It is easy to wonder whether any single facility actually *needs* the comprehensive expertise that an MLE offers. In fact, it is easy to wonder whether any certified MLE ever gets to apply himself in all relevant areas where the MLE skill set can be brought to bear. It is also easy for the thousands and thousands of practitioners out in the field to wonder whether MLE “is right for me”--or maybe they automatically assume it is out of reach because of its top-tier reputation. Realistically, if more lubrication practitioners could have some idea of what MLE professionals actually do all day, they might consider pursuing the certification themselves, and then they would not miss out on what could prove to be a life-changing career choice.

Sustainability is an overused term, central in any “Greenwashing” strategy. The term has now made its way into the lubrication space with much written about Sustainable Lubrication, however without a lot of context or definition. This presentation will define what Sustainable Lubrication is and the three components that make up these practices. It will also compare the environmental impact of each of the practices, using data from Life Cycle Assessments. Is your organization benefiting from Sustainable Lubrication or is it falling victim to greenwashing marketing? You’ll know by the end of this presentation.

Have you ever wondered what it is like for women in male-dominated industry? Are you one of them? Let's talk about the impact women have on our industry and the success of organizations who had women leading during the pandemic. What needs to be done now that work is once again shifting...

The reactive maintenance cycle is all too familiar - equipment fails, operations calls maintenance, maintenance repairs it and turns it back over to operations – "rinse, repeat". Fighting this battle becomes all consuming. It seems like the harder we work, the more there is to do. That is not a false perception. From a systems perspective, it is painfully true that defects beget defects; the more you have, the more you get. But this truth is also the key to getting out of the reactive churn. By attacking defects at their source rather than battling the symptoms, we can turn the vicious cycle of defects into a virtuous one. Join me for a conversation about improving performance using Defect Elimination to break the reactive cycle.

Reliability comes from having a good maintenance program. How can you quickly determine if your program is capable of delivering high performance from your physical assets? Professional assessments will tell you, along with what to do about the situation, but they can be an expensive first step. This session will outline a few key areas to investigate on your own, to determine if that initial assessment investment is worth while.

A paper mill in Eastern U.S. was looking at replacing 25,000 gallons of oil following the mill retrofit from print paper to brown packaging paper. Working with mill management a test protocol was created to demonstrate remaining life in the oil, net contaminants load and risk of the oil creating deposits and varnish in advance of dumping the oil and ordering replacement.

With this test protocol and thoughtful reflection on the data, the mill saved 15,000 gallons of oil for re-use, and determined that 1,500 gallons of turbine oil could be tasked for system flushes where needed. In this case study session, you will learn the advanced oil analysis techniques and protocols used to save this mill about $120,000 in fluid replacement costs.

Tribology has been and continues to be one of the most relevant fields, being present in almost all aspects of our lives. Based upon this sound and data-rich foundation, advanced data handling, analysis and learning methods can be developed and employed to expand existing knowledge. Therefore, modern machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI) methods provide opportunities to explore the complex processes in tribological systems and to classify or quantify their behavior in an efficient or even real-time way. Thus, their potential also goes beyond purely academic aspects into actual industrial applications. This presentation aims to present the latest research on ML or AI approaches for solving tribology-related issues. The focus will be less on presenting new ML or AI methods but rather on demonstrating the possible applications of existing methods and their adaptation to problems in tribology.

The session will describe the advancements in the application of the inline Oil Condition Monitoring Analyser including measuring highly accurate oil condition degradation of Group IV and V oils plus a host of disruptive measurements in various lubrication sectors.

Oil analysis, as yet another predictive maintenance tool, has also been affected and conditioned by this wave. but how far do the results go? What are the benefits that end users receive now and unlike a few years ago? This presentation details the pros, cons, advantages and disadvantages of feeding a neural network system with data from oil analysis. What benefits will the technological boom ultimately bring? Is it just an improvement of the production process of a laboratory? Or will the end user really benefit from the results of such a technological advance?

Not many months ago we glimpsed a green scenario in all senses, where renewable energies would completely dominate the field of energy generation. However, all the objectives of the 21 summits on change have been blown away after the events we have experienced since 2019. Once again we are faced with a scenario where the generation will depend on fossil fuels for a long time. In this sector, gas turbines are, without a doubt, the most efficient machines we have for generation. However, problems related to functional failure of turbine lubricants have changed little. Early identification of these can improve the availability of these machines. With what new tools is oil analysis supported for this purpose? Can we take a step forward to improve the availability of these assets?

This session will address ISO 31000-Risk Management as it pertains to ISO 55000 Asset Management. The ISO31000:2018 standard guides organizations in the process used to identify, strategize, and manage risk for achieving the organizations objectives. 

Organizations in all types of industries and sizes face external and internal factors and influences that make it uncertain whether they will achieve their objectives. Managing risk is imperative and knowing the risks assists organizations in setting strategy, achieving objectives, and making informed decisions. Managing risk is part of governance and leadership and is fundamental to how the organization is managed at all levels. It contributes to the improvement of management systems. Managing risk is just one part of all the activities associated with an organization and includes consistent interaction with stakeholders.

With advanced wireless hardware and AI powered software, finding early signs of machine health deterioration in rotating equipment, and identifying the root cause are becoming mostly automated. 

With ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and Net Zero targets becoming one of the most important topics in every boardroom, the question is how can these existing technologies help to quantify bad actors in your machine park? Add a value (lost energy cost) and priority (Highest environmental impact) to the decision-making process of where and what maintenance action to take.

These key parameters will make every dollar spent on maintenance justifiable with a measurable impact not only on the bottom line but more importantly how they have contributed to the Net Zero Targets every organization is committed to.

Join this presentation to learn more about this new horizon of Condition Monitoring and help make this planet more sustainable one wireless sensor at a time!

The ability to monitor the condition of grease and grease lubricated equipment is an expanding requirement for many asset owners. More commercial laboratories are expanding their service offerings to include Grease analysis. While this can be an important option, it is also helpful to have capabilities to more promptly assess these conditions, or to screen samples to determine which should be sent on for laboratory analysis. New developments have produced small, portable devices that can be integrated into a mini lab for grease analysis with modest space and power requirements. This presentation will outline the available technologies and how they can be used to create an on site mini lab to support Grease analysis of critical lubricated assets.

Nowadays, online lubricant monitoring solutions allow a higher level of real-time control of the different stages of contaminant control in lubricated systems. From fresh lubricant traceability to in-service lubricant condition digitalization, different opportunities are available to enhance lubricant and asset condition information.

With the use of some examples from different industrial sectors, we intend to reveal the benefits that online technology offers for asset condition and lubricant lifecycle monitoring.

Why do we do mineral oil analysis? Why are we allocating a budget for this? What actions should we take after receiving the analysis results?

In this presentation on ''Understanding of Oil Analysis Reports'', we will try to find answers to these questions and evaluate the oil analyzes together with the case studies.

Your organization invested lots of money in world-class vibration monitoring tools, the best ultrasound equipment, top-notch thermal imaging devices, and motion amplification technology. In addition, the condition monitoring personnel have received training from some of the most well-known and respected training organizations. Yet, the results of the condition monitoring program are mediocre at best. Having a successful condition monitoring program is about lots more than the tools used and the training of the technicians. In this presentation, you will learn about the main factors that can act as roadblocks to successfully implementing a condition monitoring program and what you can do to overcome those roadblocks.

It is essential that users, system integrators and other stakeholders clearly understand the benefits and challenges associated with deploying MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems) based technology for online condition monitoring. We will explore the unique nature of MEMS technology and how it compares with existing ICP technology so that informed deployment and analysis decisions can be made based on a solid understanding of the fundamental differences between the two technologies.

Oil analysis is an extraordinary condition monitoring resource when it is implemented with a holistic perspective. A complete approach goes beyond just routine lab analysis of lubricant in service. Oil Analysis can be implemented for control of new lubricants, lubricant in storage, reconditioned oils, and as a strong resource for failure investigation as well. This presentation will cover this holistic approach of oil analysis supported by the potential benefits for the plant reliability.

Many condition based maintenance programmes do not deliver their full potential due to a lack of focus regarding the equipment monitored, leading to poor prioritisation of maintenance. A common mistake is being over ambitious when implementing condition monitoring; typically including too many equipment items which may become impractical or have diminishing returns. This presentation demonstrates that adopting a risk-based approach to condition monitoring utilising criticality analysis, not only optimises the equipment selection process but can henceforth be applied dynamically to prioritise maintenance.

