Best PraCtiCes

Mike Johnson

Lubrication technology and

management: The next 10 years
Our panel of experts looks at corporate
culture, emerging technologies and why
time equals money when it comes to
machine maintenance

“We must become the change we want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi.

24 • FEBRUARY 2011
t he only constant in life is change. some changes occur
slowly, such as the change of a work-culture within an in-
dustrial facility. some changes occur at a dizzying and un-
settling pace, such as the shutting of plants and the loss of
jobs and economic well-being.

TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 technological change rolls along at a fairly constant and
intense pace. Just 30 years ago desktop computers were first The commentators
showing up in the market and being adopted by compa-
nies in information-intensive business, including medicine, The following industry veterans were asked to provide an
finance and law. 20 years ago leading manufacturing com- overview of lubrication technology in the last 10 years and also
panies were in the early stages of implementing PC-based to provide their outlooks for the next 10.
maintenance-management systems, although for many it
was a migration from either a mainframe or a paper/card-file Charlie Fast, CMRP. Charlie is the shared services superin-
system. ten years ago machine reliability management as a tendent at Mosaic Co. in Plymouth, Minn. Charlie has worked at
competitive concept was in its early stages for large manu- Mosaic (and previous entities with other names) for 26 years,
facturing companies after a quick start with a few aggres- holding management positions in operations and maintenance.
sive early adopters. today, reliability management is firmly Currently Charlie supervises predictive maintenance contrac-
recognized by most Fortune 1000 managers as an avenue to tors, training, repair shops, lubrication vendors and contrac-
achieve competitive advantage. tors and coordinating reliability engineering activities between
Change in the lubrication management approach taken sites. Contact him at [email protected].
by the same Fortune 1000 size companies is still a mixed bag
Mark Geller, CMRP. Mark is vice president of Allied Reli-
of results. too many companies practice the same haphaz-
ability Services, an engineering, consulting and service firm
ard approach to machine lubrication that they did 30 years
focusing on preventive and predictive maintenance for more
ago—trying to keep the sight glass full, greasing bearings
than 200 manufacturing plants and facilities in North America,
periodically and changing the sump annually. others place
Latin America and Europe. Mark has been with Allied Reliability
special emphasis on the benefits that may be found through
for seven years and in the reliability Industry for 12 years.
precision lubrication plans.
Mark provides education/training support and manages field
this roundtable discussion is a collection of thoughts
operations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and is
from key managers within steel, paper, chemical and ser-
certified in vibration, UE, motor testing and machine lubrica-
vices businesses. We asked them to briefly survey the last
tion. Contact him at [email protected].
10 years and think forward about the changes that may oc-
cur in the next 10. managers in this discussion are close to Deepak Kotnala. Deepak is CEO of Lubritech Technologist
the trenches, each sharing significant experience promoting in New Delhi, India. He has 16 years of experience in market-
change and improvement in their respective endeavors. see ing and 10 years extensive experience in technical selling of
the adjoining box for the commentator lineup. lubricants, including designing, formulating, application study
and performance evaluation, with strong expertise in MWFs and
grease development. He is an independent marketing and tech-
MACHINE LUBRICATION PRACTICES
nical consultant for various lubricant manufacturers, providing
training, formulation of marketing strategy and development.
MJ: What is the relative importance of machine lubrication Contact him at [email protected].
practices for your site?
David Northrop. David is a reliability engineer for Applied
Matt Spurlock: We feel there is no single focus that will have Reliability Group/Shops and process manager for USS-Posco
a higher impact on machine reliability than a fully optimized, Industries, Steel, Sheet and Tin. He has 25 years of experience
fully documented and properly implemented precision lubri- with mechanical engineering/design and construction of capital
cation program. industrial operations average roughly 10% machinery and 14 years of experience in steel mill engineering,
of their maintenance budgets on repairs and labor charges machine shop operations and maintenance engineering/main-
for lubricated components due to poor lubrication practices. tenance reliability engineering. Contact him at dnorthrop@
it simply makes sense that laying a base of proper lubrica- ussposco.com.

