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Return on
Investment
By David Doyle, CLS OMAII OMAI
Most everyone agrees that analysis of used lubricants
while in service provides a terrific tool for enhancing maintenance
practices, protects equipment investment, warranty claims, resale value and
equipment uptime. This all comes down to economics and dollar savings. This
is the root of the service provided by Staveley Services Fluids Analysis.
What is not always tangible without a system for monitoring success is the
long-term correlation of test data with equipment reliability, maintenance
practices and cost savings.
One way of measuring the cost benefits when using an
effective oil analysis service is to access the penalty of failure if
sample testing did not compliment other maintenance practices. When
selecting equipment for oil analysis the following may be considered;
·
How critical is the equipment to the operation?
·
What are the downtime and repair costs with and without using oil
analysis?
·
What is the general cost to business interruption when equipment
breaks?
·
How is my warranty protected on new equipment?
·
How is the resale value of old equipment increased?
Maximum returns are realized when maintenance practices
are aggressively correlated with the information acquired by a structured
oil analysis process. Many of the cost benefits of incorporating oil
analysis into a company’s maintenance practices will depend upon how
it is used. Most maintenance practices using oil analysis fall into three
categories:
Preventative, Scheduled Maintenance: This can lead to too
much or too little maintenance and is often not relevant to the actual
condition of equipment.
·
Predictive, Condition Based Maintenance: Maintenance decisions based
on current health condition of equipment and how critical the equipment is
to the operation and cost of downtime
·
Proactive (Root Cause Analysis), Condition Based Maintenance:
Control or eliminate the source of root causes that lead to equipment or
lubricant failure.
It’s fairly easy to take a single oil analysis test
report and determine beneficial actions that resulted. The real challenge
with many maintenance applications is measuring the overall benefit that
the oil analysis service brings to an entire operation. In evaluating cost
benefits and improved maintenance practices the following consideration
should be made:
·
Are there effective procedures for routing data back to end-user(s)?
·
How are records and data managed?
·
Is there follow-up of detrimental trends and test results?
·
Is there documentation for the long-term correlation of test data with
equipment reliability, maintenance practices and cost savings?
The Practical Handbook of Machinery Lubrication, Second
Edition, provides the following information relating to lubrication related
cost: According to Dr. E. Rabinowicz, an MIT Tribologist, it was concluded in a study that total tribological losses in the US are estimated at $194
billion annually. Wear and lubrication losses account for $173 billion of
that amount. Documented feedback received directly from SSFA customers show
that 31% of the abnormal oil sample reports resulting in maintenance action
are wear related with an average cost savings of $1,000 to $3,000 per
sample. Some savings can be documented as high as $20,000 to $25,000 on a
piece of equipment. Our feedback also shows 16% of the abnormal oil sample
reports resulting in maintenance action are related to dirt and water
contamination with an average cost savings of $1,000 to $3,000 per sample.
Analysis of in-service lubricants for equipment health and
reliability does certainly compliment other maintenance practices and
contributes to cost savings. With the proper management of test data and
the expanded use of root cause analysis, Cost savings can be documented and
maximized, especially through the use of SSFA’s
web-based services.
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