For owners and operators of gearing equipment, the ultimate goal is to achieve a return on investment by maximizing the output, reliability and efficiency while minimizing down time and operating costs. Keys to doing this effectively are understanding your gearing equipment’s lubrication system and ensuring that the system has the correct type and supply of lubrication oil.

CONTENTS No. 1: Viscosity No. 2: Petroleum-based or synthetic? No. 3: Lubrication systems: Splash and force-feed lubrication No. 4: Heat removal

VISCOSITY
A variety of criteria must be considered before choosing a gear lubricant: the unit’s operating speed and load, temperature range and lubricant availability, to name a few. However, the most important factor is viscosity, which changes appreciably with temperature and is generally stated at two temperatures, 40°C and 100°C. Lubricating oil viscosity is usually expressed in terms of the time required for a standard quantity of a fluid (at a given temperature) to flow through a standard opening.

High-speed units produce an acceptable oil film at the contact area even with a low-viscosity oil. Gearing units that operate at lower speeds produce a thinner oil film, which requires more viscous oils to separate meshing tooth surfaces. Still, often a gearbox will contain both high and low-speed gear meshes. In general, the lowest viscosity oil capable of forming an adequate oil film at all operating conditions should be chosen. However, in practice, the lubricant chosen is often a compromise between the requirements of the various lubricated components — such as gears and bearings — and the particular application requirements — such as large ambient temperature differentials.

PETROLEUM-BASED OR SYNTHETIC?
Petroleum-based mineral oils are complex mixtures derived from the refining of crude oil and have been found to excel as lubricants in most applications. These oils are usually compounded with different chemical additives to improve specific properties, such as increased lubricant life, resistance to rust and oxidation and increased load-carrying capacity.

More specialized high-load oils, also called extreme pressure gear lubricants, contain selected additives that increase the load-carrying capacity of gearing by forming a film on the metal that provides component separation under higher load conditions. Often times, these lubricants will contain more than one chemical additive for load capacity enhancement over a wide temperature range.

Plant managers may also consider synthetic lubricants. Operating parameters may include high-temperature thermal and oxidation stability; low-viscosity variation over a broad temperature range; low-temperature capability; and long service life. Since synthetic lubricants can be up to four times more costly than petroleum-based oils, they are generally reserved for problem applications, such as extremely high or low temperatures, equipment subjected to frequent overloads, and equipment with a marginal lubrication system.

LUBRICATION SYSTEMS
There are two types of gearbox lubrication systems that are in current use: splash and force-feed lubrication systems. Both types are used to distribute sufficient oil to each component of the gearbox while minimizing the generation of heat by oil churning and oil foaming.

• Splash lubrication:
It requires that the gearbox be filled to a specific lubrication oil level, then rotating gear elements within the gearbox dip into the oil and “sling” it into troughs, pockets or directly to bearings and gear meshes requiring lubrication and cooling oil. Feed troughs are employed to capture oil that is “slung” onto the upper gearbox-housing wall by the dipping gear element. This oil drips into the trough, which, in turn, distributes the oil to the bearings.

Splash lubrication systems are far simpler and less expensive than force-feed but are applicable only to low-speed gear units. As shaft operational speeds increase, the heat generated in the gearbox becomes excessive, requiring an external, force-feed lubrication system to supply larger volumes of lubricant to lubricate and cool gearbox components.

• Force-feed lubrication:
A shaft-driven or motor-driven oil pump draws oil from the gearbox sump through a suction pipe. The oil is directed from the pressure side of the oil pump through a filter to cleanse the oil, and through a cooler. A pressure relief valve is typically located before this filter to protect the system from too high an operating pressure. If the filter becomes clogged, the relief valve will permit the unfiltered oil to bypass the filter so the gearbox will continue to receive lubrication, albeit unfiltered.

Relatively little oil is required for lubrication using a force-feed system, provided it is properly directed. The bulk of the oil flow is required for cooling the gear tooth flanks and bearings, not just lubricating.

HEAT REMOVAL
The lubricant’s ability to remove heat and cool the gearing unit is just as important as lubricating gearing and bearings. For every gear drive there is a thermal rating. If the thermal rating is less than the mechanical rating, additional cooling must be supplied by a force-feed lubrication system.

If the lubrication oil alone is unable to remove the necessary amount of heat, auxiliary cooling can be used in combination. For example, to increase the thermal rating of a gearbox with a splash lubrication system, air can be forced past the radiating surfaces of the gear casing by strategically placed fans external to the gearbox. A fan attached to the high-speed pinion shaft external to the gear housing is one such application. In addition, the unit can be cooled by a water jacket, which consists of water passages that are built into the gear housing, usually at the high-speed end.

Understanding these basics can help maintenance technicians and plant managers stay on the forefront of preventive maintenance measures and help extend the lifecycle of their rotating equipment.

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Jules DeBaecke is the vice-president of engineering with Philadelphia Gear. For more information, visit www.philagear.com.

Companies seem to revisit this issue with each change of management, whether it is the plant, engineering, operations, or maintenance manager. Based on his or her background, each manager will bring a different perspective on this question. Most managers, even those who may have progressed through the plant hierarchy, will fail to take into consideration the true cost of reactive maintenance. The investment it takes to properly maintain the plant equipment should be financially balanced, comparing proactive costs versus reactive costs.

On one side, there is the cost of proactive maintenance. In most organizations, this is usually easy to calculate. It is the cost of the maintenance labour, materials, tools, equipment, contractors, etc., performed in a proactive (budgeted) mode.  This information is tracked in most accounting and budgeting systems.

On the other side is the cost of reactive maintenance (decreased maintenance efficiency and effectiveness) including the unavailability of the asset or equipment. This information is not always known or as easy to calculate.

What is the cost of unavailability or downtime?

It begins with the cost for the equipment to sit idle (operational and maintenance labour, utilities, depreciation, etc.) all of which is lumped into a budget line item called “cost to produce” — but these costs are only the tip of the iceberg.

Additional costs would also factor in the cost of a product not produced on schedule. This impacts the delivery schedule. If the company is going to minimize the impact on their delivery chain, they may have to notify their customers to expect a late delivery, which in a competitive marketplace could result in a dissatisfied or lost customer.

The company may choose to work additional shifts to make up the lost product, which impacts future maintenance and operations schedules. This also incurs additional costs since it requires additional operational and maintenance labor, usually in the form of overtime. It also requires additional energy to operate the equipment when it was originally not scheduled to run. If this energy is required during a penalty period for unscheduled energy consumption, then the cost can skyrocket.

The last three paragraphs assumed that there is unused capacity for the production or process equipment. However, what occurs when the equipment is already at capacity and it fails? How does the company recover the lost production? In some cases, such as the utility industry, they can purchase additional energy from the grid; this is usually at a much higher cost than the company would have produced it. However, in most cases, the lost production cannot be made up and the company must notify its customer that a delivery will be late.

Consider also, the start of the supply chain. If the production process is down in a just in time or lean manufacturing environment, then the suppliers will have to be notified to reschedule their delivery or the company will be forced to accept the delivery and stockpile the material at the start of their manufacturing process.

After considering this newsletter, it must be recognized that proactive maintenance is a more effective business model than reactive maintenance. How much more effective?  Wasted reactive maintenance resources may average 30 percent or more than the required resources in a proactive work model. Production downtime losses will average at least four times the wasted maintenance resources. How much will your company be willing to spend to move from a reactive to proactive maintenance business model?

These questions will be topics for discussion in the next newsletters. Stay tuned.

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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 .

Click here to subscribe to his Wireman's Wire enewsletter.

Many organizations are only using their computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) as a record-keeping tool, but by not fully utilizing the system, maintenance is missing out on opportunities to save time and money. A properly implemented CMMS will increase productivity by improving work process flow, helping to migrate from reactive to proactive.

At the most basic level, it is important to first establish a reliable system of entering and maintaining data (such as part quantities, reorder points, equipment associations, etc.). Part of this is also training staff to use the CMMS as the primary channel for this information and to not revert back to older methods. After that, it’s a matter of planning your predictive (PdM) and preventive (PM) maintenance, deciding which pieces of equipment warrant predictive maintenance and which will be effectively maintained with preventive maintenance. The final step is the integration of the technology or the CMMS itself.

PdM Basics
PdM must be looked at from the understanding that the action of the maintenance staff is geared to the actual condition of an asset. A condition-based maintenance management system will utilize the physical properties (or operating data gathered over time) from oil analysis, vibration, infrared or ultrasound information (points 1 to 4) to dictate the appropriate maintenance action. This differs from failure-based/reactive maintenance, which is initiated when an asset breaks down, or PM (point 5), where user-based maintenance is initiated by the calendar or individual meter readings. Non-invasive PdM monitoring tools be used during normal operation and make it possible to detect problems before suffering unplanned downtime.

1. Vibration.
All rotating equipment vibrates, and one must determine how much vibration can be accepted. A typical starting point is to trend a machine’s overall vibration level, beginning prior to installation or as soon after as possible. Monitoring options include low-cost vibration pens (best for detecting a vibration “spike”) or more sophisticated portable data collectors or online surveillance systems, which collect data at a predetermined interval. By tracking and trending conditions, one can plan and schedule maintenance/repairs before a catastrophic failure occurs.

How CMMS Can Help:
CMMS can be interfaced or integrated with vibration analysis and can assist in organizing a route to monitor critical equipment. The three components of an effective PdM vibration program are detection, analysis (track and trend) and corrective action.

2. Oil Analysis.
Studies have shown that 70 percent of mechanical failures and 20 percent of energy costs can be attributed to poor lubrication programs. The main advantage of an effective oil analysis program (see Page 20 to learn how to start one) is the early detection of oil contamination, oil degradation and machine wear. It is also necessary to differentiate machine types by test programs and individual requirements; also, to establish sampling time intervals short enough to detect failures, particularly in critical equipment.

How CMMS Can Help:
By employing a CMMS, a sampling route can be scheduled in order to minimize the impact on manpower and insure sample consistency. A CMMS can provide additional details as to equipment configuration changes and critical failures as well as track inspections and repairs.

3. Infrared Thermography.
The use of thermography can provide immediate feedback on the radiated heat from an asset without having to come into direct contact or having to shut the equipment down. Infrared testing has broad applications in power distribution, rotating equipment, piping and insulation.

How CMMS Can Help:
A CMMS needs to identify critical equipment and establish routine inspection routes of infrared survey data for maximum effectiveness and safety. Benchmarking ideally takes place at the beginning of the equipment’s service life as a basis for a trend analysis program.

4. Ultrasound.
Portable ultrasound equipment converts the high frequency sounds generated by installed equipment into audible frequencies that can be easily evaluated by trained technicians. The comparison of historical readings (lower signatures, new sounds, absent sounds) supports the troubleshooting process. Ultra-sound devices can pick up small frequency changes identifying internal bearing friction, fluid leaks and numerous electrical problems. As well, a leak audit can identify energy losses from compressed air and steam leaks.

How CMMS Can Help:
Readings from ultrasound equipment can be coded and integrated with a CMMS. Inspection routes can be established and monitored to assure that, over time, all plant equipment and service areas have been inspected thoroughly.

5. Preventive Maintenance.
The first step is to set up a basic PM schedule for the critical pieces of equipment. This involves specifying the PM tasks and procedures, PM frequency, the craft (electrician, mechanic, etc.), labour, material and tool estimates. It is then important to perform audits on a regular basis.

As well, optimize your PM program: if you are doing too little PM, obviously you will experience breakdowns and lose money in repairs; and if you are doing too much, you are still wasting money. You have to come up with an optimum frequency. Another part of the optimization audit is reviewing your PM tasks and procedures to insure that they are meaningful. Tasks and procedures only add value to a PM if they aid in the prevention of a failure and improve asset reliability. If they do not contribute to this goal in some way, they should be removed from your task list.

How CMMS Can Help:
The CMMS can set up a basic PM program, monitor it and then optimize PM frequencies based on criteria specified by the user. Below are a few examples:

• Inform decisions: A CMMS produces reliable information to enable informed decisions at all levels of the enterprise, including requestors, engineers, maintenance technicians, service managers and corporate management.
• Identify non-value-added activities: Maintenance spends a great deal of time waiting for parts, management approval, instructions and equipment to be made available. CMMS can help identify where exactly maintenance is losing most of the available “wrench time.”
• Analyze data: CMMS is great for analyzing the data and making meaningful decisions. For example, reviewing work order schedule compliance, ratios of PM and repair work orders compared to total work orders and taking necessary corrective action.
• Keep a virtual paper trail: Maintenance operations frequently gather readings on a variety of equipment, such as boilers, chillers, compressors, etc. Some companies use CMMS to record and save these readings to identify abnormal readings and correct problems. After defining certain ranges and criteria, CMMS will flag a warning immediately. Maintenance planning can automatically incorporate usage and condition-based, preventive, predictive failure, and corrective maintenance resulting from abnormal readings.

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Kris Bagadia is a consultant and educator and Brett E. Smith is a senior consultant, both with PEAK Industrial Solutions. For more information, visit www.peakis.com.

Laying the groundwork for an oil analysis program will ensure it runs with a minimum of problems and effort and will ensure the best return on investment. Review these recommendations prior to meeting with a current or proposed oil analysis vendor.

Set Program Targets and Goals
Setting program goals is paramount to a successful oil analysis program. All oil analysis programs are not created equal. Discussing goals with a vendor will allow the lab to select the appropriate tests for each type of equipment in a plant.

The two primary goals for oil analysis are predictive and proactive maintenance. Oil analysis allows maintenance personnel to act in a predictive manner by providing forewarning of a machine failure in time to schedule appropriate maintenance. It also provides the necessary data to allow companies to act more proactively. While the oil analysis provides the raw input data to the process, generally companies require consultants to assist them in understanding the overall trends in the data, and to assist in selecting appropriate lubrication-related solutions to prevent common lubrication-related issues from reoccurring.

Determine Responsibilities
Like any successful program, it is necessary to designate personnel to tasks and provide training to ensure tasks are performed properly. Tradespersons, oilers or lube technicians typically carry out oil sampling. Ensuring personnel who take oil samples are properly trained and have the correct sampling hardware is important to ensure the integrity of oil samples.

Maintenance managers, reliability engineers and technicians are typically responsible for reviewing the oil sample reports. It is important that they can interpret the oil analysis data and recommendations, and translate these into appropriate maintenance tasks.

In many cases the same people taking the samples will be carrying out the maintenance tasks that are recommended by the oil analysis reports. As a result, ensure that there are lines of communication between those personnel that take oil samples, review the oil analysis results, and those that affect the corrective actions.

Determine the Scope
Initially, it is neither necessary nor recommended to sample every lubricated machine within the plant. In many cases, this is impractical due to the sheer quantity of lubricated machinery. In other cases, equipment may not be well maintained, so the first round of oil samples inevitably creates a lot of emergent maintenance tasks that cannot reasonably be performed.

The best approach is to evolve the oil analysis program. Start with the most critical machines in the plant, or the bad actors, and then gradually add more machines to the program over subsequent sampling runs. Remember, if you don’t have adequate resources in place to take the samples, review the result and carry out the resultant maintenance tasks, then the program is going to stall.

Review Sampling Procedures
Sampling consistency is very important and should be as repeatable as possible. Samples should be taken from the same location, while the equipment is in operation, if possible, or soon after shutdown. Sample points should be clearly identified, and proper sampling ports should be installed.

Samples should be taken at regular frequencies. Most industrial machinery can be sampled every three months; however, critical components may require sampling every month, and non-critical components every six months.

Collect Machine Information
Before collecting the first oil sample, take the time to collect all the required equipment information in electronic format and forward it to the oil analysis vendor. Providing this information goes a long way to ensure accurate diagnosis and meaningful recommendations.

Integrate Digital Data
Most vendors provide oil analysis-based software, whether standalone or web based. At the very least, the software will provide quick notifications of critical reports. The software should work in conjunction with an existing reliability software platform. Most vendors provide data export capabilities for common reliability software packages — or standard CSV or XML data files at a minimum.

Take Corrective Action
In a typical oil analysis program, roughly 80 percent of sample results are normal, 15 percent are abnormal and five percent are critical. The largest return on investment comes from averting machinery failure in the critical five percent of instances. It is incumbent on the reliability and maintenance departments to ensure that appropriate maintenance activities are carried out based on the oil analysis recommendations.

In cases where machinery inspections are recommended, it is essential to take immediate action, consult with the operators and collect all the necessary information to make a decision on when to take a machine out of service for inspection and possible repairs. Consult the testing lab about additional advanced level testing that may assist in making the decision more clear.

Aside from critical samples, do not forget the 15 percent that show abnormal oil quality or contamination issues. Many plants fail to adequately address the underlying issues that lead to oil-related problems that shorten both machinery and lubricant life. These abnormal oil samples provide the input that experienced consultants can use to recommend proactive solutions.

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Bill Quesnel ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is the vice-president of WearCheck Canada Ltd. and Lubrigard Ltd. For more information, visit www.wearcheck.com or www.lubrigard.com.

There are many organizations that reduced the size of their maintenance organization and focused strictly on a “fix-it-when-it-breaks” strategy during the recession.

Now, as the recession is starting to ease, companies are beginning to review their maintenance organizations and are focusing on implementing a proactive approach to equipment/asset management. 

Unfortunately, they may have found that much of the expertise in the maintenance discipline was dismissed or had retired during the recession. They are now promoting new, talented managers into the maintenance organization who lack the expertise to implement a proactive approach to maintenance. These new managers, much to their credit, are trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible, by reading and attending conferences (such as MainTrain this September in Fort McMurray). However, they are being presented such a quantity of improvement methodologies that it all seems to be confusing, and this confusion has slowed the improvements needed in their organizations. 

In reality, it doesn’t really matter what the three-to-five-year vision for the maintenance organization is — the starting point for all strategic maintenance initiatives is developing a proactive maintenance philosophy. You may ask, “Why do we need to start there?” The answer is twofold:

Don’t be Reactive
It is important to develop a proactive mentality. When an organization has been running in reactive mode for even a short time period, it develops a reward-and-recognition system for reactive behaviors. In a reactive environment, the “Hero” is rewarded. And who is this “Hero,” you may ask? It’s the maintenance technician that can fix any piece of equipment in the shortest time and will insure it runs through the current shift. It doesn't matter how long the equipment lasts beyond the end of the shift because the operations and maintenance people on the next shift can worry about how to keep it running. The “Hero” is rewarded with extra perks, such as miscellaneous supplies (provided by both maintenance and operations managers) and perhaps an occasional dinner for them and their spouse. This reactive behavior feeds on itself and the entire organization moves down that path.  Reactive maintenance becomes the organizational culture despite the fact tasks performed in a reactive mode will cost anywhere from two to four times more than when done proactively.

It Takes Time to Change Culture
Changing a culture takes time and management focus. When the managers begin to reward proactive behaviors, such as “Do It Right The First Time (DIRT-FT)” and good craft/skill behaviours, the employees begin to notice. Once they are convinced that management is going to “walk the talk” when it comes to proactive maintenance, they slowly begin to change. This change does not happen in a week or month; rather, it may take years.

Any change of management personnel (maintenance, operations, engineering or plant) can easily sidetrack progress. In some cases, organizations that have become proactive have regressed when a key manager was replaced with another, who brought a reactive philosophy with them. In some cases, the maintenance and operations employees have had to educate the new manager on the value of proactive maintenance versus reactive maintenance.

Show Me the Money
With this in mind, what is the financial benefit of proactive maintenance compared to reactive maintenance? What are some of the basic maintenance items that should be included in a preventive maintenance program?

These questions will be topics for discussion in the next two newsletters. Stay tuned.

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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 .

Click here to subscribe to his Wireman's Wire enewsletter.

Maybe you’re thinking to yourself that the waste and inefficiency caused by using worn spray nozzles just can’t be all that significant. If so, it’s time to change your thinking and determine if nozzle wear is a problem in your operations. Like many other processors, you may discover that you are wasting millions of gallons of water, thousands of gallons of chemicals and incurring many other unnecessary costs due to using worn nozzles.

Once you appreciate the magnitude of the issue, you should be motivated to take immediate corrective action.

They may look simple enough, but spray nozzles are highly engineered precision components that can wear over time or suffer damage during normal operations or even cleaning. These are the most common problems that cause sub-standard spray performance:

Causes of Spray Nozzle Troubles

Erosion/wear
Gradual removal of metal causes the spray nozzle orifice and internal flow passages to enlarge and/or become distorted. As a result, flow usually increases, pressure may decrease, the spray pattern becomes irregular and liquid drops become larger.


Corrosion
Spray nozzle material can break down due to the chemical properties of the sprayed material or the environment. The effect is similar to that caused by erosion and wear, with possible additional damage to the outside surfaces of the spray nozzle.


High temperature
Certain liquids must be sprayed at elevated temperatures or in high-temperature environments. The spray nozzle may soften and break down unless special temperature-resistant materials are used.


Caking/bearding
Build-up of material on the inside, on the outer edges or near the orifice is caused by liquid evaporation. A layer of dried solids remains and obstructs the orifice or internal flow passages.


Accidental damage
Damage to a nozzle orifice can occur if a spray nozzle is dropped or scratched during installation, operation or cleaning.


Clogging
Unwanted solid particles can block the inside of the orifice. Flow is restricted and spray pattern uniformity disturbed.


Improper re-assembly
Some spray nozzles require careful re-assembly after cleaning to ensure that internal components, such as gaskets, O-rings and valves, are properly aligned. Improper re-assembly causes leaking and inefficient spray performance.






To identify worn nozzles, look for these clues:

Quality control issues and increased scrap
Worn, clogged and damaged spray nozzles will not perform per specification, and can result in uneven coating, cooling, cleaning, humidifying and drying.

Increased maintenance time
Unscheduled spray system downtime, or an increase in cleaning frequency, is an indicator of spray nozzle wear.

Flow rate change
The flow rate of a spray nozzle will increase as the surfaces of the orifice and/or the internal core begin to deteriorate. In applications using positive displacement pumps, the spraying pressure will decrease as the spray nozzle orifice enlarges. Even small changes in flow rate can have a negative impact on quality, so routine monitoring can reveal potential problems. But in some instances, the spray pattern will look fine — so it will be necessary to actually collect and measure the spray fluid output in order to reveal wear.

Deterioration of spray pattern quality
When orifice wear occurs in hollow cone spray nozzles, spray pattern uniformity is destroyed. Streaks develop and the pattern becomes heavy or light in the circular ring of fluid. In full cone spray nozzles, the pattern distribution typically deteriorates as more liquid flows into the center of the pattern. In flat fan sprays, streaks and heavier flows will be visible in the center of the pattern and the effective spray angle coverage will decrease.

Spray drop size increase
Liquid flow will increase, or spraying pressure will decrease, as nozzles wear. The result? Larger drops and less total liquid surface area. This is tough to detect visually, so if you suspect a problem, arrange for drop size testing.

Lowered spray impact
Worn spray nozzles operate at lower pressure, generally resulting in lower spray impact. (Ironically, in applications with centrifugal-type pumps, impact may actually increase because of increased flow through the spray nozzle.) Special testing may be required.

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Jon Barber is a director at Spraying Systems Co. He can be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Whether you are a big or small company, a simple starting point for moving from a fire-fighting mentality to a more planned environment is to implement a preventive maintenance (PM) program. For starters, even a manual system at virtually no cost goes a long way toward making significant improvements to overall plant productivity. For less than $1,000, you can automate your PM program, eliminating some of the administrative tedium of a manual system and significantly improving the reporting. More expensive packages will provide even greater functionality, such as condition monitoring; for some, this may add significantly higher value such that its benefits outweigh the additional expense.

PM should be an easy sell — yet so few companies actually embrace it. Why, then, do so few people do these very simple PM routines even though they know it is good for them? Answer: Since there are no immediate consequences, PM becomes low priority.

It is therefore not surprising to find top management espousing the virtues of PM. After all, talk is cheap. However, the demands of production, and the expense in time and money of establishing and maintaining a PM program, cause an indefinite delay in the implementation of PM. Condition monitoring exacerbates the problem due to its even greater cost and complexity.

Features of Modern PM Systems
• Triggers: Because of its simplicity, the PM modules of CMMS packages share many basic features. All of them give you the option of triggering PM work orders based on calendar and meter readings. More advanced CMMS packages allow users to trigger PM based on events or condition readings taken from equipment on the shop floor on an online, real-time basis. These readings are compared to the allowable upper and lower control limits and can even spot an alarming trend before downtime occurs. Top-end packages can combine various indicators, setpoints and conditions using Boolean logic to create new triggers.

• Auto-reset: Suppose a PM is generated to change the oil based on the first trigger of a period of three months, a given usage meter reading of 3,000 kilometres or an event such as an overhaul. Regardless of which trips first, all appropriate triggers will be reset automatically with this feature.

Condition monitoring is an exception in that it could completely replace all of the other triggers. For example, suppose you are monitoring the level of particulate in the oil, and it trends outside an acceptable range thus triggering a PM to change the oil. Because the PM is triggered based on “true need,” there is no reason to reset or even have the other triggers. However, the downside to condition monitoring is that it is usually more difficult and more costly to implement; therefore, a business case is required.

• Calendaring: The calendar feature differs slightly from one software package to another in terms of ease of use and level of detail. High-end packages use graphics to display calendars showing holidays, vacations, shift hours and scheduled overtime for an individual tradesperson. Low-end packages dispense with the fancy graphics and may only provide calendars by crew or plant, not by individual. The calendar feature is important to achieve the objective of maximum tradesperson utilization.

• Seasonality: More advanced packages allow users to assign periods of time when a given trigger is or is not in effect. So, for example, a PM routine that is only relevant during the summer months can be blocked out from, say, September 1 to April 30. Some CMMS packages allow users to specify an unlimited number of exclusion periods or individual dates. A few packages will even let users specify a tolerance percentage and/or a preferred date for releasing a PM. For example, users might want to generate oil changes only on the first Tuesday of every month when the meter reading is within 10 percent of a given setpoint.

• PM shadowing: To avoid generating duplicate PM work orders, the PM shadowing feature skips over shorter-cycle jobs. For example, a major overhaul includes an oil change and will thus render redundant any oil changes scheduled immediately before or after the overhaul.

• Nested cycles: A feature found in only a few packages allows users to nest different PM cycles. For example, suppose the first cycle is to replace the oil and filter, and the second cycle the same. With nested cycles, users can set the third cycle as the same plus an additive and chassis inspection. This feature saves establishing three jobs instead of one job and three cycles. In turn, this makes changing a step easier by avoiding a change to all three jobs. You can also use nested cycles to handle PM shadowing and seasonality.

• Notification: This feature provides a notification or a warning of a trigger. Notification can be by email, pager, phone, screen popup, and so on. For the more advanced web-based CMMS packages, a shortcut to the status reporting or alarming screen can be included in the email.

• Integration: Another significant difference between CMMS packages with respect to their PM modules lies not within the module itself but in the ability of the package to interface with other software, such as document imaging, predictive maintenance, ERP, shutdown maintenance and project management software. Proper interfacing can dramatically reduce the amount of unplanned downtime experienced, as well as the length of downtime required for PM.

With the purchase of an optical scanner and/or using CAD software, document imaging allows users to attach either scanned or CAD images to a piece of equipment, work order or inspection record. These can then be retrieved within the PM module or other maintenance management modules for viewing, printing or editing. Thus, a maintenance worker can prepare a free-hand sketch of lubrication points on a piece of equipment and scan it, and the system will automatically print it each time the appropriate PM work order is printed.

Regardless of specific industry, the resource sector is highly dependent upon mechanical equipment to power its operational processes. With up to 70 percent of mechanical failure directly/indirectly attributed to ineffective lubrication practices, resource-type reliability is intrinsically linked to good lubrication practices (GLP).

Take Seven Steps: • 1. Consolidate your lubricants • 2. Contamination control • 3. Filtration • 4. Spill containment • 5. Engineered lubricant delivery • 6. Disposal program • 7. Lubrication training

And there's no end of candidates ready to benefit from GLP. For example, they can include: gear-driven pumps, fans, conveyors, gas/air compressors, generators, cranes, scoop trams, haul trucks, hydraulic systems and couplings—virtually anything on the move!

Harsh conditions associated with the resource sector manifest themselves in different ways. Oil and gas plants are often found in remote locations, requiring the correct choice of lubricant, which is capable of working in both hot and cold extremes. Mining operations can also place temperature demands on equipment, often accompanied by dirt and water that require a suitable lubricant, excellent filtration and consistency of lubricant application.

Poor accessibility to lubrication points is often experienced in elevated transfer equipment, such as cranes and conveyors. This requires an engineered approach to provide consistent lubrication similar to that of an automated single-point lubricator. Resource sector material handling apparatus and vehicles are designed to take a great deal of abuse, and as a result, are often neglected.

What you need is a diligent approach to lubrication (i.e. an automated lubrication delivery system and wear particle analysis that's used to determine oil change time based on the oil's condition). The harsh, remote environments found in the resource sector accelerate the need for an engineered lubrication management program. Currently, there's no better place to commence your "reliability" initiative than by implementing, or updating your current approach to lubrication.

Equipment-related wear is caused by friction—choosing the wrong lubricant, applying the lubricant incorrectly, at the wrong time, or allowing the lubricant to become contaminated. This results in raising the level of friction that retards bodies in motion. More energy is then required to overcome the effects of friction.

For little or no capital outlay, adopting a seven-step engineered approach toward your lubrication efforts will result in the following: significant energy cost reduction; reduced lubricant inventories, consumption and spills; cleaner equipment; reclamation and reuse of existing lubricants; responsible disposal of old lubricants; and a significant increase in equipment reliability, availability and throughput.

Step One: Consolidate your lubricants
Many companies will carry an inventory of 20 or more lubricants throughout their facilities, often stored in half-open containers, exposed to atmospheric contamination and in danger of being spilled. Today's lubricants are capable of out- performing many of the lubricants you have continued to use and purchased over the past decades. Consolidation programs can easily reduce lubricant inventories by up to 75 percent and higher depending on the industry. This leads to lower purchase and carrying costs and a simplification of the lubricant application program. Investigate the use of synthetic lubricants in situations with extreme temperatures.

Consolidation forces you to inventory all of your lubricants in the facility and list every storage location. Engage with your lubricant suppliers and have them bid on performing a lubricant consolidation exercise. This program is usually offered at little or no cost, in exchange for blanket orders that can also work in your favour by fixing lubricant costs for a set period.

Step Two: Contamination control
Contamination is an enemy of both wear surfaces and lubricants. Fortunately, it can be controlled with a little effort and awareness. Contamination issues are largely caused by poor storage, handling and application practices. Fine tolerance bearing surfaces and radial lip seals don't take kindly to lubricants carrying abrasive bodies to the wear surface.

Nonetheless, we continually grease nipples without first cleaning the grease gun and the nipple, leave off reservoir lids and breather caps on hydraulic systems, ignore lubricant container lids and store barrels of lubricants in the outside extremes of weather to rust and collect water. We also use non-dedicated and dirty lubricant transfer devices. Review how you keep contaminants from ingressing your lubrication systems and develop improved housekeeping practices. Also invest in one of the many new-dedicated lubricant transfer systems offered by your local industrial supplier.

Step Three: Filtration
Poor machine filter management can manifest as reduced lubricant flow and cause the bypass of deadly wear contaminants to your bearing surfaces. Ensure filter replacement is made a high priority as part of your preventive maintenance program. In an effort to conserve and reuse lubricants, an external pump/filtration cart can be used to clean your large reservoir lubricants and ready them for reuse. This saves lubricant, change out and disposal costs. Contact your local lubrication hardware or filter supplier for details on this easy-to-use system.

Step Four: Spill containment
Oil spills are never easy to deal with; prevention can result in a lot less effort should a spill occur. When storing lubricants, ensure all full or partially full containers are kept in an area protected by an impermeable berm used to contain the spill in a localized area. The containment system can be a steel box tray, a concrete berm system, or one of the many plastic containment systems sold by your local industrial supplier. Just in case, don't forget to have on hand a spill management kit.

Step Five: Engineered lubricant delivery
Both under and over lubrication will cause a significant spike in energy requirements (one to overcome the metal-to-metal collision and the other to overcome fluid friction). Tuning your lubricant delivery can result in energy savings as high as 20 percent. Invest in a lubrication operation effectiveness review (LOER). This will enable you to improve your current approach to delivering the right lubricant, in the right amount, in the right place, at the right time—whether it be from a grease gun, or fully automated lubrication system.

Step Six: Disposal program
Local legislation is increasingly forcing companies to own their waste and put in place a disposal plan or program. Many organizations operating under a consolidated program have also been able to set up a recycling initiative. Old reservoir lubricants are taken back, cleaned, reconstituted with additives and resold to the originating company as recycled oil at savings of up to 25 percent of virgin oil.

This not only saves the environment, but also reduces the purchase cost of new oil for maintenance departments. Collecting oil by type makes it easier for the disposal company to reduce disposal costs charged to you. Check with your disposal company to see what programs are available, which you can take advantage of immediately.

Step Seven: Lubrication training
A little basic lubrication training can significantly boost understanding and enhance your program. Surprisingly, lubrication on the surface appears very intuitive in nature. At the same time, however, it's perhaps the least understood area of maintenance. Investing in a basic course that's focused on lubrication training will facilitate your program immensely.

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Ken Bannister is the author of the best selling book, Lubrication for Industry, and the new lubrication section of the 28th edition of Machinery's Handbook, published by Industrial Press. He performs lubrication effectiveness reviews and lubrication training programs for all industries. You can reach him by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This article was previously published in REM magazine.