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general. You need bandwidth. Many
companies pretend to save money
by cutting oil analysis to the bone.
is includes reducing the number
of machines that are sampled as well
as conducting fewer and less effective
tests. For good detective work, you
need to cast a wide net. is can be
done by expanding the screening
tests used on routine samples but
also by unifying oil analysis with a
penetrating inspection program and
other condition monitoring technol-
ogies (e.g., vibration).
3. Pin-drop Sensitive
Alarms and Limits
I've described the virtues of
recasting your alarms and limits for
greater early detection sensitivity.
You get rid of this data blindness in
some cases by taking away control of
how alarms and limits are set from
commercial laboratories. is is done
through education of CBM personnel
and analysis of each machine based
on failure modes, criticality and reli-
ability history.
In sum, oil analysis needs
to produce more quality alerts.
Perhaps 30 percent of all oil analysis
reports should have some reportable
condition, and certainly no fewer
than 10 percent. Of course, this
statistic depends greatly on the
types of machines and their field
of application. Don't be afraid of
alerts. Instead, view them as a real
opportunity for continuous improve-
ment. Like most organizations, your
resources for improvement (people
and budget) are probably lean. In the
reliability space, alerts can help you
use these resources in the most effi-
cient and effective way possible.
ML
About the Author
Jim Fitch has a wealth of "in
the trenches" experience in lubri-
cation, oil analysis, tribology and
machinery failure investigations.
Over the past two decades, he has
presented hundreds of courses on
these subjects. Jim has also published
more than 200 technical articles,
papers and publications. He serves as
a U.S. delegate to the ISO tribology
and oil analysis working group. Since
2002, he has been the director and
a board member of the International
Council for Machinery Lubrication.
He is the CEO and a co-founder of
Noria Corporation. Contact Jim at
jfitch@noria.com.
73%
of MachineryLubrication.com
visitors use the ISO clean-
liness code to set target
alarms for system
cleanliness levels
