Maintenance planning and scheduling initiatives start with a work order system. It is essential to have the work order system used effectively so that all maintenance activities are captured in the system. While the level of detail that is captured may vary from company to company, the work order system should track the information highlighted in the last newsletter to insure there is a return on investment for using it; this includes the ability to track labour data, materials data and contractor information.

The work order should also be able to track this information to a functional location, “building-floor-room” locator or a particular piece of equipment. The work order system should then be able to provide this information in a format that is can be utilized for historical analysis.

Once the work order system is in place, the process for utilizing it should be developed and detailed by the departments required to use it. This includes decisions such as:

• Who can request work?
• What criterion determines the type of work?
• Who approves the work?
• Who assigns the priority?

When deciding who should request work, one of the considerations should be proper training of the individuals to initialize a work order. This could include computer training, software specific training on the CMMS/EAM system. The goal is to insure that when work is requested, the proper information is provided by the requestor. This will enable the approver and planner of the work to understand what is being requested so prompt and correct decisions can be made about the request.

The next decision is the type of work that is being requested. If this is clearly defined, it makes the planning of the work easier. For example, is the work being requested an emergency or is it a normal job that can be planned and scheduled. Clearly defining what constitutes an “emergency” can eliminate much confusion in the work order process. For example, guidelines such as the work must impact:

• Environmental, Health, Safety Standards
• Downtime criteria (cost, duration) will be exceeded
• Collateral equipment/ facility damage will occur
• Product or Service Quality will be impacted

Specifying and enforcing the work request (or notification) process will prevent the planner from becoming involved in jobs where they add little or no value. In many cases, a planner can become so involved in emergency (reactive) work, that they perform very little actual planning; in fact they become expediters or clerical assistants for a supervisor.

Once the work has been correctly submitted (emergency or planned), it is necessary for it to be approved. The approver of the requested work may be an operations supervisor (for work submitted by operations personnel) or a maintenance planner. In some organizations, any employee is allowed to request work; however, without an approval process, the planner may spend a considerable amount of time explaining why some work cannot be performed. If a work order is sent to planning and still has to be rejected, a detailed explanation of the reason for the rejection should be sent to the requestor. This will insure that, in the future, only legitimate work will be entered into the planning process.

With this information provided, the work request is ready to be converted to a work order and properly planned. What are the steps involved in properly planning a work order? This will be the topic covered in the next newsletter.

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Terry Wireman is senior vice-president of Vesta Partners LLC. You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

From the point of view of a lubricant supplier, experience suggests that typical purchase decisions often begin with the product rather than the application. The final purchase decision is often driven by basic interchange criteria, typical properties and which option has the lower price or local availability. Given the range of lubricant options available in the market today and the increasingly specialized nature of production machinery operating at higher speeds and in more hostile conditions than ever before (including polar extremes), however, this is increasingly becoming a short-sighted approach. It can also lead to costly repairs and unplanned breakdowns.

Instead, lubricant purchasing decisions are better served first by defining the application; more specifically, the environmental and operational conditions that characterize the boundaries of the application itself, while recognizing that each situation is truly unique. The data, especially when extreme low temperatures are involved, will define the end-purchasing decision.

Defining the application
Proactive data collection really is the key to making good lubricant decisions. Even when basic operating conditions are known, the reality is that critical environmental conditions are sometimes overlooked. This is especially true in extreme low-temperature applications. The following outlines a few examples of factors to consider when it comes to extreme cold:

• Operating characteristics of a given application may be very different in extreme low-temperature conditions; applications may run hotter, colder or at different rpm levels;
• The extent of direct exposure to the elements can be significant, including the maximum coldest temperatures that are likely under load, when idle, during overnight shutdowns and again at start-up;
• The effect of extreme cold on applications under heavy load;
• The overall range and frequency of temperature variations;
• The extent and presence of fresh or salt water, ice, snow, chemically active fluids and other potential contaminants, including dirt, rock, grit and wood fibres;
• The effect of extreme pressure, shocks and pounding, which are often more severe in the deep cold when things are really frozen;
• The location and terrain of the equipment, as well as the distance to areas of warmth for maintenance, overhaul and repair in the event of breakdown; and
• Frequency of lube cycles and the ease of access to machinery and components, especially for the service crews on the job site.