Matt Spurlock, CMRP. Matt is area manager for Reliability/

‘No single focus will have Lubrication for Packaging Corp. of America. He has 20 years
a higher impact on machine in the oil analysis industry from the end-user side in the
U.S. Marines through full lab testing and analysis. Matt has
reliability than a fully optimized, designed and implemented high-impact lubrication, contamina-
tion control and industrial oil analysis programs throughout
fully documented and properly the U.S. His certifications include MLA II, MLT I and LLA I. He is
implemented precision a frequent co-contributor to this column. Contact him at matt.
[email protected].
lubrication program.’
WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY 2011 • 25
tion practices will enhance and optimize
manpower in front of machines. ‘A piece of equipment or a line
Dave Northrop: an effective lubrica- going down due to a lubrication-related
tion program in a steel mill operation is
critical. When a piece of equipment or
failure means lost profits.’
a line goes down due to a lubrication-
related failure, it means lost profits.
that’s the bottom line when it comes
right down to it: time is money. to keep
the equipment running—that is, making
money—you must have a lubrication
program that keeps machines operating
at maximum performance while saving
costs by efficiently utilizing your lubri-
cants. downtime can easily cost more
than an investment in an effective ma-
chine lubrication program and practices.

Deepak Kotnala: the importance of ma-

chinery running at its full potential is of
foremost importance for any industry. in
the present industrial trend, everything
moves so fast that major manufacturing,
including auto manufacturers, are aim-
ing for zero inventory. to achieve that,
the vendor also has to be capable of operating continuously FULLY OPTIMIZED LUBRICATION PLANS
to maintain the supply schedule; otherwise he has to build
in spare capacity, which is not possible due to budgeting/ MJ: What would a fully optimized lubrication program cover
space constraint. effective lubrication programs are central in a manufacturing and industrial site?
to achieving sustainable production.
Dave Northrop: the program would address all aspects of
Charlie Fast: machine lubrication is one of the most impor- lubrication at the plant, including storage, handling, con-
tant elements in maximizing asset life and reliability. it is tamination control, condition monitoring/reporting and
easy to assume a good program exists. however, good is the controlling or eliminating leakage. it would include trained
enemy of great. thinking we are good means we overlook personnel who take ownership of lubrication in the facility
opportunities to improve things that would make us great. and are armed with the proper equipment and tools to oper-
ate in a best practices mode.
Mark Geller: the lubrication program is one of the most the personnel would include craft people and a lubri-
important aspects of a reliability program and is often over- cation engineer specifically trained in the field of tribology.
looked. i think many facilities believe they have a program these people would have intimate knowledge of the physi-
and understand how to lubricate, but the fact is that most cal assets they work with so that informed decisions can be
do not and cannot justify why they follow their current pro- made while working within or along side the existing main-
cesses and procedures. to put it simply, if uptime or overall tenance structure. they would communicate at the appropri-
equipment effectiveness are important measures in an orga- ate levels so there is trust established and action taken from
nization and it has lubricated equipment, then a highly effec- the recommendations.
tive lubrication program should be high on the priority list. For a good-sized facility, this would mean several lube
techs and at least one engineer working full-time on the lu-
brication program. they would work with the maintenance
‘Downtime can easily cost department(s) to accomplish common goals. these could in-
more than an investment in an clude improved asset reliability, less material consumption,
proper lubricant handling and disposal, proper fluids/lubri-
effective machine lubrication cants and lubricant conditioning for each application at the
program and practices.’ best cost structure in order to increase the bottom line profits
which ultimately will pay for the program.

