Pursuing 25% Longer Asset Life Through Smarter Lubrication Maintenance in a Dusty Desert

The desert-bound city of Chandler in the American Southwest operates a municipal infrastructure that includes aging machinery assets at four water treatment facilities and dozens of potable water wells, recharge wells, and pumping stations. The city hired an expert— who happens to be an ICML-certified lubrication technician and oil analyst—to develop predictive maintenance programs intended to extend the reliability and service life of these assets. Though his proposed solutions will take several years to implement fully across the board, the benefits and efficiencies have been felt almost immediately. In this presentation,we’ll provide an overview of the main water treatment facility’s lubrication conditions prior to the expert’s arrival and describe the challenges he regularly faces with regard to environmental conditions, untrained vendors, and corporate culture—even as he harvests low-hanging lubrication fruit within the scope of his broader predictive maintenance mandate. We’ll also highlight his personal emphasis on the valuable role that training and certification play in his program’s success. You’ll understand that best lubrication and oil analysis practices can produce significant ROI for any machinery maintenance program; training and certification contribute greatly to the sustainability of culture change and new processes; and a strategic road map can make implementation more efficient and sellable from the outset.