Up Time Magazine - February/March 2009 - (Page 18) information technology upload Streamlining Lubrication Energy Savings Through Task-Specific Lubrication Reliability by Eric Rasmusson W ith most plants today facing increased pressure of competition – and some even fighting for survival – the advantages of a task specific lubrication reliability system are too great to be ignored any longer. Along with several other reasons, energy savings is one major benefit of unlocking untapped potential in a large number of facilities through better lubrication practices. ings are significant. Such reductions in energy consumption will meaningfully impact the O&M budget – year after year. Unharnessed Opportunity Lubrication reliability is an extremely important and complex operation not adequately addressed by corporations world-wide. They give focus to important operations such as accounts receivable, inventory control, CRM, process control and a host of other functions. In fact, no corporation would dream of running without the advantages gained from using software designed for these specific purposes. Yet these same organizations often remain naive about the complexity of industrial lubrication – and its importance as an unharnessed opportunity for new operational efficiencies. A well documented and definitive case study1 shows energy savings gained from the proper lubrication of equipment, including a multi-hundred ton stamping machine. As is regularly found in plants lacking a task-specific lubrication program, this machine wasn’t being properly lubricated to specification. In fact, it was shown to be filled with the wrong lubricant. Working with the energy utility, baseline consumption data was collected. With this data in hand, the machine was flushed and filled with the proper lubricant, and then monitored over several months of operation. Upon its conclusion, the study results brought forward an impressive 18% reduction in energy consumption – a $2,700 annual savings at typical rates – on a single machine alone. According to the US Department of Energy, the typical plant spends 60% of its Operations & Maintenance (O&M) budget on energy alone. Of course, not all equipment would produce reductions in energy consumption in the 15-20% range. Yet with the hundreds or even thousands of pieces of equipment within a plant, the potential sav- Missing Lube-Points The simple fact in many plants is that lubrication points are being missed. And the resulting impact goes far beyond increased energy consumption. A recent report by Ricky Smith shows poor lubrication practices are responsible for 40% of maintenance related failures2. It may be a case of the wrong lube (as in the energy case study above), incorrect frequency, or guesswork resulting from the lack of a reliable method for tracking when a point was (or was not) lubricated. And far too often, lube-points are simply forgotten altogether, only to be re-discovered years later. It is no wonder a survey included in this report shows 80% of respondents indicated that lubrication was a significant problem in their operation. Think about it for a moment. Most industrial plants consist of varied equipment numbering from the hundreds to the thousands. Each one of these equipment pieces typically includes multiple component parts requiring lubrication, such as a motor, drive-shaft and coupling. Multiple lube points per equipment result in thousands upon thousands of individual points to be serviced. Yet lubrication is even more detailed than these numbers alone. Do The Math Each individual lubrication point often requires multiple and differing activities to be performed, each at its own Editors Note: We published this article with specific references to LUBE-IT Lubrication Reliability software in order to tell more people about potential solutions as maintenance and reliability information management evolves. We did not want to make it generic. There are other unique software products that we will also be presenting to you in Uptime. In order to bring you the full impact of the capabilities of some of these new technologies - we have decided to allow product specificity - not as an endorsement - but to create an enhanced understanding of the rapidly changing landscape of Information Technology. Uptime is comfortable stepping out of the limited and traditional etiquette of magazine publishing and we hope you see the value in our decision. We certainly invite your feedback as we continue to move forward. february/march 2009 18
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