Oil and grease in polar extremes
What makes a lubricant effective in polar conditions is its ability to maintain viscosity and flow as temperatures drop. As they get cold, all lubricants will naturally stiffen and harden to some degree. As a result, this prevents the ability to protect an application. Depending on the characteristics of the lubricant itself, it may even start to take on certain properties of a solid and essentially "freeze" (for lack of a better description) with catastrophic results. Most base oils and grease are able to withstand moderate temperature dips to zero degrees Celsius and many to -10 degrees Celsius without much decrease in performance. At the level of -20 degrees Celsius and beyond, however, certain lubricants become unsuitable, while others continue to perform.

Low down on oils
PAO (polyalphaolefins) synthetic oils are among the front-runners in performance for base oils in the resource industry at cold extremes of -20 degrees Celsius and lower. PAOs are hydrolytically stable with strong oxidative properties and low volatility, especially when compared to an equal weight ISO grade mineral oil. They're compatible with conventional products and the low absence of wax allows for excellent flow, even at low temperatures. Other advantages include:

• High viscosity index;
• Excellent low-temperature fluidity and pumpability with pour points down to -45 degrees Celsius;
• Excellent metal polarity in cold temperatures (even when idle), which maintains critical boundary fluid-film protection under load and especially at start-up when most wear generally occurs;
• Heavy-duty load, anti-wear, corrosion and extreme-pressure protection;
• Excellent water separation from internal components;
• Low coefficients of friction;
• Compatibility with metals and mineral/synthetic oils; and
• Excellent additive solubility, including non-leak, anti-foam, anti-wear and extreme-pressure additives, as well as emulsifiers, viscosity index improvers, tackifiers and solid additives, including molybdenum disulphide (MoS2).

Let's talk about grease
Grease, in its simplest form, is base oil emulsified with a thickening agent to create a semi-solid, which serves as a carrier for the base oil and any additives that have been included. For polar extremes, PAO base oils are a mainstay for grease composition (for the reasons outlined above). As for thickeners, aluminum complex is a front-runner among other options, including soaps, calcium and lithium. Aluminum complex provides a high level of overall protection, including excellent water, rust and corrosion resistance, high load-carrying abilities, excellent temperature range variation and pumpability in cold conditions.

It's also "reversible" and will revert to its normal consistency after having been heated and cooled repeatedly. This makes it ideal for the large temperature ranges of cold extremes. Additives also play an important role.  There's a broad spectrum of additive combinations, which enhance extreme cold performance. Fully formulated grease with a balance of base oil, thickener and additive package will offer definite performance advantages including:

• Excellent water emulsification;
• Heavy-duty load, anti-wear and extreme-pressure protection;
• Tackifiers for extra adhesion;
• Resistance to salt and fresh water, chemicals and other contaminants;
• Compatibility with metals and mineral/synthetic oils;
• Clean and free of heavy waxes; and
• Low start-up torque and smooth operation.

Other factors to consider
The other key point when dealing with lubrication in polar extremes has little to do with the lubrication itself and more to do with prevention and planning. Being proactive can make a big difference when it comes to avoiding the risk of breakdown, which results from lubrication failure in extreme cold conditions. A few things to consider include:

• Most wear occurs at start-up when machinery is coming up to operating temperatures. Anything that can be done in advance to pre-warm the application and the lubricants prior to start-up will help, including block heaters, indoor storage and even basic shelter from the wind and snow;

• Allow for extended warm-up periods to ensure that lubricants and machinery are at operating temperature prior to subjecting them to heavy load;

• Service applications and switch over to winter lubricants early in the year when you still have good conditions and are able to control the timing and location;

• Choose lubricants that are compatible if different products are used during the summer and the winter;

• Use more robust lubricants with PAO base oils. They may be more expensive than some alternatives, but they will extend lube cycles, provide better protection and considering the cost of maintaining equipment in the field or, even worse, the potential risk of a breakdown, they will save you money in the long haul;

• Do regular inspections and remove snow and ice build-up in critical areas;

• Avoid unplanned breakdowns at all costs. Access to applications during the winter can be much harder, more expensive and sometimes even impossible until the spring thaw;

• Plan out jobs and locations ahead of time to provide for access to warm areas at key times for service and maintenance; and

• Contact equipment manufacturers. Draw upon their experience and recommendations for extreme cold performance. Also inquire about critical areas, potential vulnerabilities and possible solutions to any design issues.

And finally, build a relationship with a lubricant supplier you trust and can provide the required data to better define the critical requirements of your application and not just products or product interchanges. A good supplier will help you select an appropriate product that optimizes your requirements, while taking into account things like base fluids, thickeners, additives and cost.

When it comes to polar extremes in the resource industry, there simply isn't room for trial and error. By adopting a proactive focus on the specific conditions of a given application, taking into account the range of lubricant options available and building a solid relationship with a good lubricant supplier, however, it's possible to simplify the process. You can also engineer a solution that will result in better purchasing decisions.  In the long run, it will save you time, money and headaches.

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Mario DiBartolomeo is the general manager of Mississauga, ON-based Davley Darmex Precision Lubricants. For more information, call (800) 361-9458 or visit www.davley-darmex.com.

For Silverline Coil, an oilrig service company that operates out of Slave Lake, Alta., reputation is the key to success.

“We’re a service company,” says Mark Bonafrenski, manager of services/operations at Silverline. “If our rigs break down, we lose money and it’s a huge loss. We can’t afford to let that happen. Our reputation is what is going to help us grow over time.”

Silverline is a company that operates coil-tubing trucks that service oil and gas wells in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and up to the border of the Northwest Territories. The company has six employees, and depending on the size of the job, uses a crew of two or three per truck. Its clients include CNRL, Pengrove Corp., Pioneer Resources and Paramount Trust.

“We clean out gas and oil wells with nitrogen and air,” Bonafrenski explains. “We pump different kinds of chemicals into formations to break down oils and gases that are down there, clean wells out, run different kinds of tools like packers, and deal with cement jobs in abandoning wells.”

Since it is a year-round business, Silverline has to operate in severe conditions and extreme temperatures. Temperatures can be as low as –40°C in the winter and up to 35°C in the summer. Plus, the equipment must be in excellent condition all the time.

“You never know what kind of job is going to come up,” Bonafrenski says. “We do emergency calls as well as regular service for our clients, so the trucks always have to be ready to roll. An injection well can go down in a field at any time, and if it does, they have to shut the whole field down. All the water coming out of any gas well can go into the injection well, and if the injection well takes on water, the whole gas well will shut down. The cost of something like that is mind-boggling.”

He adds: “So, we’re called to do an emergency cleanout. I’ve been on one that has lasted as long as 30 hours. Then you go on to your regular service call. The trucks sometimes work 24/7.”

That’s where the Traxon E Synthetic 75W-90 comes in. It saves Bonafrenski time and money, and provides extended drain intervals. In fact, as he put it, he can’t operate his business successfully unless he has a synthetic lubricant that enables him to lower costs. He has been using Traxon E Synthetic on his rigs’ rear ends and transmissions for as long as he can remember — and he says it always delivers.

“With Traxon E, the company is able to make a profit,” he says. “We only change gear oil once a year. Traxon E doesn’t break down; we check it regularly — weekly, sometimes even daily — but it hardly needs to be changed at all.”

He continues: “Traxon E is formulated to operate under a variety of load conditions all the time. It simply works so good we don’t have any problems with our rear ends. … There is less wear and corrosion on the gears, axles and bearings than with other products, and Traxon E maintains its viscosity. When you drain the oil after a lot of use, Traxon E is still fairly thick and holds up well; not like a lot of other oils. Traxon E also performs well in all weather conditions. All of this means that we’ve spent less on repairs and less on replacing equipment. Plus, there’s the added benefit of less downtime.”

Silverline has two units, and Bonafrenski says if both are down, the company can lose between $10,000 and $14,000 a day. However, he no longer has to worry about that.

“Traxon E is the best gear lubricant you can get and, in my opinion, everybody else should be using Traxon E,” he says. “It helps all the way around. I just can’t say enough good things about it from a performance and cost point of view. I’m sure going to continue using it.”

