What was your professional highlight of 2013?

TLT Sounding Board December 2013

 

By far the No. 1 answer submitted by TLT readers was achieving the Certified Lubrication Specialist™ (CLS) designation, a fitting result since that signature STLE service celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013. Also mentioned several times was attaining STLE’s Oil Monitoring Analyst™ (OMA) certification. On the industrial side of STLE’s membership, many readers said they introduced new products and established relationships with major OEMs. Others said they increased sales in a still-challenging economy, which others noted they were to cut costs and thereby stay profitable during periods of declining sales. On the research side, many readers said they published papers, presented at technical conferences (many of them international) and authored books.

I focused on new product development instead of daily fire fighting (dealing with the problem of the moment).

Took trips to the U.S. and Canada.

Achieved more new consulting opportunities.

Completed roll out and implementation of a new product range.

Presented a paper at a professional conference.

Added international sales to my duties.

Achieved rapid business growth, add new hires, doubled revenues and maintained net profit rate.

Obtained my CLS from STLE.

Led a project to organize my client’s lube slate and inventory into a manageable program.

Being instrumental in securing a large piece of business that we have been working on for many years.

Secured several OEM approvals for my company’s lubricants.

Developed a new water-based lubricant to replace oil.

Generated new business (volume and revenue) that contributed significantly to the gross margin contribution of our business unit.

Market share increase.

Served as the metalworking fluids paper solicitation chair for the 2013 Annual Meeting in Detroit.

I’m CLS certified and manage our lubrication department at a limestone mine and also serve as a member of our RCM team. My biggest accomplishment for this year has been working directly with a major base oil supplier on an efficiency study. Still working on getting the results published.

Signed a significant amount of new business.

Secured the lubricant business at a brand new power plant.

Improved reliability awareness in diesel engines.

Here in Argentina, we made a CrN coating multilayer for aerospace use. We also studied the same coating in erosion-corrosion. We have planned to buy next year a more complex equipment for PVD coatings. We founded the Argentine Association of Tribology.

Production improvement via procedural alteration.

Gained more than $150,000 of new lubricant business.

Published new papers, new scientific discoveries, and delivered successful presentations at conferences.

My professional highlight in 2013 was the development of rolling bearing technologies for an aircraft prop fan engine demonstrator with reduced fuel consumption, CO₂ and NO_x emissions.

Introduced several new products into our lineup. Process included naming, data sheets, labeling and pricing. I wear many hats!

Advanced our company’s R&D and QC ability. Received ISO 9000 for two company locations.

Served as a member of a scientific committee for an international conference.

Provided expert opinion in legal matters.

Delivered quality service to our customers.

Continued to use and expand predictive maintenance at our wastewater treatment plant.

I retired July 1.

Found a new job.

Published a paper.

Increased lubricants sales volume by 10 percent.

Graduated with my doctorate and obtained an industry job.

Was promoted to a higher position in my company.

Got the message through that regulatory compliance must be thought of as a critical piece of the business and not just a burden.

Participated in a multimedia ad campaign. Seeing renewed interest in sustainability and an environmentally adapted product. Generated new business.

Grease plant expansion.

Reduced loss of containment incidents. I’m a rotating equipment specialist.

Contributed to the launch of a new product.

Sales increase.

Participated in excellent lubrication seminars.

Hearing that my consulting clients are happy with my work.

I work as a manufacturer’s representative. Our small company lost key accounts during the recession. Within the past year, we have been contracted by several excellent new companies and have more than replaced the business lost.

Created a new technology.

Developed a new product for my company.

15 percent increase in sales.

Modeled a mechanism for chemical attack of diamond-like carbon films.

What percent of your 2013 goals did you achieve?
90%-100% 23%
70%-89% 47%
50%-69% 23%
Less than 50% 7%
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT readers.

Being on the cover of a magazine.

Winning new contracts that further the company’s objectives.

Increases in sales, profits and market share. We manufacture lubricants for metal forming.

Helping a customer solve a long-term, oil-related problem that will save them a great deal of money.

Built a stronger team that equated to gaining more business and a better working environment.

Attending ILMA’s fall meeting workshops.

Prepared for retirement by leaving a solid foundation for my replacement.

Attained STLE’s CLS and Oil Monitoring Analyst™ (OMA) I certifications.

Research and development of food grade lubricants in the bottling industry.

Improved the maintenance group’s performance percentage from low 60s to high 80s.

Accomplished marketing and business goals for the year. I’m a global senior marketing consultant.

Applying a tribological process to a 600-cc superbike to achieve 3-hp increased output.

Achieved the CLS.

Developed and qualified new products.

Educated potential clients on the benefits of top-tier lubricants.

Improved our No. 1 product quality and manufacturing capability.

Completed my 40th year of service with my company. Shared my knowledge with coworkers and customers. Continued to expand my knowledge of lubricants, fuels and coolants in relationship to improving my ability to provide better maintenance procedures and recommendations to customers. Made it to 30 years as an STLE member. Completed my 13th year as an STLE section chairman.

