1. Monitor Oil Level. Installing a reliable oil sight window, such as a 3-D BullsEye, gives you a fail-proof reading of your oil level. Surprisingly, a huge cause of equipment failure is because there was too little or too much oil in the equipment. Installation will take you about two minutes and checking the oil level is as easy as walking by the machinery. Read here how one plant estimated millions of dollars in savings by installing 3-D BullsEyes on their equipment.
Average 3-D BullsEye Cost: $30
2. Control Contamination. Contamination is the leading cause of machine failure. The smallest amount of debris or water can cause abrasion, erosion, fatigue and corrosive wear on machinery. A quality desiccant breather takes little time to install and prevents contaminates from entering the equipment. As it is spent, the desiccant changes color from blue to pink, alerting operators it is time to change the breathers.
Standard breather Cost: $60
3. Visually Analyze Oil & Discharge Water. Being able to see and analyze equipment's oil and diagnose problems can extend the life of industrial lubricants. An Oil Sight Glass, or Bottom-Sediment & Water Bowl, can be added to the drain valve and allow for immediate oil inspection.
Standard Oil Sight Glass Cost: $70
4. Compare Oil Quality Over Time. Lubricants can quickly change color, temperature and clarity over time. These changes are hard to track how quickly and to what degree the characteristics of the oil has changed if you aren't keeping adequate records and have nothing to provide a comparison. No need for fancy equipment, the use of Magnetic Oil Monitors are tools to help you track and measure a lubricant's temperature, color, and clarity that can give an operator a basis for measuring how quickly their oil is changing and degrading over time.
Oil Monitoring Kit Cost: $20
Total Investment: Around $180.00
Cost Savings: Priceless
It’s not always the most complicated or costly solutions that make the most impact or give the greatest return on your investment. Small, affordable changes to your equipment can not only improve your reliability program, but they can save you more money in the long run. Key Takeaways & Things to Consider:- Start Small. Choose one piece of equipment, critical or not, and see how you can make simple tweaks to improve reliability. A little investment up front to make small changes daily or even monthly, can add up to thousands of dollars and man hours saved over time. Big budget requests for complete reliability overhauls tend to draw attention from upper management and are harder to get approved.
-Rely on the expert. The people who manufacture reliblity products are extremely knowledgeable of how and where to install products, and will often come on site to audit current equipment and procedures and make recommendations. These services areusually offered free of cost with no purchase requirements.
-Keep it simple. Complicated, costly reliability software or products don't always guarantee the best return on investment. No only can these services have a large upfront cost, they can have a lot of unforeseen long-term costs, such as the time it takes to train employees and implement the new program, or cost of repair and replacement of highly technical driven products.