Each of these 6 reasons has its origin in inherited paradigms, misconceptions, working conditions, cultural factors and/or simple ignorance. Emulating an RCA exercise, we will identify the causes for the appearance of these ideas and turn them into an opportunity for improvement, to transform the lubrication role into an attractive and motivating one that generates a proper sense of belonging.

The presentation results in a replicable exercise of self-assessment to the role of lubrication in each company and thus obtain an action plan to repower it, generating a positive impact on the reliability of people and assets. The actions are directed towards people, machines and tools, and processes or procedures.

In Maintenance and Reliability, communication may be the most important skill set to have, whether talking with production, asking for budget approval, or getting that promotion, yet this skill set is never taught in class or any reliability certification path.

As Maintenance and Reliability leaders, we often need to take complex technical information and make it more understandable for our audience, after all, we are the experts and they likely aren’t. But having so much knowledge on the topics we discuss often makes simplifying the information more difficult, leading to technical jargon and a story that is not re-tellable after the presentation. This is known as the “curse of knowledge”, and there is a way to overcome it and still have a lasting impact.

In this talk, Blair Fraser unpacks why and how most of us get technical communications wrong and curates some of the best frameworks and ideas from some of the greatest speakers and thought leaders on communication.

Want accountability for better business results? You must have stark transparency for leaders and practitioners. Join Paul Daoust as he presents a simple, visible and effective framework for managing asset performance. The model encourages asset cost, performance and risk to be considered simultaneously to precipitate more, better decisions on how assets should be proactively managed to preserve and improve value delivery.

We use a fun and fast-paced format to both inform and entertain listeners. Four topics about Reliability with a slant toward lubrication are presented and each speaker (Allan and Haris) take turns commenting on each. When the timer bell rings the other speaker has an opportunity to present their point of view, the final bell rings and we move on to the next topic. Examples of topics are:

• Why too much grease is worse for bearings than not enough.
• Why time-based lubrication is no longer considered better practice.
• How lube replenishment data drives strategic outcomes that reduce grease consumption.
• How lube techs contribute to condition monitoring teams for better collaboration.

Miscibility of gear oils for wind turbines. Lubricants can mix perfectly with each other - however, the additive packages they contain may not work together. The 8 most popular types of oils for wind turbine gearboxes have been investigated. The samples were mixed in the 1/1 ratio, subjected to accelerated simulation in the operating conditions of the gearbox, and then the performance parameters of the individual mixtures were examined. The matrix of compatibility of individual types of oils was created. This is where the first stage of the project has been completed. The results will be discussed.

Do you have equipment that heats up or cools down as a part of its failure mechanisms? Inspecting with infrared can easily with no ambiguity, identify a significant number of mechanical problems. This presentation provides an overview of infrared mechanical inspection capability, with particular attention to lubrication issues with critical equipment.

Starting current or in-rush on a motor provides considerable information about the motor, motor power circuit and the mechanical load. With a simple 30 second test and trending and comparison to “like “ motors we can make an accurate and expedient assessment of the unit under test. This presentation will show the capabilities of monitoring motors starting with a presentation of several case studies. If you are not monitoring motor starts you need to view this presentation.

Bearings and lubrication are central in keeping rotating machinery functional. Reliability engineers, machinists, and technicians are challenged in keeping both operating as efficiently as possible, with limited details about their selection. This presentation offers insight into the general bearing and lubrication selection process for machinery, catered to an end-user audience.

This presentation talks about the PF Interval as it relates to the theory of predicting a failure based on precursors or leading indicators. These indicators provide guidance based on predetermined elemental limits. The predetermination of limits comes by analysing statistical data from previous failures. 4 such failures will be presented.

This presentation introduces the basic principles of Reliability Engineering in an operating environment applied to a repairable asset such as a pump, transformer or vehicle as opposed to a non repairable component such as a bearing, gear, or lightbulb. Those principles are then applied to building a PF Curve which will eventually be used to make critical asset management decisions such as replacement, capital cost budgeting or work planning. Because a PF curve combines condition monitoring results and “end-of-life” events, two sets of calculations must be performed. The first calculation establishes the statistical model governing the condition monitoring exercise whilst the second calculation establishes the “end-of-life” model. Another key calculation involves establishing the health index on the vertical axis of the PF curve and its relation to the previous calculations. A brief example involving the construction of a PF curve for Power Transformers will be illustrated by the presenter.