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This is an edited article provided by Petro-Canada. For more information, visit www.petro-canada.com.

As I discussed last month, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) inventory and purchasing organizations must balance the cost of carrying spare parts and the cost of downtime. What are the steps necessary to develop a financially balanced MRO inventory and purchasing function that can support maintenance planning and scheduling?

Location, Location
The first step is to develop MRO storeroom locations and to organize the storeroom. While this sounds simple, initially, the MRO locations must reflect the realities of the maintenance organization’s structure to keep travel time to a minimum, thus maintaining good craft productivity. As the organization matures, and delivery systems are utilized, the MRO stores’ geographic locations will be less critical.

Parts Distribution
The next step should be to identify all of the spare parts that are going to be stocked in each of the MRO store locations. If there is only one location, then a system that allows for quick and easy identification of each of the spare parts should be developed. If there are multiple locations, the spare parts for the equipment in the geographic area should be carried in the closest location. If the spare parts are used on multiple equipment items, then a proper stocking level should be determined for each location.

Stocking Policy
The stocking policies for each of the spare parts can be determined using several methods. They can be based on historical usage or can involve the utilization of some advanced statistical calculations to determine proper stocking policies. Once the quantity of spares to be stocked is determined, the storage areas and the equipment to move the spare parts in and out of the storage areas can be determined.

Computerized Tracking
With a sizable inventory and possibly multiple locations, manually tracking the data can become rather cumbersome. For this reason, most organizations have computerized their inventory and purchasing systems.

Most MRO inventory and purchasing will use some form of corporate or plant-level system that is already established. In the event that the tracking system is not at the corporate or plant level, a departmental system can be used. However, departmental systems are not as cost effective because the data is kept at a low departmental level rather than at the plant or corporate level. This makes cost tracking, discounting, blanket purchasing and strategic partnering with vendors more difficult.

“What service level can you afford?”
When a company sets their safety stock (the stock necessary to cover order processing and delivery time) at a high level (reorder point = minimum on hand quantity + safety stock), it will incur higher costs. However, a higher investment cost generally corresponds to a higher MRO stores service level, with fewer stock outs, which increases maintenance planning and scheduling metrics.

The question facing companies is “What service level can you afford?”

The typical ranges are:

• 100%: The investment will be too expensive for almost any plant
• 95 - 97%: A good target for most companies, especially if they are focusing on improving their planning and scheduling efficiency and effectiveness
• 90%: Downtime cost will be too high for almost any plant and maintenance planning and scheduling will be negatively impacted.

In summary, there are two general rules that balance MRO inventories. They are:

1.    The larger the safety stock,
        The lower the risk of stock out and
        The higher the cost of holding inventory

2.    The smaller the safety stock,
        The higher the risk of stock out and
        The higher the cost of purchasing and
        The lower the cost of holding inventory

Applying some of the points we have covered, most companies will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their MRO stores functions. This will allow them to focus on improving their planning and scheduling practices, which will be the topic of the next few newsletters.

Rotating equipment seldom fails without notice, so breakdowns can usually be predicted and avoided by watching for signs of failure. Vibration monitoring, followed by machine diagnostics, is an effective way to track the health of production machinery in order to adhere to best maintenance practices, extend equipment longevity and avoid unplanned downtime.

More than ever, it is important to have access to reliable information about the operating condition of critical production equipment, not just a “trip” signal that comes only after internal damage has already occurred. Machinery shutdown protection is only part of a complete monitoring strategy to guard against events with little or no apparent warning. The right monitoring equipment, trained personnel and software package are needed to sense and identify the signs of failure long before a key compressor, turbine, gearbox, pump, coupling or air induction fan fails “unexpectedly.” In any economy, timely maintenance is far better than catastrophic failure and the costly repairs that follow.

Even so, studies indicate that more than 50 percent of industrial maintenance man-hours is spent fixing equipment after a failure has occurred, whereas less than 18 percent of the time is spent determining when equipment might fail and acting accordingly. The numbers will improve only when maintenance departments establish the monitoring of machine health as a key mission.

Advanced in-the-field vibration analysis as well as online and wireless vibration monitoring can be integrated with process control systems to nurture the health of the rotating machinery that is essential to high reliability production.