26 • FEBRUARY 2011 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 ‘Good is the enemy of great. Thinking we are good means we overlook
opportunities to improve things that would make us great.’
Charlie Fast: ideally, those involved in lubrication activities A DECADE IN REVIEW
would be responsible for servicing the machines, providing
hands-on lubricant application and inspecting equipment for MJ: how has your organization’s approach to machine lubri-
any evidence of deficiency. in an advanced state, technicians cation changed in the last 10 years?
would be thoroughly trained and fully aware of the impor-
tance of cleanliness and accuracy within their responsibili- Mark Geller: i have been fortunate enough to be involved
ties. at that point people running the programs would know with facilities/organizations that at least understood what
enough that each could also identify deficiencies within their “good” looks like. our challenge has been achieving and
respective programs. maintaining that level. i believe the change that has come
it also would be ideal to have all the sites performing the into our organization occurred through learning how to con-
same work at the same level of quality, but different plant vert lubrication theory to a realistic field application that is
cultures and work rules make that difficult. the cultures dif- sustainable and how to integrate it into the reliability effort.
fer significantly between sites for what effective lubrication We now understand how to design programs and know what
looks like. all of this is dependent on knowledgeable people standards need to be in place and how to implement them.
who have adopted the company’s vision.
Matt Spurlock: there is nothing more dangerous to equip-
Matt Spurlock: a properly designed lubrication program ment reliability than an untrained lubrication technician.
must cover all aspects of plant lubrication. this includes in- training has come a long way in the past 10 years. all lu-
put into the following: brication technicians have been trained with most of them
• How lubricants are stored, received and applied (by passing at least a Level i certification. additionally, the use
whom, with what, how often, how much). of today’s technology in the form of Pda-assisted basic care
• All lubrication-related tasks (including contamination routes has resulted in an optimized method of reporting
control). problems found by the lubrication technicians.
• Develop lubrication requirements: regrease volumes
& frequencies and oil-change intervals (time vs. con-
dition-based).
‘There is nothing more dangerous
• Establish PdM coverage: what is sampled, how often to equipment reliability than an
and the test slate.
• Develop oil analysis alarm points that fit the reliability untrained lubrication technician.’
objectives.
• Develop lubrication routes that include all relevant Deepak Kotnala: Consumers are becoming more educated.
tasks. Looking back 10 years, lubricants were never considered
• Incorporate oil analysis routes into regular lubrication important to production. From the last 4-5 years, due to
routes (allows for single pass work flow). presence of multinational giants in the indian market, the
• Establish program ownership: defining key perfor- scenario has changed from commodity lubricants to greater
mance indicators and supporting continuous im- use of performance lubricants. People have started asking
provement efforts. detailed questions about lubricant performance capabilities.
ones that used to simply ask for a gear oil now want to know
about the oil’s additive makeup, whether they are designed
‘One aspect that is often to minimize micropitting, whether they are fully compatible
overlooked is oil analysis. This with seals, what impact they have on different metals, etc.

should be a fundamental element Charlie Fast: the biggest changes have occurred around
training and knowledge development to create a cultural
in the predictive program.’ change in how we view machine lubrication. We have both
lubricant vendors and consulting companies like amrri
one aspect that is often overlooked is oil analysis. this providing training to increase awareness of the machines’
should be a fundamental element in the predictive program. precise lubrication requirements in order to reinforce the
route optimization is another aspect often overlooked that need for improvements. We are working diligently to get
can save significant dollars as it relates to manpower require- enough people to become aware and engaged to make the
ments. changes stick.

28 • FEBRUARY 2011 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

LOOKING AHEAD 10 YEARS use of condition monitoring equipment and technology.
these technologies enable lubricant manufacturing compa-
MJ: What do you think will be different about how organiza- nies and independent lubricant consultants to stress lubricant
tions will conduct machine lubrication practices by 2020? performance rather than price. as access to condition moni-
toring and knowledge of product performance both increase,
Matt Spurlock: i believe technology will play a strong role we believe we’ll see increased demand for high-performance
moving forward. integrating lubrication practices into the products. When you add shrinking sump sizes, increasing
overall reliability program rather than considering them a output requirements, growing environmental concerns and
stand-alone practice will become the norm rather than the more government regulations, lubricant manufacturers will
exception. developing corporate level minimum standards have to deliver products that provide better lifecycles with
will play a huge role in ensuring that every plant within a improved environmental friendliness.
company is performing to an acceptable level.

