By Jim Fitch
Practicing Oil Analysis Magazine
Is the cost of oil analysis really justified? Perhaps you’ve heard another rhetorical question. How long is a piece of string? The answer to both questions is the same – it depends. Oil analysis is justified only when the answers to specific questions about the oil and machine have sufficient value to offset the cost. Unfortunately, some users are unaware of the many questions that oil analysis can answer and as a result they gain only a fraction of the potential benefit from their oil analysis program.
Therefore before you design your oil analysis program, before you select a laboratory and before you develop test slates, create a list of value-generating questions that you want answered. Basically you want to reverse engineer your oil analysis program. You start with a list of the ideal oil analysis deliverables (answers to your important questions) and work backward. The list below is designed to help you develop your question set: