For many of us, our first jobs were simple, mind numbing, broom operating tasks that required very little training—and there wasn’t much responsibility to go with them. But is this level of training sufficient for an Oiler in your saw mill?
“Sweep that up and put it in there,” was pretty much the extent of training went with the job. Not a big deal. But how many jobs out there still have these same training philosophies? You’d be surprised to find out how many positions rely on “OJT” or On the Job Training.
Since I work in a lot of sawmills and other industrial applications, I see this a lot. You’d think that there would be a bit more thought, care or foresight involved when tasking someone to look after their very expensive equipment. There’s hierarchy still involved with trades positions in these kinds of facilities, and it needs to be addressed.
As a company, we are often asked to come into a customer’s facility to survey the equipment, do lubricant volume calculations, and then make the changes to the systems, usually programming to cut back the volumes of lubricants being applied to the equipment. It’s a bottom line service, where what we do directly affects the saw mill’s bottom line. If we can come in and cut $150,000 a year from the total lubricants consumed, but still lubricate the equipment and improve the component life, that’s a positive, and it directly impacts the bottom line.
Here’s where it gets interesting. There are several groups within a sawmill: production, mechanical maintenance, electrical, and supervisors or managers. Within these groups, whenever someone new starts, there can be an informal apprenticeship. In mechanical maintenance, the first position is almost always the “Oiler” and this is done before a formal apprenticeship gets going. His training includes being handed a grease gun, shown the bearings he’s supposed to grease and then greasing them until he sees fresh grease.
We’ve been on site optimizing systems and working with these guys and they’ve told us on many occasions (too many to count), that they know nothing about the equipment or exactly what they’re supposed to do—other than grease and oil stuff. The short amount of time we spend with them allows us to go though the basics of how and why the systems work, how the PLC’s can actually “see” what’s happening with the systems using the components that are already there (or with the new ones that we’re adding) and how to properly set up the system to use the right amount of lube, which cuts back on both waste and wear.
Most maintenance managers don’t realize that 80% of all downtime is a direct result of lubrication issues, either by the systems not functioning properly or untrained staff looking after the systems. Untrained staff could be using the wrong lubricants, or over greasing which damages the equipment. 60% of all bearing failures are caused by over lubricating. Too mush grease pushes seals out and then dirt, water or other debris get in and cause premature failure. Too much lubricant, especially in high-speed applications causes heat because of viscous drag.
When you add up the potential costs of not knowing, it doesn’t come close to the cost of a bit of training. A small investment in training can save you thousands, if not millions, of dollars in reduced downtime and increased equipment life, not to mention labour costs, health and safety. Awareness about this issue needs to be driven from both ends, bottom up, as well as top down. Oilers will often have a difficult time getting support from managers because it will be seen as an expense, but managers need to open their eyes and see that this training is a necessity that will add value to their team, and their bottom line.
Author: Dean Maier
Dean has been in the automated lubrication business for 25 years, with 85% of that time spent in forestry applications. We are delighted to have his insight with this latest blog.
Industrial Autolube International Inc.
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