The Importance of Lubrication: Schaeffler's Lubrication Concepts for Industrial Applications
Almost 40% of premature bearing failures are caused by incorrect maintenance, failure to relubricate on time, and other related issues. Having a preventive maintenance plan that includes robust monitoring and lubrication can help maximize equipment uptime while reducing expensive repairs.
The Role of Lubrication in Preventive Maintenance
Lubrication reduces friction between moving parts, prevents corrosion and contamination, and improves equipment performance. Selecting the right lubricant and following proper lubrication best practices minimize equipment failures, reduce maintenance costs, and extend capital asset lifetime.
Lubrication best practices include:
- Adhering to manufacturer recommendations: Choose the type of lubricant (viscosity and application method) according to component needs
- Keeping equipment and lubricants clean: Guarantees the lubricant’s performance and prevents equipment damage
- Apply the right amount of lubricant at the right intervals: Ensures that the machinery can run smoothly and at its peak performance
- Regularly monitor the lubricant’s performance: Ensures enough lubricant per equipment and helps to identify potential issues before any equipment downtime
- Maintain meticulous records of lubricant type, quantity and application intervals: Helps track equipment performance and catch any potential problems
#SchaefflerTips!: Elevate Your Journey with Expert Tips
Optimize your machinery's performance with Schaeffler's expert advice on lubrication, featuring crucial tips for every step of the process:
- If lubricants are stored outdoors, ensure it’s under an awning or shelter, away from the elements to prevent contamination with water and/or dirt
- Filter the oil to remove abrasive components which could cause wear on machinery
- Have a monitoring system to oversee the lubrication process from beginning to end
Common Mistakes in Industrial Lubrication
Over-lubrication may sound like a smart way to extend the time between routine lubrications, but this could lead to the lubricant accumulating dirt and other contaminants. As it heats up, the contaminated lubricant will be introduced between the moving parts, causing damage due to abrasive particles.
Under-lubricating can cause stick-slips, increasing machinery wear and from that, the maintenance costs.
Schaeffler OPTIME C1: Empowering Proactive Maintenance
In a case study highlighting Incheon Total Energy Company (INTECO), OPTIME C1, a key component of the OPTIME Ecosystem, was crucial in addressing pandemic-related challenges, such as personnel shortages and restricted plant access. OPTIME C1 simplifies tasks like manual lubrication and optimizing parameters for automatic lubricators. With its proactive monitoring capabilities, failures were detected in advance, leading to savings of 92,000 Euros in just 5 months. Compared to manual lubrication, OPTIME C1's automatic lubricators are more time-efficient, accurate, and cost-effective for maintenance teams.
The lubricator can be paired with the OPTIME mobile app, allowing maintenance managers crews to remotely monitor and schedule lubrication monitor and schedule lubrication remotely. Exceptionally intuitive in its operation, the app allows users to get notified of probable machine defects plus receive alerts before issues occur for proactive maintenance to take place to avoid unplanned downtimes. Records of the type of lubricant and the correct settings for specific lubricators are also available via the OPTIME app. This reduces manual mistakes during the changing of lubricator cartridges, reduces the changing of lubricator cartridges and overall reducing costs.
Find out how you can keep your machines rolling with more about OPTIME C1 and how it can empower proactive maintenance for your capital assets here.
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