When it rains it pours, right? Does it ever feel like when one machine goes down. so does another? Or when one problem happens, it begins a domino effect? Problems tend to compound, and when one begins, you need answers fast to mitigate the uses. The longer you wait to respond to the cause of the failure, the longer the downtime or the more machines that are affected. This can lead to dents in your budget due to costly repairs. So how can you get early detection and not just-in-time detection? Let’s look at three ways to optimize your oil analysis.
1. Frequent Testing and Inspection
If testing and data collection is not happening regularly, you can’t expect even the best oil analysis or oil condition monitoring to catch early signs of failure. Many machines can falter within a matter of hours while others could occur in a month’s time span. If the failure develops in 2 weeks and you analyze your oil every quarter, you may miss signs of early detection. Without having regular data collecting, you cannot identify trends or see a problem evolving.
2. Comprehensive Examination
Did you ever hear the story about the 3 blind men and the elephant. They each felt a different part of the elephant and describe the it as the only part they felt. One, feeling it’s legs, described it like a tree. One, feeling it’s trunk, described it like a snake. And one, feeling it’s ear, described it as a fan. Each only had a partial picture. The same is true for oil analysis. You need bandwidth. While companies may try to save money by doing basic analysis, they may not get the entire picture. Expand the screening tests used on routine sampling. Also, consider combining oil analysis with a penetrating inspection program as well as other monitoring technologies.
3. Alarms and Limits
Take control of the information you want to know by resetting your alarms and limits. You can negate data blindness by taking away control of the alarms and limits set by commercial laboratories. You know your machines and the needs of the business more than the laboratories and their standard practices. Educate your personnel on the analysis of each machine based on reliability history, cruciality and possible failures.
Finally, don’t be afraid of alerts. View them as an opportunity for improvement and glimpse into the possible future of the machine. Alerts can help you use available resources in efficient and effective ways.
McPherson Oil is proud to offer many industrial engineering services that can help you business decrease downtime. Contact us today and let’s talk about we can help reach your goals while saving money for your business.