Route-Based Monitoring
The traditional method of collecting vibration data from rotating machinery has not changed appreciably in more than 25 years. A technician, with a hand-held data collector that can be attached to predetermined points on a machine or connected to permanently installed sensors, follows an expeditious route through the plant to obtain detailed vibration information on different rotating assets. This data is later uploaded to a computer software package for analysis and comparison with earlier measurements taken on the same machine.

Industry leading data collection equipment (such as Emerson’s CSI 2130 Machinery Health Analyzer) accurately identifies the earliest signs of bearing and gear wear, along with many other potential machine faults, and provides an indication of severity while the technician is still at the machine. Real-time decisions can be made on whether to collect more detailed data or move on to the next machine.

Online Monitoring
In every process plant, certain rotating machinery must perform continuously to maintain a high level of production, and some critical situations can be averted only if a stream of data regarding the real-time condition of that equipment is available. To assure a flow of information regarding the health of a whole range of gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, compressors, fans, motors, pumps and the like, recently developed online monitoring systems represent technology well beyond route-based monitors that provide only snapshots of an operation. Essential equipment can be monitored for changing vibration patterns and rising temperatures — sure signs of impending trouble.

Data received directly from a machine are presented in a variety of plots that depict exactly what is occurring. Maintenance engineers and machine specialists are given real-time information for use in analyzing changes in the machine’s operation.

These signals enable analysts to pinpoint the location, nature and even the severity of developing problems. The information from these automated monitoring systems enables plant personnel to predict with greater accuracy when a machine will need maintenance to prevent damage, avert unscheduled downtime and avoid lost production. Machinery health management software categorizes the significance of each machine in a production environment, focusing greater attention on those machines that would likely shut down all or a major section of the plant if they fail. Online monitoring assures that the condition of these machines is being assessed continuously.

For example, the CSI 6500 Machinery Health Monitor is designed for process automation and protecting new installations and upgrade projects, combining prediction and protection in a single chassis. Fully compliant with API 670, this online monitor delivers real-time information needed for immediate decision-making. As well, the AMS Suite: Machinery Health Manager predictive maintenance software captures vibration data continuously from a range of plant equipment, processing it and displaying the results graphically to give machinery analysts a better understanding of what is going on inside a machine.

This combination of machine health and process status/health gives operators much greater ability to recognize and manage controllable scenarios in order to avoid problems that might otherwise lead to degraded machine health. Such controllable events represent the best opportunity for plant personnel to optimize processes and performance and make a positive contribution to return on investment.

Wireless Monitoring
One of the newest technologies to be adapted for vibration monitoring, wireless communication eliminates “blind spots”: areas that have been either technically or economically unreachable with conventional wiring. Wireless has the potential to improve communications with a wide range of assets, including field instruments, valves and safety showers. Wireless vibration monitors are also adaptable to many types of rotary equipment that are critical to the process. These devices provide convenient access to information that was formerly not available but may be essential to the overall performance and safety of each process unit.

The IEC62591 (WirelessHART) standard is based on a self-organizing mesh network in which transmissions defy the “canyons of metal” that define most large process industry plants. With this technology, each wireless device is a transceiver, so a direct, line-of-sight connection between an instrument and the data gateway is not required. In the event one transmission path is blocked, the network automatically directs the signal to an adjacent device, which relays it to the gateway, ensuring transmission reliability and data integrity.

With a wireless vibration transmitter (such as Emerson’s CSI 9420), vibration data from essential equipment can be transmitted simultaneously to control room operators and machinery health monitoring application, assuring that the right kind of data gets to the right person at the right time. This information can be used initiate predictive maintenance to prevent an unexpected failure leading to an expensive unplanned shutdown of part or all of a facility. Many times potentially disastrous conditions can be resolved before they are even recognized as problems in the control room.

Efficiently operated plants utilize every means of monitoring to obtain early indications of failing equipment so appropriate action can be taken. A system incorporating protection monitoring, prediction monitoring, performance monitoring, and integration with process control is the most effective way to achieve a complete maintenance solution.

Tracking the health of production machinery in this way is a best practice, leading to extended equipment longevity and avoidance of downtime.

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Dan Nower is with Emerson Process Management. For more information, visit www.emersonprocess.com.

