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| Lubrication Best Practices |
Good lubrication requires two conditions: sound technical design for lubrication and a management program to assure that every item of equipment is properly lubricated.
Lubrication Program Development
Information for developing lubrication specifications can come from five main sources:
> Equipment manufacturers recommendations
> Lubricant vendors
> Lubrication Subject Matter Experts
Like most other preventive maintenance elements, initial guidance on lubrication should come from manufacturers. They should have extensive experience with their own equipment both in their test laboratories and in customer locations. They should know what parts wear and are frequently replaced.
Therein lies a caution: a manufacturer could, in fact, make short-term profits by selling large numbers of spare parts to replace worn ones. Over the long term, however, that strategy will backfire, and other vendors strategy, is less prone to wear and failure, will replace them.
Lubricant suppliers can be a valuable source of information. Most major oil companies will invest considerable time and effort in evaluating their customers’ equipment to select the best lubricants and intervals for change.
Naturally, these vendors hope that the consumer will purchase their lubricants, but the total result can be beneficial to everyone. Lubricant vendors perform valuable service of communicating and applying knowledge gained from many users to their customers’ specific problems and opportunities.Experience gained under similar operating conditions by other users or in your own facilities can be one of the best teachers. Personnel, including operatorsand mechanics, have a major impact on lubrication programs.
A major step in developing the lubrication program is to assign specific responsibility and authority for the lubrication program to a maintenance technician, Plant Manager, etc.Below is a method used to define roles and responsibilities (RACI) ensuring alignment of everyone who has a stake in Lubrication Effectiveness and how to work together to receive the output desired.
"Optimal Asset Reliability at Optimal Cost"
The primary functions and steps involved in developing a lubrication program are to:
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The Author: Ricky Smith CMRP, CMRT, CRL
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