Cooling towers are critical equipment that is exposed to a challenging working environment, surrounded by contaminants like dust-dirt, moisture, heat, chemical, etc. To monitor the cleanliness of lubricating oil, IIoT devices like online particle counter, moisture sensors, etc are equipped likewise for water's quality advance skids measuring pH, conductivity, ORP, etc. are installed to maintain water chemistry within the permissible limits.

Overall cooling tower reliability can be achieved only by addressing issues like corrosion, fouling, microbiological growth, and scaling in both segments. In this paper, I would like to provide insights on the most demanding equipment of any plant " cooling tower" connecting to its lubrication issues and challenges of Feed i.e., Water quality, and helping the industry to meet sustainability goals.

We are going to be talking about the key points to implement and how tomorrow you can be starting your lubrication journey with passion and drive to make it a standard tool in your box, using simple actions such as taking accountability, keeping a core value, being honest when you don't know and seek further help it's how we all learn we are looking to change the mindset of how people think to situations and set themselves on the right journey to lubrication reliability success.

The Communicating with FINESSE fishbone diagram will be used as the outline for this 30-minute session. The seven bones of the fishbone diagram are Frame, illustrate, Noise, Empathy, Structure, Synergy, and Ethics. The session is important because it covers a topic that receives little formal attention in lubrication and reliability training yet is extremely important in yielding performance results. It applies to the full range of conference attendees.

Many organizations understand that they could definitely perform better with Reliability - the challenge is - how? We see so many failed efforts to improve simply because they didn't really know what to do other than 'get better'. There are 6 essential steps that MUST be made on the journey to improve Reliability. There may well be others that you will need to add given your circumstances but if you miss out on any of the 6 , you are not going to get to where you could have. Join us as we explain these steps and provide you with the guidelines to building Reliability.

With today’s continued emphasis on delivering value from our assets while balancing cost, risk and performance, the need to understand the business contributions from maintenance and reliability activities has never been higher. This session will focus on ‘Building the Business Case for Maintenance and Reliability Improvement’. Topics include:

• Moving from a reactive to proactive maintenance culture – breaking down the silos, introducing PdM methodologies
• Contributions of proposed maintenance improvement activities to meeting organizational goals and objectives
• Quantifying the contributions of maintenance improvement (i.e. increased availability, increased throughput, decreased OPEX per unit of production)
• How to get started on your improvement journey

Corrosion is a leading cause of equipment failures and massive maintenance costs. Understanding the role of corrosion in reliability and the opportunities to address corrosion in design and operation are critical to asset maintainers, operators, and managers. Drop the textbook, focus on the fundamentals, and enjoy a presentation brought to you by two guys who fought corrosion in the maritime industry for several decades, Charlie and Lucas Marino.

The technologies like Lubricant Reconditioning Systems, the machine oil’s life and reliability increase leading to the elimination of oil replacement costs which ultimately leads to a reduction in oil purchase. Reduction in the purchase of new oil means lesser carbon emissions. What people are doing now is taking materials from the earth, making products from them, and giving them back to the environment in the form of waste. The ‘Circular Economy’ tackles global challenges like these while addressing important social needs. Through Oil Reclamation, the oil is rescued from normal degradation; it involves removing the contaminants from the oil and restoring it to good health. This offers many benefits like increased machine reliability, cost savings, saving time on oil change-outs, decreased oil disposal costs, and reduced environmental impacts.

Reliability is the application of knowledge and technology to identify correctible conditions that would otherwise lead to failure, thus extending the life of a company’s assets. Having a machine reliability program can make the difference in preventing a shutdown to key systems during periods of supply chain shortages. Too often, companies will operate under a reactive or run-to-failure mindset, especially when equipment is cheaper to replace than repair, or cannot be repaired. Though this is a legitimate strategy for some types of assets, it is considerably less so for high-cost assets that are complicated to repair. That is why when supply chain issues surface, it becomes even more disruptive since there is no longer a means of replacing key equipment in the short term.

