To those in the maintenance department, precision lubrication is a no-brainer. It stands to reason that lubrication excellence is a good investment. Put simply, machines run better when they are properly lubricated. However, for those in other parts of the organization who don’t understand the nuances of elastohydrodynamic lubrication, lithium complex grease thickeners or filtration beta ratios (or perhaps don’t care!), spending money on lubrication upgrades and improvements is simply another overhead cost. From this viewpoint, lubrication, like every other cost, should be minimized to help the organization survive in today’s ultracompetitive global marketplace.
So how do we convince management that spending money on lubrication and other reliability-based maintenance improvement initiatives is a good idea? After all, we in maintenance understand that such improvements must make a difference. Surely management should be able to see the value that improved lubrication can have on equipment and productivity.
Read Full Article from Machinery Lubrication Magazine
-Mark Barnes, Noria Corporation, “Lubrication – Maintenance Cost or Opportunity?”. Machinery Lubrication Magazine. July 2005