Cambridge, Ont.-based MW Canada is a leader in creating quality textiles for the window covering, home decorative and technical materials industries. They work with top brand names to develop exclusive designs, colours and materials to meet ever-changing consumer demands. Their products can be found at retailers such as Sears, Costco, Lowe’s, Home Depot, JC Penny’s and Blinds to Go. The company meets the specialized needs of customers by maximizing its in-house warping, weaving, knitting, dyeing and finishing, pleating, printing and laminating capabilities.

Robert Berger took over as MW Canada president and CEO 15 years ago. His father and grandfather founded the company under the name Montreal Woollens in 1963. MW Canada relocated from its original home in Montreal to Cambridge in 1976. With 66 employees, the continuous research and development of new products and processes has enabled MW Canada to remain ahead of the competition.

“We design and manufacture unique materials that are engineered to solve very specific problems,” Berger says. “When we put our products in front of our clients, we want them to say that they have never seen anything like it before. … We just have to keep coming up with new ideas and updating our processes.”

Focus on Skills
With Canada’s manufacturing sector facing a shortage of skilled workers, MW Canada has made employee training a top priority. As part of an industry-wide initiative to develop on-site learning facilities, the company started its own Skills & Learning Centre where employees take classroom and web-based training. They offer GED, math, language and technical skills to all employees. Upgrading skills becomes part of every employee’s job description. In 2007, the company won a national award from the Canadian Council on Learning for its efforts to bring learning opportunities into the workplace.

“It has become essential that we upgrade the knowledge and skills of our employees. Innovative processes and active participation in the workplace are the direct result of making training available on site,” Berger says. “As older workers retire, we lose 20, 30 or 40 years of experience that you cannot replace. For very specialized skills, it takes a long time to become proficient. On a regular basis, we bring in the top trainers from all our machinery manufacturers to give refresher courses to our staff.”

According to Berger, 85 percent of the company’s business is exported outside of Canada. He says MW Canada has managed to come through the recent economic recession in good shape. “There will always be a need for medium-sized manufacturers that are close to the market, able to deliver niche market products quickly and efficiently. We are shipping to China, India, Mexico, South America, while the U.S. remains our largest market,” he says. “Canada has a name for quality around the world. In these foreign markets, it is all about finding the right distributor to carry a higher-end line.”

Boiling Over with Improvements
Going back to the days of the old Montreal Woollens plant, MW Canada has had a long-standing partnership with Brampton, Ont.-based Clayton Sales & Service Ltd. In the 1970s, MW Canada installed a steam generator boiler in the Cambridge manufacturing plant, which worked steadfastly until it was replaced a few years ago with a new Clayton 250-HP boiler. The company’s maintenance department still uses the previous steam generator as a back-up system.

In any manufacturing plant, the loss of production affects the bottom line. Customers expect product on time, and to specification, every time. If it is not, there are always ramifications. “We realized the old steam generator boiler was coming to an end of its life after 30 years of loyal service. So, we put in a new Clayton boiler,” Berger says. “We require steam for our dye house, where we are dyeing yarns and fabrics 24 hours a day, as well as for our finishing lines. The dye vessels are all steam-fired. This is how we heat our water. The dye process requires consistent, controllable water temperatures.”

With the new boiler, the company says its counter-flow design provides higher fuel-to-steam efficiency than traditional boilers. It also offers rapid response to fluctuating load demands and eliminates hazardous steam explosions. Other key features include: high-quality steam and advanced controls; and full output from cold start within 10 minutes without thermal stress. The boiler design typically occupies one-third of the floor space and is 75 percent lighter than a traditional boiler. Industry-leading low NOx burners are also available for added environmental protection.

Berger especially likes the new boiler’s energy efficiency, instant-on capability, dependability and low maintenance. “You know you have a problem when maintenance spends too much time with your boiler,” Berger says.

Brian Hutchings, MW Canada’s maintenance manager, knows the new Clayton boiler better than anyone. According to him, the steam generator delivers reliable and efficient performance. “Automation and start up is a big thing for us, and the new boiler is really a hands-free system,” he says. “We can also test things a lot easier and save fuel.”

