By Jim Fitch
Lube Magazine
Lacking real knowledge in lubrication, companies must still make lubrication decisions. Decisions often seem straightforward on the surface, but below this surface, they are plagued with pitfalls that can cost companies dearly. Many are lured into making bad decisions due to pressures imposed by overzealous vendors or by management’s cost-cutting directives. For instance, those with lubrication knowledge know that saving money by buying cheap oil is almost always a false economy. On the other extreme, buying quality oil to remedy bad lubrication is also a false economy. Sadly, many companies fail to make the important distinction between good lubricants and good lubrication. Yet, it :s this distinction that defines whether or not we are on a trajectory to lubrication excellence.
Good lubrication requires knowledge, initiative and persistence. It’s proactive, not reactive and certainly not passive. You cannot buy your way into good lubrication – just like you can’t use money to tame unruly maintenance culture. Lubricants of high science and quality, at any price, cannot forgive the maintenance practitioner for not knowing how much, how often and by what method. No one is born with such insight.