Publisher's Note

Cut, Cut, Cut the maintenance budget is always on the wish list of any progressive organisation. There could be many strategies that the reliability team could follow to achieve the goal, but one of the important aspects (often ignored) is having a closer look at one’s lubrication processes, procedures, and hardware.

The potential bottom-line benefits of proper lubrication are often overlooked. This is true throughout the industrial world and in countless applications from power, cement, paper, steel, petrochemical, railroad, off highway, wind turbines and many other applications using rotary equipment. If no effective lubrication program is in place, an operation is not likely to be cost-effective on the basis of maintenance, lube consumption & cost of downtime.

Conversely, the right lubrication process can provide opportunities to improve profitability by reducing costs and boosting reliability, increasing the overall life cycle of equipment, and, ultimately, turning out products at a more competitive rate.

For decades, organizations have been bombarded with information and endless case studies of the benefits of implementing an effective lubrication program. The benefits associated with this program reach out wider than the equipment reliability, plant availability gains, and the reduction operating costs in most industrialized plants. These gains can also increase the entire business effectiveness by improving risk-safety, environmental integrity, energy efficiency, product quality, and customer service to mention a few.

An effective lubrication program should produce significant benefits in plant reliability and equipment availability. Conducting an internal or external assessment of your existing lubrication program and comparing it to industry “Best Practices” will provide a needed gap analysis for identifying both strengths and weaknesses. Once identified, a focus on improvements can be made that yield optimal performance from your lubrication program.

However, the simple task of conducting a comprehensive lubrication survey may be all it takes to get an organization on the path of lubrication excellence and will provide a roadmap for continued success. This issue focuses on how to roll out an effective lubrication program by breaking up the entire lubrication into 3 stages, 6 lifecycle stages and 40 factors and then analyze the entire program in totality. This process has been found highly effective in identifying the weaknesses of the program and how to build a world-class lubrication program.

Our previous issue with the cover story on Risk Management for Lubricated Machines was well received by the readers. Several of them wrote to us about their thoughts on the subject.

As always, we look forward to your valued suggestions and feedback.

Warm regards,

Udey Dhir