Like most business plans and strategies, an inspection plan should be built from the top down. It should begin with a clear statement of corporate goals and objectives related to asset management.

This approach is addressed in ISO 55001. Another global standard currently under construction by the International Council for Machinery Lubrication (ICML), ICML 55 focuses on optimized management of lubricated assets. It is aligned to ISO 55001 guidelines as well.

A full-on inspection plan should also be a detailed and comprehensive document to ensure that key features and functional elements are not overlooked. From there, it can be abridged or streamlined for quick review by technicians and operators.

The unabridged version of the plan can even serve as a rough curriculum for training and competency testing for both current and aspiring new inspectors.

A well-constructed inspection plan enhances the likelihood and magnitude of successful and sustained deployment. The discussion that follows is more about codifying the structure of an inspection plan, including the tasks and main features that should be incorporated when writing a plan.

Modern reliability and asset management programs expect documented, procedure-based work plans. This reduces the risk of variability, uncertainty and drift over time. The plan is best if it is consensus-based and continually improved.

The post Guidelines for Developing a World-class Inspection Plan appeared first on Tesibis.

Arguably, more change has occurred related to lubricant analysis and condition monitoring in the past 30 years than all other areas of lubrication. Why does this make sense? The wisest among us know that relentless measurement is a key enabler to forward progress and change. Measurement leads us to awareness and finally to action (tangible results). Of course, there are many other factors that share in importance too. These are thoroughly mapped on the Ascend Chart.

There are nine critical factors in this Condition Monitoring, Lubricant Analysis and Troubleshooting Lifecycle Stage of the Ascend chart. Each one is important enough to justify a feature article describing its purpose and application. And honestly, one or more articles on each of these subjects can already be found at machinerylubrication.com. What has become clear after years of working in the lubricant analysis field is that the concept of best practice is not as intuitive as one would expect at the outset. As a result, from my observation, the vast majority of oil analysis and inspection programs fall miserably short of their full potential.

Therein lies the opportunity and low-hanging fruit ready for harvest. Even those who have benefited from training often seem to struggle with anything more than fragmented execution. We are fully aware that knowing is not the same thing as doing. The Ascend Methodology was devised specifically to enable user organizations to succeed in full and successful execution, each stage, each level, each factor. The roadmap is clear, the journey and execution remains with you. Listen to your oil… listen to your machine. Lubricant analysis and inspection serve as the most important metric of a lubrication program. I often say, “it’s darn hard for there to be a problem with the machine without the lubricant knowing about it first.” So, let’s examine the oil the right way, again, again and again. The story is being told but we must listen and act.

The post Listen to Your Lubricant appeared first on Tesibis.