Storage and Handling
With all the different ways that equipment owners can invest in more effective lubrication practices, perhaps the most easily overlooked improvement is the product storage and handling practice. Although improvements in this area are not free, the actual cost to make obvious, significant and lasting improvements is low.
There are actually two distinct aspects to this issue. The first aspect, the transport and intermediate storage of lubricants, is outside the direct control of the end-user, and, even though a strong working relationship between the local marketer and the end-user may give the latter some level of influence over this activity, the end-user should be prepared to verify and improve product cleanliness after it arrives at the plant site.
The heart of this article deals with the second aspect: end-user storage and handling practices. Regardless of the lubricant’s performance capabilities, the manner in which lubricants are received, stored and dispatched to machines is a strong indicator of the importance of machine lubrication practices to plant management.