The life force of your plant is the machinery that it uses. However, even the most advanced machinery will fail to function properly if you fail to properly lubricate your equipment. You most likely believe that you are appropriately treating lubricants, but are you certain? It's most likely that you don't have this. Numerous maintenance practices that are carried out with the best of intentions might have unexpectedly unfavorable outcomes that reduce your profit margins.
The Most Important Issue
In the majority of plants, lubrication is treated like any other duty. What more is there? Make sure the oil is changed on time, and lubricate the sections that make a squeaky sound. We are missing the bigger picture here. Your money will be drained by hidden difficulties that are caused by it.
Examples of Common (And Costly) Lubrication Errors
Mistakes in Lubrication: They Are Real and Expensive
Excessive activity: Just as awful as not having enough lubrication is having too much of it! It causes things to become heated, it wastes expensive materials, and it even places your machinery in danger of being damaged.
This is something that should be clear, right? If there is not enough lubricant or grease, then the components will wear out quickly. In other words, you will have to pay for costly repairs and replace things earlier than you should.
Incorrect information: There are many best greases for metal gears, and each one is ideal for a certain task. If you choose the incorrect one, you might as well not bother at all because you can potentially damage your apparatus.
Putting it all together: Incompatible lubricants will react negatively inside your machines. The way things function is disrupted as a result of this, which may potentially result in leaks or complete failure.
Handling that is sloppy: Getting lubricants contaminated with dust, grime, or anything else? Currently, you are reducing the efficiency of your machinery from the inside out.
The Hidden Toll: A Plant Case Study
Consider the following example: something that each and every plant utilizes. You should select something that is grounded in reality, such as bearings in huge rotating machinery, hydraulic systems, or conveyor belts, etc.
Walk through a hypothetical scenario depending on the equipment, such as the following:
Conveyor belts are essential to the operation of Plant X. As a result of wear and tear, friction develops with time.
More oil is added during maintenance (since, after all, that is always the solution, right?). Moving around is now significantly more difficult! Although your motor is suffering, your conveyor is using more energy. Things move more slowly, and output suffers as a result. In due time, the bearing will become inoperable. You are now considering things like downtime, the cost of components, and labor.... It adds up quite quickly.
At some point, a bearing will break, which will result in the conveyor line being shut down and resulting in additional expenses for the workforce, replacement components, and lost productivity.
[Now, perform the necessary calculations] Take into account not only the expenses associated with a failing bearing but also the larger picture:
• An increase in the expenses of energy over time
• A decrease in productivity during periods of downtime
• The expense of replacing the motor earlier than its typical lifespan;
• The cost of labor for repairing the motor and performing lubrication operations more often
One that is focused on finding solutions
This is not about employing dark strategies; rather, it is about arguing for the need for change. What would be the perfect circumstance? Here are some of the answers that you offer that go beyond simply saying, "Buy our products."
Lubrication analysis entails the collection of oil samples and their submission to a laboratory for a thorough examination. This process, when conducted by Atlantic Grease and Lubricants, not only identifies indicators of equipment contamination or breakdown but also offers insights into the overall health of the lubricant and its suitability for the specific application.
Proactive maintenance — Lubrication analysis is used to lead a proactive maintenance strategy, as opposed to the conventional way of waiting until something fails before performing maintenance. Lubricants are only cleaned or replaced when they are required, and wear problems are identified and addressed before they result in downtime.
To ensure that your staff is aware of the strategic significance of lubrication and how to do it most effectively, you should invest in training. By implementing more effective procedures, a brief training session might save thousands of dollars.
Real Numbers, Real Savings
Here's some food for thought: small improvements in your lubrication practices can make a big difference in your costs over time. You might even consider more advanced approaches – some companies outsource their entire lubrication management under an "Oil as a Service" model.
But you don't even need to go that far! Improved reliability and minimizing unexpected downtime will likely deliver your biggest savings when it comes to better lubrication management. That part's difficult to estimate until you fix the underlying problems.
A Real-World Example
We looked at a hypothetical plant (similar to many around the country). Just two factors - how often they did oil changes and issues with over-greasing their equipment - added up to almost $300,000 in losses over five years. Ouch! On the other hand, it costs about a third of that amount to implement a well-designed lubrication program to get things optimized.
See the potential here? That's more money for your plant to do whatever is most important for your business.
How Does This Happen?
It's a combination of factors:
Oil changes gone wild: It might seem like "more is better", but too-frequent oil changes waste perfectly good lubricant and add extra labor costs.
The grease trap: Too much grease is just as bad as not enough! It hinders performance, can damage your equipment, and ultimately means you're throwing away expensive products.
Other hidden costs: Don't forget things like increased energy consumption when machinery is fighting poor lubrication, the impact on productivity when equipment is slower than it should be, and the risk of more unexpected downtime when failures pop up more often.
Taking Control
If you think your plant might be suffering from similar mistakes, there are ways to improve your lubrication game. World-class Grease lubricants for car experts can help!