Reynir will be taking us through a complete walk through of the latest advancements in oil sensor technology and target applications. This presentation is aimed at helping the audience to understand more about sensor technology and how it has advanced over the years to where it is currently. It will also focus on the applications of these sensors for particular applications and how they should be used. 

It’s 2022, and along with everything else that’s going on in our world, you’re struggling to find the right maintenance & reliability talent. Don’t give up. The talent is there, it has just migrated elsewhere, and you have to know how to find it. By understanding the current state of the workforce and both trends in labor and trends in worker mentality and attitudes, it is possible to develop a strategy to find high quality and high value maintenance & reliability talent. Many times, it starts with analyzing and understanding the current culture within your own organization and striving to create a culture of reliability. This presentation will discuss both the current state of the workforce, and provide some direction on considerations for identifying, qualifying, and developing a more reliability focused workforce.

Recent research shows that monitoring the entropy generation based on the laws of thermodynamics offers a remarkably reliable and efficient approach for monitoring grease degradation. My presentation will focus on explaining the procedure for determining grease degradation using an entropy generation approach and detailing the procedure for measuring their real-time values using a grease condition monitoring unit (GCMU). Further, I will demonstrate the application of a new portable contact angle instrument that provides practitioners with a reliable means for rapid testing of grease and making a decision on the grease condition in a plant environment.

We have used Vibration Analysis for a long time and we have now created a specific reading that identifies poor lubrication at higher frequencies. Vibration Analysis is evolving so we can measure higher frequencies ranges that allows us to improve reliability by increasing the life of the assets we monitor. This presentation will focus on how the lubrication factor is used in vibration analysis. 

Authors will present how to use ICML 55.1 standard as support and guideline while implementing master-class lubrication program that is tailored to provide highest equipment reliability in function of cost and also – how to introduce and effectively run it in the plant. Concept of lubrication management role in Industry 4.0 concept will be presented.

In today's industry Reliability is becoming the competitive edge businesses can utilize to standout in the marketplace. The agelong practice of lubrication excellence coupled with advancements in predictive analytics is proving to be an important component in our reliability toolkit.

In this presentation I will be sharing principles, practices and case studies of how we can create competitive advantage for our organizations using lubrication excellence and advancement in predictive analytics. Expect to find a balance of business school insights and plant experiences I have gathered over the last 17 years.

For his presentation, he will be talking about Adaptive Maintenance Planning as the creation and maintenance of an evolving plan from start to finish based on goals, values, risks, constraints, stakeholder feedback, and the results of reviews. Planning is done at multiple levels (strategic, release, iteration, daily).

Quite often at our lab we replenish anti-oxidants and increase solubility of in service industrial lubricants. One of the tests which are frequently performed is also a test for compatibility of blending two different lubricants. This leads us to the question, “Does success in the lab equal success in the field – how often and for how long?” We will discuss the importance of simulation testing and whether success in the laboratory translates to real success in the field in this presentation.

Today’s plants tend to consist of a wide assortment of assets patched together like a colorful quilt. The machinery and equipment can range from highly advanced robotics to outdated legacy solutions, stretched past their normal life expectancy. Plant engineers must make these disparate assets integrate and perform as one, which can be a challenge, especially when lean budgets, escalating market demands and conflicting strategies add to the complexity. Forward-thinking plant engineers, though, can step up to the challenge, elevating processes beyond simple reactive mode. It begins with a new mindset – and modern technology.

Procedure of restoration of cleanliness of extreme contaminated oil systems operating the non-flammable ester-based fluids by using hydrodynamic cleaning and turbulent flushing technology. Case study on 1000MWe NPP steam turbine. This session will focus on:

• How to remove ageing products and deposit formation and accompanying corrosion from lube oil system operated on ester-based fluids.
• High velocity oil flush for high machine availability

Experience facts and case studies will be discussed.

Sun Tzu in the Art of War famously said, “Know thy enemy”. If varnish is the enemy, the better we understand it, the higher chances of winning the battle against lube oil deposits. We know that varnish consists of oil degradation products, but what is the chemistry of varnish? Understanding varnish chemistry enables us to make better formulations and gives insights on how to best manage in-service lubricants. In this presentation, I will present data from deposit characterization studies from controlled accelerated aging experiments. Data interpretation will be done on multiple different formulations stressed at two different temperatures to give much great insight as to what varnish is. Ultimately, this data provides guidance on varnish avoidance strategies.

