Why do programs designed to improve plant lubrication come and go? Many lubrication programs are on again, off again.
Excellence in lubrication, like other quality efforts, dies for a number of reasons. But the phenomenon can be essentially reduced to a failure to institutionalize excellence in machinery lubrication – meaning the values of the organization were never changed at the core.
The process of setting oil cleanliness targets is a visible, measurable performance standard. It’s like controlling your weight, blood pressure or cholesterol level by frequent measurement. These are controllable root causes of disease for those who aspire to a long, healthy life. In machine reliability, it’s proactively taking control of your machines, so they won’t take control of you.
The differences between standard-performance, high-performance and specialty-performance lubricant products are not always clear. The fact that these three categories of products are all marketed to an array of mechanical and operating conditions complicates the selection process.
Many smaller gearboxes have a fill hole and a drain plug. The only way to tell if the gearbox has the proper amount of oil is to unscrew the fill plug and stick your finger in it. To improve this process, replace the drain plug with a sight glass. This makes it easy for anyone walking by the equipment to notice if there is a problem with insufficient oil.
Today’s global economy is here to stay. Manufacturers from automobiles to toothpicks are under continuous pressure to reduce costs. In order to survive in this environment, a company must either adapt, embrace and master newly emerging technologies or be swallowed by those that do. EVTAC Mining is one of many companies currently striving to make such changes.
