Tribology and Lubrication Technology November 2011 : Page 22His logic was simple: the rest of those positions can be vacant for a sig-nificant amount of time with little change in production. However, elim-inate the person(s) responsible for ma-chine lubrication, and machines fairly quickly begin to lose lubricated com-ponents. Lost capacity and productiv-ity soon follow. I have subscribed to this logic throughout my career, offering this an-ecdotal advice to audiences as well. When reflecting on the importance of this job task with engineers and man-agers, there is uniform agreement that the job of machine lubrication is in-deed vital. No questions asked. Our instincts tell us that the machine won’t run without oil and grease. Unfortunately, most organizations fail to live up to their declared convic-tion by failing to either allocate or ded-icate smart, motivated people to the task. Further, where labor is provided, in most instances it is either an entry-level (no skills required) or retirement-level (no energy required) position. This article introduces an argu-ment for dedicated (versus allocated) technicians, and suggest a job descrip-tion and skills requirement that is ap-propriate for the job. DEDICATED OR ALLOCATED? Each time I provide a lubrication pro-gram effectiveness assessment for a plant site, I spend a fair amount of time digging into the actual means of how lubrication man-hours are man-aged. I find two types of approaches: either allocated or dedicated labor. These seem like trivial differences, perhaps no difference at all, until one digs into how the difference in man-agement approach impacts daily func-tions. Let’s define the terms: • Dedicated lubrication labor. Tech-nicians working exclusively on clearly defined lubrication tasks and responsibilities and report-ing to a centralized program manager. • Allocated lubrication labor. Tech-nicians dedicating time to both mechanical repairs/inspection activity and machine lubrica-tion activity and reporting to an area or department supervisor. Department-level management pre-fers allocated labor. This is a tactical management level in the production facility. Decisions revolve around ful-filling operations, maintenance and reliability priorities. The job is to keep production flowing, and anything that interrupts department production must be immediately addressed! In this environment, there is no doubt that an allocated labor person assigned to lu-brication (especially a skilled mechan-ic) who can be drawn off of routine activities and placed on the urgent matter of machine repair is an appeal-ing option. Appealing on a daily basis. WWW .S TLE. OR G Dedicated lubrication labor occurs when management decides that all lubrication program tasks will be completed. 22 • NO VEMBER 2 011 TRIB OL OG Y & L UBRIC A TION TE CHNOL OG Y Publication List Using a screen reader? Click Here |
