$ 1.7M saving by revolutionizing the lubrication program! 

In the business world, in order to remain competitive, it’s crucial to constantly look for ways to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. The following case study examines the experience of our client, a lumber market leader in Western Canada.

One of these sawmills implemented a new lubrication program in 2012 to address maintenance issues and excessive costs. In the following paragraphs, we present the background, conditions and consequences of this implementation some ten years later.

The desire to take its lubrication program to the next level: 

Implementing the lubrication program was a process that spanned 2-3 years, from 2012 to 2015. It was primarily driven by several factors:

• First, the company was facing maintenance issues, as the existing program was considered deficient. In particular, downtime was excessively high.
• Secondly, maintenance costs were consistently above budget. So, by implementing a more efficient lubrication program, the company hoped to reduce equipment maintenance costs.

A pragmatic transition and implementation process:

In collaboration with Laurentide Controls, our client put in place an action plan comprising several steps:

• Establish strategic guidelines for the program,
• Define lubrication tasks for each component of each piece of equipment, in accordance with the guidelines,
• Create maintenance routes to ensure coverage of all equipment,
• Use tracking software to manage these tasks and increase efficiency,
• Modify equipment if necessary to adapt to the new program,
• Train staff to implement these changes,
• Set objectives, implement measures and monitor them on a quarterly basis.

The process was not without its challenges. The greatest challenge was to keep the focus on long-term objectives, avoiding an exclusive focus on immediate results.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the right lubricant at the right place and at the right time!

Reliability Manager 

For definite tangible benefits!

The implementation of the lubrication program has had a significant impact on the operational efficiency. Twelve years on, they’re still reaping the benefits:

• Oil and lubricant consumption has dropped significantly, helping to reduce costs. In addition, the percentage of equipment breakdowns has fallen, reducing the impact of failures on production. As the lubrication program was implemented, other mechanical problems were discovered, leading to improved equipment reliability,
• Secondly, the budget, which had been constantly exceeded before the program was introduced, is now under better control, enabling the company to reallocate financial resources to other projects (e.g. changing conveyor chains),
• Finally, users expressed a high degree of satisfaction, noting a significant improvement in their working conditions. Decision-makers were also satisfied with the results.

Collaboration with Laurentide Controls, which provided ongoing support, was essential to the success of the project. Our client also pointed to other key factors in the success of the implementation, such as the allocation of dedicated resources and the fact that the company remained perfectly aligned from top to bottom on the same objective.

In this way, this experience demonstrates that improving operational efficiency is a long-term investment that can bring significant benefits.