What is MW Canada’s key to success? According to Berger, it is about having good people, knowing your markets and high quality production. “I am lucky to have a very smart group of people who understand the critical issues involved in manufacturing. My job is to chart our path to the future. The decisions of today effect where we will be three to five years from now,” he says. “You have to focus on the top line, bottom line and everything in between. Then people will call you lucky.”

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Glenn Adgey is general manager with Clayton in Brampton, Ont. For more information, visit www.claytonindustries.com.

In a study conducted by a major component manufacturer, improper lubrication accounts for 53 percent of all bearing failures — and bearing failures are a major cause of equipment downtime and unnecessary maintenance costs.

The majority of failures are caused by contamination of bushings by dust, dirt and moisture; inadequate amounts of lubricant applied to bearings; or over-lubrication of key pivot points. Costs resulting from inadequate lubrication include replacement bearings, labour to repair or replace bearings, unscheduled downtime and the impact on meeting delivery commitments. Our experience has shown there are five common lubrication mistakes:

1. Not Understanding Greases
• Grease is a solid or semi-solid formed when a thickening agent is dispersed in the base oil.
• Special performance additives give grease its final special properties.
• The composition of grease is about 85 percent base oil with the remaining 15 percent consisting of thickener and additives.
• When looking at the rating of grease, consideration must be given to the base oil viscosity of the lubricant within that grease.
• When selecting a specific grease, other factors may include “pumpability,” thermal and mechanical stability, anti-wear, EP additives, oil bleed, oxidation and water resistance.

2. Incompatibility of Lubricants
When adding a new lubricant, make sure the proposed lubricant is compatible to the current lubricant with respect to thickeners and additives. Check the packaging or contact the manufacturer or distributor to confirm its compatibility. Incompatibility can create internal frictional forces within the bearing, causing heat and potential bearing failure. With automatic lube systems, if the new lube isn’t compatible, users could get plugged lines/metering valves or high pressure, which can lead to system failure. Seal compatibility should also be taken into consideration when selecting or working with a specific grease; failure may result in wear, damage, downtime and lost production.

3. Over and Under-lubrication
While work orders may state a specific number of “shots from a grease gun” to lubricate a bearing, grease guns can have different delivery amounts, not only between different manufacturers but also between different models from the same manufacturer. For example, a standard grease gun delivery is rated as about 30 strokes per ounce. Therefore, higher or lower-volume grease guns could cause damage to a bearing if a calculation of the output per stroke isn’t taken into consideration.

Some people’s solution is to “keep pumping it in until you see it oozing out of the bearing.” Too much grease can be just as harmful as too little (not to mention the waste, clean-up costs and general appearances). Its viscosity can lend itself to more internal friction within a bearing resulting in a buildup of heat. It’s like the difference between trying to stir honey compared to trying to stir peanut butter: the heavier the grease, the more friction there is.

4. Misapplication of Greases
Not following proper procedures when manually connecting and disconnecting a grease gun is another common problem. Hydraulic couplers and fittings are designed to provide a hydraulic seal at any coupler angle up to 15 degrees. Movement beyond this angle will cause the coupler to disengage. A proper procedure should include the following:

• Wipe fittings clean before lubricating.
• Push coupler onto fitting at slight angle and then center coupler on the fitting.
• Operate lever gun handle to lubricate, taking care not to damage seals by excessive pressure or lubricant volume.
• After lubricating, turn coupler at a slight angle to release grip of the coupler jaws.
Improper application could result in the fitting not taking grease properly or frequently damaged fittings and couplers (unnecessary replacement costs and aggravation).

Also important to note is the position of the plunger seal (follower) in the grease gun if switching to grease in bulk instead of cartridges or vice versa. The follower resembles a cup, so when the grease gun is assembled for use with bulk lubricant, the cup has to open toward the head assembly or there won’t be any suction when trying to fill the gun or the grease will bypass the piston when trying to discharge the gun (if the gun container was filled with a filler pump). To convert the grease gun to allow filling from bulk containers or filler pumps, extract the follower and spring from the container tube and flip the follower lip from the rear to the front side.

