The lubricant Optimum Reference State (ORS) is a critical concept in the journey to world-class lubrication and enhanced machine reliability. In short, it is the prescribed state of machine configuration, operating conditions and maintenance activities required to achieve and sustain specific reliability objectives. Lubrication excellence is achieved when the current state of lubrication approaches that of the Optimum Reference State. If you don’t understand the ORS, you probably don’t understand the most fundamental concepts in machine reliability.

Lubrication attributes of the ORS are not widely known by equipment builders, lubricant suppliers and maintenance organizations. Many user organizations falsely conclude that their machines are already fitted with the necessary accessories and components that enable reliability to be achieved. Sadly, of the hundreds of machine service manuals I’ve seen in recent years, it is rare to find practices described close to the ORS. In a typical plant, it is equally rare to see machines fitted with ORS-compliant lubrication components and technicians performing ORS-compliant lubrication.

There are many different attributes of the Optimum Reference State. These attributes relate to people preparedness, machine preparedness, precision lubricants, precision lubrication and oil analysis. Achieving the ORS almost always involves change or modifications. For instance, you can’t get optimum filtration unless you install the optimum filter. You can’t have optimum oil samples unless you install ORS-compliant sample valves in the optimum location. Then, of course, you need to pull the sample using ORS-compliant procedures at ORS-compliant frequencies.

The post Linking Enhanced Reliability to the State of Lubrication appeared first on Tesibis.

You’ve heard the expression. There are only two things in life that are certain: death and taxes. Some have suggested that the same applies to machinery. We all know that if a machine generates a profit, taxes will be levied on that profit. But how about death? Is machine mortality also inevitable?

Let’s take a closer look. According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor emeritus and tribologist Ernest Rabinowicz, there are three things that cause machines to lose their usefulness (see Fig. 1): obsolescence, accidents and surface degradation. Without question, obsolescence is fundamental to the evolution of engineering and technology. The old must make way for the new. Yet some inventions have long life cycles, the grease fitting for example. Its design has changed little since Oscar Zerk invented it in the early 1920s, yet is still widely used today. The automobile, however, is dynamic and in constant flux. While the classic cars live on into perpetuity, most automobiles face practical obsolescence long before they are functionally inoperable.

The post Aren’t Machines Supposed to Wear Out? appeared first on Tesibis.