Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1522439
46 Machinery Lubrication Annual Edition | www . machinerylubrication.com Economic Shifts and the Need for Efficiency If anything, the need for improved processes and skilled people will only esca- late. Goldman Sachs released a statement saying that the economy is returning to a pre-2008 environment (US Economy, Markets to Return to Pre-2008 Conditions in 2024: Goldman Sachs). Recent legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, has spurred a new level of investment into many busi- nesses, including pharmaceuticals and those critical to infrastructure. All signs point to a future where current production isn't merely sustained, it's increased significantly. With organizations still hesitant to increase headcount, the compass points even more to empowering our staff and looking towards options to help improve efficiency and reduce downtime in every place possible. Analyzing the work is one of the first places to look for improvements. The True Cost of Poor- Quality Work When we perform lubrication assessments, we often find areas where work is unneces- sarily performed. For instance, it is common to find greasing activities performed far more frequently than needed. is is costly in terms of manpower and consumables — which are great savings areas and allow us to reallocate that manpower to other places where work isn't getting performed. e work analysis could begin with a review of all current PMs and simply look at the task frequency. From there, it gets more granular, ensuring the work being performed addresses known root causes of failure and is impactful enough to perform. is serves as the basis of a PM optimization process and is a way to uncover hidden manpower. Adding staff can be a difficult task. Attracting talent has become a vast industry, with many companies employing recruiting agencies to help replenish headcount and fill jobs that have been vacant for a while. ere are several ways to attract talent, but mainte- nance jobs are often viewed as "dead-end" or "dangerous" work. People want to know their work is valued, and what better role could someone have that makes a real difference in a company's profitability than in maintenance or reliability? Taking this a step further, utilizing newer tools such as tablets or laptops with the latest maintenance software can attract younger professionals who may not realize how technological a job in this field can be. Utilizing tools and platforms that allow you to look into the inside of the machine to know what is wrong with it is a powerful motivator to get people to join your staff. Proactive Maintenance Best Practices Utilizing that same approach with onboarding can help break old habits as well. Instead of simply relying on a shadowing period, using technology to help people ramp up in capability can significantly increase productivity and minimize issues of poor- quality work. We designed our lubrication management system to help onboard new lubrication technicians and enable them to perform the tasks correctly from the begin- ning. A cost associated with performing work incorrectly goes beyond wasting consumables or spending more time than is necessary. Ultimately, the machines pay this price as improper lubrication continues to be one of the leading causes of equipment failure and unplanned downtime. In this case, we must do better than return to the status quo. Now is the time to improve our processes. Breaking Old Habits: The Path to the "New Normal" I believe the "new normal" should rigor- ously follow the proactive maintenance best practices. If we could just focus on five main things: keep the machine and lubricant clean, cool, and dry, and make sure the machine is aligned and balanced, our machines would run better, last longer and we would start to find capacity where we originally were tapped out. Proactive maintenance requires diligence and all staff being on the same page because even just a single person doing something incor- rectly can unravel all the work done by others. Education, awareness, and focus must be front and center with this approach. is is nothing novel, but many don't know where to begin on this journey. Sticking with lubrication, a great place to start is lubri- cant consolidation. is helps make sure we don't have unnecessary lubricants on hand. e most visible place to make changes is in the lube room. is is the heartbeat of any lubri- cation program, and this room should be the cleanest area in the plant. Everything should have a place, and effort must be given to keep it in order. With PM optimization, a detailed review of the equipment can help ensure we are doing the correct work and using the correct products. e enemy of these improvement efforts is complacency and competing prior- ities. Let's break the "this is the way we have always done it pattern" and make the "new normal" doing the work the right way, the first time, every time. ML About the Author Wes Cash is the Vice President of Technical Services for Noria Corporation. He serves as a senior technical 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 Machine Lubrication Engineer (MLE) through the International Council for Machinery Lubrication (ICML). Contact Wes at wcash@noria.com. WORKPLACE CULTURE