Machinery Lubrication

Reliable Plant | www . reliableplant.com Machinery Lubrication | www . machinerylubrication.com 2025 Annual 43 beyond anything I had ever seen. Over the next few weeks, we methodically resolved all their issues—a combination of design deficiencies and operating practices—and returned the plant to normal operations. It was not easy, but with effort we could (and did) find the solution. I returned a year later, and the change was remarkable. e factory floor was pristine, and all the production lines ran well. Because of one troubleshooting effort, 700 families had a stable income and a bright future. Without it, the plant would have shut down. at is what being a good troubleshooter is about. BECOMING A WORLD-CLASS TROUBLESHOOTER My primary goal in life was not trouble- shooting; from 10 years old, my goal was to become the best mechanical engineer. But after university, it seemed like every step in my career reinforced the need for finding cost-effective solutions to problems. My first job as a main- tenance engineer in a mid-size manufacturing plant certainly stretched my troubleshooting skills and taught my first lesson. The company, a division of Rubbermaid, manufactured various plastic products over open-gas flames. is was in the early 1960s when plastics were in their infancy. Our plant was assessing using Dowtherm oil in lieu of open flame to mold plastic, which was an inno - vative and new technique. However, chronic vapor-locking was creating non-stop downtime. I had a bright idea: I couldn't stop the vapor from forming, but I could remove the vapor from the hot oil system, which would prevent downtime. I asked the maintenance and production managers for some planned downtime to strategically install standpipes that would allow the vapor to bleed off. e maintenance manager, a self-made engineer, laughed and said, "ere is no reason to shut down; turn off the pump and that will relieve the pressure." at day I learned the hard way that 600˚F oil does not make for a good shower. My first troubleshooting lesson: Never blindly trust what others tell you. is was the first of many lessons I learned over the next 60 years. Some are the result of the perspective I've gained climbing the corporate ladder, and others are lessons learned out of pure necessity. All were beneficial personally and professionally and improved my troubleshooting skills. Under - standing how valuable these lessons have proved to be in my career, my goal is to pass these lessons on to help others' careers grow and improve. 11 LESSONS LEARNED I have limited troubleshooting to asset-related failures and/or problems for this article, but these same lessons apply to almost all problems or issues that warrant resolution. e lessons below are organized as steps in a typical troubleshooting sequence, not in chronological order. LESSON 1: Identify the Real Problem It sounds simple, but identif ying the problem is often the most elusive part of troubleshooting. When asked, you will often get different answer directly proportional to the number of people asked. Descriptions are often vague and can often point to symptoms that may or may not be real. e only thing you can be sure of is that most responses will point to maintenance deficiencies as the source of the problem. Early in my career I learned there are not enough hours in the day to spend them chasing the wrong problem (or one that doesn't even exist). at's why this first step is so crucial and in no way optional. Some may question why so much time is spent clar - ifying the problem, while others may become impatient and insist that we get on with it and quit wasting time. Trust me, this is not a waste of time. Overall, it will save time and ensure positive results. Repeatedly asking "why" works. Many people laugh at the "5-Why" approach to trouble- shooting, but it does work. I've often found that the real problem was something other than the perception that triggered the investigation. It is tedious and time-consuming, but if you cannot accurately lock down the problem at the beginning, the odds are great that it will not be resolved in the end. LESSON 2: Forget Your Bias Because of our upbringing and the conditioning of our work environment, we all have biases of one form or another. Bias is rarely a good thing and can be an insurmountable obstacle when troubleshooting. One common bias I encountered regularly is that all asset problems (especially failures) are a result of poor maintenance or operator error. When trying to identify the root cause of a problem, these preconceptions can easily cloud the outcome. A standing joke in the troubleshooting business is, "You don't know what you don't know." Put another way, you do not know as much as you think you do, especially about how assets work. For example, the difference between the design and operation of a fan or blower in a positive vs. a negative system or the inherent reliability of a centerline vs. end suction centrifugal pump, which can and often do lead to wrong conclusions. Because of our natural bias against admitting we do not know, we charge ahead without the fundamental knowledge needed to solve the problem. It is difficult to cleanse the brain of bias, but it is necessary for successful troubleshooting. Let the facts take you to the answer without the "Kentucky windage" your bias may introduce. LESSON 3: Identify Normal Before you can identif y an abnormal condition or behavior in an asset, production line, or manufacturing system, you must first understand what normal conditions look like. Every asset, process, or system is designed to perform specific work. ey are bound by incoming parameters, the amount of work that can be performed, and a limited range of finished goods. Within these boundary conditions are specific modes of operation, sustaining maintenance require- ments, and limitations on incoming materials or flow. e asset, process, or system will perform normally when these conditions are met. is normal condition can be described using process parameters such as f low, pressure, temperature, vibration signatures, or other measurable variables. This description of

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