keeping only on hand what we need to operate without sacrificing the needs of the equipment. By tracking the number of lubricants and even the number of applications using that lubricant, we can help keep our consolidation e‚orts in place. Number of lubricants on-hand Lubricants all have a shelf life; ideally, we will utilize them before they go bad in storage. By tracking their age, we can help adjust our inventory levels. This also aids in our consolida- tion e‚orts by converting some equipment over to other lubricants (where applicable) to improve inventory turnover. Age of lubricants in storage As with most items, cost shouldn't be the only factor, but it still needs to be considered. Develop a matrix of cost against the performance of the lubricant to get a better sense of if it is worth the added cost. Also, tracking purchases over a time period can help justify moving to a higher-perfor- ming lubricant (which will need to be changed less frequently). Lubricant purchase costs 2 3 4 1