5. Misunderstanding Automatic Lubrication Systems
There are two common misconceptions associated with automatic lubrication systems:

• Misconception #1 – Automatic lube systems look after themselves. They don’t. Lube systems are another tool designed to help reduce maintenance costs, reduce downtime, improve productivity, increase the life of your equipment, etc., but someone still has to make sure all the lines are connected, there are no leaks and that the pump and the metering valves are still functioning.

• Misconception #2 – Automatic lube systems prime and flush the lines on startup. They don’t. The main purpose of an auto-lube system is to replenish the lubricant used in the bearings. A system dispenses small, measured amounts at specified (timed) intervals — nothing more. Depending on the metering valves to prime and flush the lines on startup while the bearings are running can cause pre-mature wear and bearing failure.

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Mike Deckert is vice-president of FLO Components Ltd. in Mississauga, Ont., providing solutions for lubrication and fluid handling applications. For more information, visit www.flocomponents.com.

Preventive maintenance (PM) is the foundation of every maintenance strategy — yet organizations continually skip taking a disciplined approach to developing a PM program. They will develop a few incomplete checklists or schedules and then move on to PdM (predictive maintenance), RCM (reliability-centred maintenance) or TPM (total productive maintenance). Soon they realize they do not have sufficient resources to properly execute their PdM, RCM or TPM programs.

Steps to implementing PM program #1: Assemble all current program information #2: Determine the PM task lists #3: Create the task details #4: Set intervals #5: Monitor performance

Why? Because their current resources are too busy fire fighting to devote enough time to the more advanced strategy components. Without an effective PM program, the organization cannot transition from a reactive to a proactive environment.

An effective PM strategy focuses on the basics including good inspections, proper lubrication practices and proper fastening procedures. Studies have shown that over 50 percent of all equipment breakdowns have a root cause in the neglect of these basics. For example,

• Has your company ever experienced an equipment breakdown and when a root cause analysis was performed, the cause was an item that should have been found on a PM inspection that was completed less than a month ago?
• Have bearings ever failed at your company due to improper (too little or too much) lubrication?
• Have mechanical failures occurred because a fastener was not installed correctly (proper torque), began to loosen, created vibration which creates wear, and ultimately fails?

Rather than fix the PM checklists, train their employees in the basics and conduct completion inspections, companies move on to the next three-letter acronym, virtually guaranteeing less than optimum results for their future endeavours.

If the PM program is being developed or changed for existing equipment, the following steps should be followed:

1. Assemble all current program information
If there is an existing PM program, it is important to collect all of the existing information related to the program. This will include:

1. All of the existing PM tasks
2. Downtime history
3. Work order history
4. Production performance reports
5. Design engineering specifications

This information should be compiled into a chronological order. This will provide the detail to plot the entire life cycle of the equipment. This ensures the equipment’s life cycle is understood so that the proper PM tasks can be specified.

2. Determine the PM task lists
Using the data that has been gathered to this point, the maintenance (and/or reliability) engineer and the maintenance planner for the equipment can begin developing the preventive maintenance tasks. Using this data, the proper blend of inspections, routine services, lubrication and basic adjustments can be determined.

3. Create the task details
In this step, the actual work to be performed is detailed. This will include a complete job plan for the PM tasks. This requires the planner to detail the skilled labor requirements, the spare parts required and any special tools or equipment that will be required. Once the plan is finalized, the time estimation should be specified for the PM task.

4. Set intervals
This step sets the frequency for performing the PM.  Types of PM schedules include:

1. Calendar based
2. Usage based
3. Condition based

Once the type of frequency is set, the PMs are ready to execute.

5. Monitor performance
Since a PM program is never finished, it is necessary periodically to review the PM program by comparing the PM’s to the failures of any equipment components. If changes are required, the PM program should be adjusted to mitigate the failures that are occurring.

Once the PM program is considered effective, it is still not finished. When predictive tools are applied by the company, the PM program will undergo further change, since the predictive tools will replace many of the pure inspection PM tasks. Additionally, when the company progresses to utilizing many of the reliability analysis tools (including Reliability Centered Maintenance), the PM program will again require modifications.

If the above steps are applied to the PM program, it can be effective reducing the amount of reactive maintenance to less than 20 percent of the total maintenance workload. Then companies can successfully move to higher-level maintenance strategies.