Lancer Analytic is a service subscription designed to incorporate your data into a Learning Management System. Your data is transformed into content designed to provide training. All the work that has been done is transformed into training classes per topic or content depth. Data from various sources is utilized so any changes are captured and turned into learning lessons. This presentation introduces you to the process and scope at which Lancer Analytic works and the benefits it produces.

In industries that rely on process pumps, water in the form of free water, steam and airborne humidity is a pervasive contaminant. Water not only leads to rust and corrosion but can lead to a reduction in oil film strength resulting in overall poor lubrication conditions, that can reduce bearings life expectancy by as much as 50%. In this session, we will look at how water can impact pump bearing life, as well as discuss simple strategies to control and monitor water in ANSI and API pumps.

Organizations globally are targeting Net Zero in their operations over the coming years. While global warming is heading +1,5Cº level, companies are sourcing new ways to reduce their carbon footprint. What is the role of lubricants in the big picture? Should industrial companies calculate lubricants CO2 emissions in their balance sheets or is it just a consumable that is visible in oil companies CO2 balances only? Challenges and benefits of CO2 analysis & simulation to organizations and how all this can be automated? Session addresses these questions along with real-life examples.

In an effort to improve environmental performance, industry must choose lubricants that can offer optimum long-term performance and environmental safety. This paper/presentation focuses on the innovations, features, benefits, strengths and limitations of the different types of EALs. It explores classification of base fluids and additives as well as the requirements of finished lubricants. It compares the performance of conventional petroleum products and bio-lubricants. The different definitions of environmental acceptability and why that is important will be explored. The regulatory driving forces will be identified as well as the requirements for each. The considerations for choosing the type of EAL that is most applicable to specific applications will be studied.

LRVS is a process of self-selection - it's likely that every attendee already understands the importance of lubrication and is going to remain engaged. But how do we expand our reach? How do we command the attention of people that have only a passing interest in the topic? And how do we quantify the attention of the audience?

In this short presentation, we'll look at strategies for increasing engagement during webinars & training presentations and discuss how the pandemic changed everyone's expectations for informative content.

It is needless to say that there can be a few learning curves along the way when integrating into the Reliability and Maintenance industry. Anjelica will be discussing the challenges and pitfalls of being a newcomer to the Reliability and Maintenance community. In doing so, she would like to emphasize the importance of a 'beginner's mindset' in relation to mentorship and learning. She aims to highlight the significance of an effective marketing strategy, the essential role of networking and the lessons learned through engagement with the community

Significant improvements in tribological and dynamic performances are seen by incorporating state-of-the-art surface texture technology in aerodynamic bearings. Our team is also exploring the rotor dynamic response of accelerating/retarding rotors supported on self-acting air bearings to propose suitable acceleration/retardation schedules to keep the whirling amplitude and frequency as minimum as possible during the acceleration/retardation phase of the rotor. 

The present talk will cover the fundamentals of air lubrication theory, the past and ongoing research in this exciting field across the globe, and the future of air lubrication in modern machinery for sustainable development.

Errors and surprises in high-hazard industries can end lives, ruin careers, and capsize company reputations overnight. In this presentation, you'll learn the fundamentals of seven key strategies successfully used by: pilots, nurses, firefighters, paramedics, electric utility lineworkers, military paratroopers, and other high-reliability teams across the globe. You’ll walk away with practical techniques to apply immediately, plus eye-opening insights to help you improve safety and human reliability in your workplace for years to come.

This session explores the development of new training processes with direct implications for improved cognitive performance to achieve maximum application and retention from their instruction and development.

In this presentation, we’ll address the following important topics:

• Compare the performance of leading and lagging asset managers in Dollars & $ense.
• Summarize key characteristics of leading asset managers.
• Summarize common examples of equipment-, production, and market/marketing-induced losses to Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• Discuss the risks of a purely IT/Finance-driven ERP/EAM configuration that fails to reflect the informational requirement of Operations, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and other functional groups in the organization.
• Address how you can employ OEE-driven analysis to optimize and, where required, reengineer, cross-functional business processes to recover losses.
• Reconfigure the ERP/EAM to support effective business decisions that improve your triple-bottom-line performance – profit, people, and planet.