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Companies urged to evaluate lubrication programme

A Kluber Lubrication GB product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 13, 2009

Kluber Lubrication has explained the importance of using the right lubricant to a company's bottom line.

Because lubricants typically make up only one per cent of a company's total operating costs, many lubrication programmes do not receive the attention they deserve.

However, the surprising truth is that the lubricants chosen by a company will have a significant impact on high-visibility and high-value line items such as energy, labour and equipment costs.

Identifying the true cost of your lubrication programme is the first step in optimising your plan to positively impact your bottom line.

When analysing your current lubrication programme, consider how much lubricant you are using, how often you re-lubricate and how much time that re-lubrication takes.

If you already have a handle on these numbers, you are well ahead of the game.

If you do not, take some time to establish a baseline so that when considering alternative products you can conduct an 'apples to apples' comparison.

By tracking these variables, you will come to realise that the true cost of your programme includes more than the price per kilo or price per litre of your lubricants.

Now that you have a firm grasp on the true cost of your company's lubrication programme, the next step is to evaluate where savings are possible.

Let's take a more in-depth look at the factors involved.

Facilities are constantly pushed to increase productivity while reducing maintenance and operating expenses.

Any time your equipment is idle, you are losing productivity.

While some maintenance, including lubrication, can be completed while your line is in operation, some has to be conducted during downtime.

This is not a huge inconvenience if you have regularly scheduled downtime that coincides with your re-lubrication schedule.

However, if you have to bring a machine down once a shift specifically to re-lubricate, that is money taken away from the bottom line every shift.

What if you were using a lubricant that extended that re-lubrication interval to once a month?
Consider, for example, a manufacturing facility in the food and beverage industry running nine lines, with a total operating time of 8,000 hours per year.

Its current bearing lubricant requires re-lubrication once a week.

By using a specialty synthetic lubricant, its re-lubrication interval could be extended to once a month.

This not only saves time but also reduces consumption.

If your plant is like most, there is probably a 'wish list' of maintenance projects just waiting for the manpower and time to get them done.

While even the best lubricant cannot create time, an optimised lubrication programme can help free-up resources to accomplish those tasks.

If your lubrication specialist is able to extend re-lubrication intervals through the use of synthetic, newer-generation products, you can do more with the same staff and with the same time.

In our case study, the facility had the potential of re-allocating almost 1,500 man-hours annually.

Imagine what could be accomplished in that time.

Used-lubricant disposal is also a variable in calculating the costs of your lubrication programme.

Extended lubrication intervals impact these figures.

If you are using less lubricant, you are disposing of less lubricant - another saving to the bottom line.

And don't forget your spare-parts inventory.

Proper lubrication can help your machinery and its components last longer, which means less money spent on repairs or rebuilds.

Your equipment is a major investment and should be maintained accordingly.

Another factor many companies fail to consider is how much energy a company can save by utilising highly efficient gear oils.

The right lubricant can reduce the co-efficient of friction, resulting in less power loss.

In other words, the right lubricant equals less required energy, leaving you with a lower energy bill at the end of the month - all of which serves your bottom line.

In order to avoid the pitfalls of purchasing lubricants based solely on price, evaluate your current programme and then request a comparative cost-benefit analysis from your potential supplier.

Simple calculations can reveal significant savings that are not always evident in the initial cost of a lubricant.

Find out more about this article. Request a brochure, download technical specifications and request samples here.
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