A data management and reporting solution is imperative to a successful fluid analysis program. What prevents companies from fully realizing the benefits of such software applications?

TLT Sounding Board September 2012

 

It’s been said so many times it’s almost a business cliché—too many senior managers spent too much time in MBA classes and not enough time turning a wrench. The comments made by this month’s survey respondents certainly support that theory. TLT readers say many senior managers not only don’t understand the importance of lubricants, they can’t see the economic penalty they’re paying for that lack of knowledge. When it comes to lubrication programs, focusing on short-term savings over long-term goals leads to machine downtime, wasted man-hours, equipment failure, bloated maintenance budgets and unsafe working conditions. Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way. While a properly managed program does involve an investment in time, training and, yes, dollars, the savings that comes from running machinery smoothly, efficiently and safely pay for themselves many times over. “Too many managers follow the adage, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’” said one survey respondent. A better cliché for those responsible for equipment maintenance to follow: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Lack of time and personnel investment on their part. I’ve helped implement oil analysis programs and shown the prospect the savings of this type of program. However, almost without fail, the prospect will delegate responsibility to a less interested party, resulting in poor data input, data reporting and, ultimately, useless information.

Lack of interest. Undervaluation of such data.

Lack of knowledge about how to manage the analysis—what to test, what information and how often do we test. Lack of knowledge about what to do after the analysis is received.

Not having the people in place to pay attention to the analysis reports and appropriately respond to what they say.

It is the lack of understanding of what benefits will be received when the right software is used. Sometimes you have to provide a monetary number they can grasp.

Cost of the system and cost of maintenance, which could include IT personnel.

Lack of trained personnel to oversee the program.

Lack of commitment.

Non-user friendly software and inconvenient locations of computers not near work areas.

They do not understand the meaning of the tests or what the results mean.

The extra time it takes to get the program started.

Integrating interpretation of the results with the data and trends.

Decision-makers do not understand the program. They think the technician can do miracles.

Too much to do by too few people. They cannot keep focusing on it.

They don’t read them or they don’t interpret them correctly. It doesn’t matter if it is on a computer or a sheet of paper.

Cost, staff training and proper inputs.

Conveying the preventive maintenance information to the person(s) responsible for action on monitored equipment.

What prevents most companies is time itself.

What graphing tools and features do you find most useful in oil analysis data management applications?
The ability to export/download data to a spreadsheet 89%
The ability to create graphs within the application 87%
Other 24%
Based on results from 13,000 TLT readers. Results exceed 100% because some respondents chose more than one answer.

Lack of familiarization with the lab they are dealing with and the services the lab has to offer.

Highlighting off-trend data and setting appropriate alarm levels are basics. I need the software to generate actionable suggestions that are applicable to each system.

Lack of education.

The lack of management to assign an internal champion to lead, monitor and moderate the overall program. And/or the lack of management to properly fund the overall program long-term by expecting near-instant gratification.

The real problem here is that senior management must be convinced to invest in the program. Without oversight, an oil analysis program is useless.

The fact that often the data is on one computer and not a server, which would cost more.

Data acquisition in the field is an issue.

It is not easy for them to understand this data. Therefore, they just file away the results instead of taking hold of the data and implementing solutions!

Any and all outlay of funds is seen as a hit to the bottom line. How can you overcome that mentality? I have no idea.

They pay too much attention to up front price and not enough to overall cost reduction. Low-price fluid analysis is like a set of combination wrenches with the three most used wrenches missing.

Most non-technical managers have a limited understanding of true costs of preventative maintenance versus repairs from a known wearing condition.

They do not understand exactly what the data means and they do not want to spend the time and money to learn how best to interpret the data.

The allocation of time and the assignment and training of knowledgeable people to manage the program.

I think it is mostly a communication breakdown. I think most would agree that all companies want to improve equipment reliability; the issue is speaking to the right person in the organization who can either make the decision or has the desire to pass on the information to the right person.

Key personnel at sites do not understand the value of it and so do not seek accountability.

The cost-benefit balance of the oil analysis is either not understood by the senior managers, or the cost-benefit balance is not being well-explained by those seeking to implement the oil analysis program. All that would have to be said is: Reduce downtime by avoiding oil-related equipment failures.

Software cost.

The cost of implementation is the disconnect. Senior managers who don’t record these things themselves don’t realize the labor savings of implementing a user-friendly system that provides accurate reporting to the customer.

They follow the mentality of oil being unimportant and uncomplicated. Any oil will work.

Lack of rudimentary knowledge about oil analyses.

Thank goodness most senior-level managers are starting to realize the importance of doing oil analysis.

Editor’s Note: Sounding Board is based on an e-mail survey of 13,000 TLT readers. Views expressed are those of the respondents and do not reflect the opinions of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. STLE does not vouch for the technical accuracy of opinions expressed in Sounding Board, nor does inclusion of a comment represent an endorsement of the technology by STLE.