Dave Northrop: i believe there will be more focus on and un- ‘Looking back 10 years,
derstanding of lubrication best practices along with a slight lubricants were never considered
increase in investment in lubrication programs as companies
increasingly understand the effect lubrication has on the as- important to production.’
sets. there will, of course, be advancements in technology
to monitor machine conditions and help with leak manage- Mark Geller: i think, as with most industries, we will contin-
ment, including sensors that can give basic fluid condition ue to see new technologies that assist in refining programs,
in situ, eliminating or decreasing the frequency of sampling from testing lubricant properties to determining how the lu-
times. Companies will still be slow in their investment due to bricant gets to the equipment. i also believe precision lubri-
focus on immediate returns rather than having a longer-term cation will become much more important to companies as
requirement of their investments. they work to stay competitive in their respective industries.

Deepak Kotnala: in india users will continue stressing prod- Charlie Fast: We plan to work on how we communicate with
uct performance. We also expect increasing awareness and one another by implementing more information technology.

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY 2011 • 29

 recognition of their value would enable us to have one per-
son on staff dedicated exclusively to lubrication program
‘Precision lubrication will improvement at all sites. this would also greatly improve
become much more important the consistency between practices and programs at different
sites.
to companies as they work
to stay competitive in their Matt Spurlock: there truly needs to be a champion at the
corporate level who can help with the standardization pro-
respective industries.’ cess. this also holds true at the plant level. even the best de-
signed program cannot get traction if there are no champions
at any level of the organization. even missing one will result
in mediocre impact.

Dave Northrop: Companies must understand and accept the

long-term returns and importance of an investment in well-
trained and certified personnel and in handling and condi-
tion monitoring equipment—basically a focused lubrication
program. We need to increase the understanding that lubri-
cants are the life-blood of the manufacturing company’s as-
sets. the company should increase investment in not only
the physical assets but also the fluids with which the ma-
chines operate.

For instance, when they become more cost-effective we in-

tend to increase the use of sensors to monitor fluid proper- ‘We need to increase the
ties and contaminant levels.
if we could easily integrate the use of handheld sensors
understanding that lubricants are
and work-loggers into saP/maximo to schedule practices, the life-blood of the manufacturing
we might try that as well. the integration is challenging.
We also need to figure out how to keep the lubricants and
company’s assets.’
machine sumps cleaner than we have in the past.
Mark Geller: With any program or implementation, get-
‘To achieve success there has to be ting sustainable results is based upon leadership and on the
organizational changes that we make. We have found that
more technically qualified people defining the standards of how and what will be done, put-
ting a process in place to improve upon those standards and
involved with the programs.’ measuring our success usually puts facilities on the road to
success.
EXPECTATIONS AND ORGANIZATION CHALLENGES
Mike Johnson, CLS, CMRP, MLTII, MLA1, is
MJ: What are the organizational changes required for compa-
the principal consultant for Advanced Machine
nies looking to be successful in achieving expected program/
Reliability Resources, in Franklin, Tenn.
practices changes?
You can reach him at
[email protected].
Deepak Kotnala: to achieve success there has to be more
technically qualified people involved with the programs.
technical qualifications will include an understanding of
machines and lubricants. educational programs provided by In the Best Practices article titled, “Energy Efficiency
stLe and others will be critical to expanding the available Through Precision Lubrication,” published last November,
resource. in india education and certification through the it was inadvertedly reported on page 22 of the article that
tribology society of india has helped people become more element bearing finishes have maximum surface asperity
aware of the job to be performed. heights in the 0 range and average heights in the 0.4 mi-
cron range (RMS). The correct dimension range is .0125
Charlie Fast: We need to elevate the perception of the value to 0.8 micrometers. TLT apologizes for the error.
of lubrication engineering within the organization. Greater

30 • FEBRUARY 2011 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG