July - AMMJ

AMMJ
Lubrication Reliability 13
Alas, comfort in a systems’ intended function is far from the best reason to apply it to other uses. Outside the
CMMS are hundreds of products supporting additional reliability disciplines such as vibration, IR and others. Why?
The work-order-centric design of a CMMS is incapable of supporting the unique data and activity requirements of
these disciplines. Understanding lubrication reliability to be a unique discipline is the first step toward gaining its
considerable benefits.
As mentioned above, CM & PM work-orders typically number
less than a few thousand annually, while annual lubrication
activities can range up over 700,000. While the typical CMMS
adeptly catalogs equipment at the nameplate level, these
systems lack a clear approach for cataloging the multiple
related lubrication points, let alone the multiple activities for
each of these points. Also missing are the many data elements
regularly found in the previously explained spreadsheets. The
fact that these discipline-specific details are missing from the
typical CMMS is the main reason such spreadsheets find
common use.
This lack of requisite details leads many into a minimalist,
work-order level approach to lubrication. Simple monthly PMs
are created for each equipment section or area, producing
work orders with generic instructions such as “Lubricate
stations 1 thru 8,” or “Check Levels in Bldg 12.”
Striving for more detail, one plant of an integrated forest products company was required by corporate to use one
of the large Enterprise Asset Management systems (EAM) to manage its lubrication program. The plant’s reliability
engineer invested months of effort on repetitive keyboard entry of lubrication details into long-text fields. Shortly
thereafter, and much to his dismay, it was decided to switch more than 200 reservoirs to synthetic lubricants, leaving
him to edit each individually. Furthermore, with his hands tied by data locked into non-actionable text-fields, he was
forced to answer with a definitive “NO,” when the plant manager asked him if his time and effort had resulted in an
accurate and consistent lubrication program.
Signing the order was easy...
Greg wondered why he had taken so long to get outside assistance. Perhaps it was the fact that
Maintenance consultants seemed to have a bad reputation – “Borrow your watch to tell you the time – then
sell you your watch”. Perhaps it was because they had a reputation for charging exorbitant fees. Perhaps
there was a little bit of pride involved – “It is my job to make this plant safe, efficient and reliable, and I am
going to do it – myself!”
But finally he had to admit that the challenges he faced were too great for any one person to deal with on
their own, and he had contacted Assetivity. It’s amazing how a series of equipment failures (including a
catastrophic conveyor pulley shaft failure that had caused a major safety incident and significant downtime)
can focus the mind, he thought, wryly.
At the initial meeting with the senior Assetivity consultant, Greg had been impressed by the way in which
his problems and issues had been listened to, considered, and absorbed. He had liked the way that, in the
course of their discussion, they had together been able to give focus to the complex network of issues and
opportunities that he faced, and put these in perspective. He been attracted to the down-to-earth and
practical discussion regarding implementation issues. And he was impressed by the focus on developing
and implementing solutions, rather than on selling specific products, tools or methodologies.
It had become clear, in the course of their discussion, that there was an urgent need to “get back to the
basics” – to ensure that the current Preventive Maintenance program was appropriate, and was being properly executed at shop floor level, and that failures
were being prevented, and the causes of those failures eliminated. They had agreed that the first step was to conduct a quick diagnostic review, focusing on
these areas, in order to develop a plan of action. Getting authorisation from the Plant Manager had been surprisingly easy, and Greg was signing the Purchase
Order for this review now. So far, it had been smooth sailing, but Greg knew that the real challenges lay ahead. But, with the involvement of Assetivity, he had
confidence that they were on the right track.
More than availability and reliability...
Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne
Ph +61 8 9474 4044
www.assetivity.com.au
Asset Management Consultants
Vol 24 No 3