Successfully protected a customer in a legal proceeding with depositions that led to an out-of-court settlement.

The ending of a successful project to develop a new fuel-efficient, heavy-duty diesel engine oil that met durability and oil drain goals.

Solved a couple of machine problems using oil analysis.

Being in control enough to take a one-month vacation.

Successfully manufactured, tested and proved an entirely new bearing material.

Discovered a simple solution to what was potentially a complex and work-intensive problem.

Presented gear technology engineering seminars to younger engineers.

Started working in the areas of smart machines and components.

Received a promotion.

Validated a season-long field trial of a new lubricant.

Still have a job!

Successfully obtained high-volume business with two accounts.

Added a very large customer account after showing them a 27 percent cost saving just by changing to our metalworking fluid.

Achieved CLS certification.

Attained professional certifications from STLE and SMRP.

Filed for another patent.

As co-owner of an industrial equipment and lubrication distributor with a reliability-focused mission, we strive to educate our customers in methods and technologies that will improve their bottom line performance. 2013 saw expansion of this training to several new key customers.

Gained OEM recognition and approvals of our products.

Continued to maintain profitability and cut costs when sales slowed down.

Launched a new computer system.

Built a MS Access database to track equipment repairs at the workshop. The process covers 15 platforms and includes both static and dynamic equipment.

Attained ICML MLA II certification.

Successfully lowered raw material costs through global sourcing.

Completed the conversion of plant refrigerating and A/C equipment to non-ODS refrigerants.

Passed the CLS exam.

I was able to reduce raw material costs and still increase performance of multiple products. I’m a lubricant formulator.

Learning more about transmission fluids.

Development of my LCM program. Getting published.

Diversifying supply.

Led a project team in developing an engine health management program.

Our corporate headquarters took on an additional line of lubricants, allowing us to add two more sales engineers for the industrial side of our business. In our secondary location, we acquired an additional major line of automotive and industrial lubricants. We also opened an additional satellite location and added six more employees.

Higher additive sales.

Making a specific type of emulsion clear and stable, well beyond the boiling point of the product.

I work in sales. Professional highlight of 2013 was gaining increased sales in difficult trading conditions in Europe. We gained in market share, as well as organic growth.

Training my elder children in the right choices for their own life by demonstrating it in my own actions for success. My hope is that they will pass this knowledge on to their children.

Helping to make the STEM Camp at the STLE Annual Meeting a success!

I moved from being a lubrication specialist in South Africa to a high-performance lubrication consultant for Europe and Asia.

Gained additional synthetic lubricant business via new formulations for very specific and delicate applications. I’m a lubricants marketer.

Developed a patent surrounding boron and polymer composite compounds. As a consultant, my life is varied so I did not have a lubrication moment this year.

Educated myself on high-performance lubricants and metalworking fluids, my primary areas of focus.

Got a better job with a much bigger company. I am a lubricant sales executive.

Reached a great quantity of people in training. Traveled all around Mexico to give recommendations and advice at professional conferences, much more so than in 2012.

Expanded the size of my team and the customers we serve. Approximately doubling our revenue.

Landed a huge compressor OEM for their international fill and service requirements. I am the owner/vice president of sales, directly related to all aspects of the selling cycle.

How do you expect business will be for your organization in 2014 compared to 2013?
Better 59%
About the same 36%
Worse 5%
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT readers.

Was able to implement procedures and products to save a customer more than $1 million a year. I work in industrial lubricant and metalworking products.

Identified a cost-effective technology to utilize the newly available LNG (liquid natural gas). I have retired but stayed on with the same company to work as a consultant on special projects.

Submitted my first tribological patent application.

Increased sales revenue and gross profits in excess of 10 percent. Not bad for a 91-year-old company with 2012 sales of $45 million. I’m vice president-operations for a chemical and lube distributor.

Achieved successful completion of a multimillion-dollar project on time, safely and on budget that produced the anticipated results.

I, along with two of my employees, joined STLE and also passed the CLS exam.

Trained a young engineer/technician in lube systems.

Being named chairwoman of the College of Fellows, Engineering Society of Detroit.

I work for a small lubricants packaging company, which recently bought out one of our customers. The former customer had supplied us with all the blends, but once we bought the company I had to learn how to formulate blends. That is my professional highlight so far this year.

Retired at the appropriate time, leaving my replacement with several successful projects to finish on a positive note.

Assisted in improving metal surface quality at an aluminum sheet producer as its technical consultant.

I became CLS certified.

Increased global business market share and the expansion of innovative technology.

I am in technical sales and my professional highlight for 2013 was the high level of participation by my customers at the STLE, NLGI and ILMA meetings this year.

Killing huge sales goal—my way! Plus received my CLS recertification.

Introduced a line of corrosion inhibitors with no MEA and biostatic properties.

Wrote another book.
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.