Efficient Plant Jan./Feb. 2024 - 18

feature | lubrication solutions
Champion
Good Lube
Practices
The power of one person, dedicated to a
quality program, can result in long-term
gains in asset reliability.
Dave Piangerelli
Lubrication Technologies Inc.
WHEN ON SITE at a plant, a quarry, a municipality, or any company/
entity that uses lubricants, it's easy to spot ineffi ciency and poor management
and, alternately, good management practices. Th e most obvious is
organization and care.
In my 47 years in the lubrication world, I've had the opportunity to see
a wide variety of operational disciplines. Generally, they can be classifi ed
in three categories: the unconscious, the norm, and the prideful.
Th e unconscious exhibit lack of care at every turn. Th e repair shop is a
disaster, old machines and parts are strewn about, dust lives everywhere,
and there is no obvious esprit de corps. You can see it on the fl oor, on
the walls, in the parking lot, and in the personnel. Organizations such
as this may live to a very old age but they suff er unknowable monetary
losses, employee dissatisfaction (displayed or not), and poor machine life
and production. Usually, the stakeholders live with this condition as they
are blind to the potentially greater profi ts and employee satisfaction that
working in a clean, well-organized environment brings to the company
(not to mention any potential clients who may see how things are run).
Th e norm is relatively innocuous. Tools and spares are fairly well
organized and there are no obvious messes or safety hazards. Employees
go about their day and do their jobs, most happy with the way things
operate.
Prideful operations are obvious. Everywhere you see organization,
clean vehicles, aisleways swept and marked, machines labeled with asset
numbers, and an obvious display of care for operations and the work
environment.
What does this have to do with lubrication? Well, everything. If pride
is on display and stakeholders are educated about lubrication18
| EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
management concepts, you'll see desiccant breathers in use, color-coded
oil-transfer vessels and, most telling of all, a well-marked, clean, and
well-lit oil-storage room. Th e oil-storage room is, generally speaking, the
low-hanging fruit in most organizations and most ripe for improvement.
THE POWER OF ONE
Why the power of one? Because that's all it takes; one individual dedicated
to having the organization operate as he or she desires. Th at means
there is no wiggle room. Th is is the way we do things and it is expected.
Of course, if that person is middle management and the owners aren't
supportive, then the one who cares won't for long and will move on.
My job is to work with those who care-managers who see value in
operating a tight ship and are excited to work with like-minded quality-oriented
vendors. We have a client who is maintenance manager of
a state-of-the-art blown-fi lm plant. As a young man, he worked under
a supervisor at another fi lm plant and, while the manner in which the
maintenance department was operated wasn't bad, when he moved to a
diff erent plant, he wanted it " his " way. He looked to me for best practices
and today the plant has color-coded fi ltration units, well-marked assets,
QD couplers and desiccant breathers, oil-sample valves on every gearbox,
an active oil-analysis condition-monitoring program, and a team that
looks up to him for the manner in which he operates the maintenance
department.
In his 20 years at the plant, he has experienced four managerial changes.
Every time he requisitioned a drum of lubricant, he was asked why
it was needed and, in some cases, why it cost more than $4,000 a drum.
He tells me he used to take the time to expound on the improvements
JAN/FEB 2024
http://www.EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
Efficient Plant Jan./Feb. 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Efficient Plant Jan./Feb. 2024
