TECH BULLETIN ESTABLISHING A LUBRICATION PROGRAM INTRODUCTION Establishing a Lubrication Program is an important component in manufacturing facilities to help reduce expensive downtime, increase equipment reliability, and decrease overall maintenance costs. This type of approach to lubricants can take on many different looks and has no particular order of implementation. You will see 6 “Rights” of Lubrication mentioned throughout this document. The most important consideration when starting a program is: Assign lubricant program responsibility to one person (Right People) with a team from all segments of the facility. Maintenance, Operations, Production, Purchasing, Engineering, and Safety/ Environmental. While one person will be the program manager, all members of the team will meet to help implement changes and make improvements. From this point the program can take many directions and include multiple options depending on the current condition of your program and the results you will need. Many facilities have started programs and canceled them for various reasons but the benefits to keep them going are huge. Right People Right Place Right Quality 6 Rights of Lubrication Right Product “We reduced our oil usage” “We avoided catastrophic failure of expensive gearbox” “Critical backstop repairs have been eliminated” Right Amount “Overall repair parts budget reduced” Right Time These statements are real and can be part of your vocabulary too. The following is a guide for starting and growing your Lubrication Program. • Conduct Lubrication Survey on Equipment and Operations Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc (PCLI) Technical Services team and Sales Managers can help get this started. This step is needed to determine where your current lubricant practices are and what areas need the most focus as well as what the equipment needs. Lubrication surveys can also help to compile cross reference charts and wall charts. • Establish asset criticality list Equipment that cannot fail or cause expensive downtime • Determine if any asset needs to be chemically cleaned or other type of cleaning and flushing to return them to best operating condition. For example, reference technical bulletins TB-1284E System Flushing Procedure for large system conversions, or TB-1217E Guidelines for converting to COMPRO® Compressor Fluids for more information converting air compressors. • Storage and handling (Right Quality) • Establish lubrication service procedures (Right Time, Right Place, Right Amount) • Develop or purchase a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) system for lubrication scheduling • For filling machines • For changing lubricants • Keep records of all lubricant activities • Maintain regular group meetings to discuss progress • Training Level II (Right People) • Dedicate drum pumps and transfer containers • Can be refresher on fundamentals • Establish dedicated used oil container away from new product • Deeper into the chemistry of lubrication, etc. • Discard all oil and containers that have exceeded shelf life or are obsolete (consult with your PCLI Technical Services Advisor for assistance) • OEM requirements (Right Products) • Compile database of equipment • Include OEM lubricant and current lubricant in the machine • Consolidate where possible (Right Products) • Consult with Petro-Canada Lubricants to avoid compromising performance • Training Level I (Right People) • Identify a Champion so that the project maintains momentum • Hire and train exceptional employees for this responsibility • Petro-Canada Lubricants can assist with training • Introduction to basics of lubrication fundamentals • Management and those with authority over budget should also attend training • Establish oil drain intervals based on OEM and Petro-Canada Lubricants recommendations (Right Time) • Color Code and tag equipment (Right Place) • Implement a used oil analysis program • Prioritize equipment by criticality. Not all equipment will need to be sampled • Analysis is important to help gauge the progress of the program based on oil and equipment life improvements • Leverage chosen laboratory to help establish sampling procedures and frequencies and provide training • Establish in-house procedures on how to react to results from testing, review data with team and discuss plan of action • Begin filtering new oil and in-service oil in equipment using external filtration • Use oil analysis cleanliness data to set-up filtration events • Proactively identify and minimize detrimental running conditions and sources of contaminants that can be the root cause of fluid degradation or equipment wear • Consider desiccant breathers on critical equipment • Training Level III • Training never stops; and new people join Environmental and Disposal Considerations Receiving and Storage Life Cycle of Lubricant • Explore viable Predictive Maintenance options Lubricant Analysis and Interpretation • Equipment tags should match oil dispenser label for color and/or shape • Vibration analysis • Reference wall chart • Ultrasound • Examples can be provided • Oil monitoring sensors, etc. Learn more about us: lubricants.petro-canada.com Contact us: lubecsr@petrocanadalsp.com Lubricant Selection • Remote temperature probes Handling and Application Control Contamination Filtration Committed to the disciplined operation of our business. CERTIFIED ISO 9001: 2015 ISO 14001: 2015 IATF 16949: 2016 Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc. 2310 Lakeshore Road W. Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5J 1K2 lubricants.petro-canada.com TB-1307E (2019.09) ™ Owned or used under license.
