The value of SOS in a slowing economy

1/10/2009

Hastings Deering's Scheduled Oil Sampling

In slower economic times, there becomes an increasing importance to improve machine availability and lower owning and operating costs.  Risk management tools need to be finely honed as the demand for high-risk maintenance decisions increase.

Small investment, Big return
One of the biggest advantages of Scheduled Oil Sampling (S∙O∙S) is to identify problems when they are still small before they evolve to catastrophic events. In times of a slowing economy, companies find themselves looking for cost-cutting measures.  What better way is there to reduce operating costs than to address small problems before they become considerably more costly?  Using S∙O∙S to indicate and identify these small problems is one of the best equipment management financial decisions a company can make.

Peace of Mind
Often the best and most valuable news is no news at all.  S∙O∙S analysis can provide you peace of mind that “all systems are go” and there are no impending conditions that could evolve later into major problems.  Many times, companies will reduce costs by trimming the fat and eliminating unnecessary programs.  The “No Action Required” S∙O∙S reports can fall victim to this false sense of security because all too often, it’s perceived the value of the program is negligible if no problems are indicated.  On the contrary, the value S∙O∙S provides is even greater during this time because the company is reducing the risk of downtime and major financial impacts by having good information to make sound operating and maintenance decisions.  

Manage Small Problems
We are well aware S∙O∙S will identify conditions in components that could develop into larger problems if left unattended.  Another advantage is the ability to manage these small problems with recommended sampling and maintenance intervals.  There are many instances where S∙O∙S indicators are stable or show only very slight increases.  In these situations, we can help manage and track the developing problem until the resources are available to address it.  With more frequent sampling, we are able to analytically identify the point at which repairs become the only option if major failures and huge repair costs are to be avoided.  

Manage Oil Change Intervals
Gone are the days where we respond with the attitude, “Just change it, oil is cheap.”  Oil change routines can be costly.  These direct costs include the oil itself, labour to perform the change, travel time and vehicle costs to the field.  Some indirect costs can include the risk of spillage, the risk of storing the used oil for disposal and, possibly the disposal itself.  As our industry turns to a greener approach to conducting business, the responsible management of oil change intervals becomes not only financially attractive but also environmentally attractive.  A legitimate question for the equipment manager would be to re-evaluate the wisdom of changing oil in a compartment when there is significant useful life remaining.  The quality of our lubricating oils today is many, many times greater than in the past.  Indeed the recommended oil change interval for the new Caterpillar® HYDO Advance 10 is 6000 hours.  S∙O∙S can help.

Avoid Unscheduled Downtime
Scheduled downtime for a high production piece of equipment can be costly in terms of lost production and therefore lost revenue.  S∙O∙S can help minimise those costs by allowing the manager to schedule the downtime in a way that will best reduce the lost production.  However, unscheduled downtime can be outright crippling to the already tight cash flow.  The cost of a breakdown during production can escalate exponentially when direct costs such as crew labour, ruined materials (asphalt or concrete for example) and overtime come into the picture.  S∙O∙S will give the equipment manager the opportunity to significantly reduce the risk of a major financial impact due to unscheduled downtime.  

Why choose Hastings Deering’s S∙O∙S Services?
Oil companies or independent labs may claim they can analyse used oil from Caterpillar machines or engines as well as Hastings Deering S∙O∙S Services.  These companies may obtain accurate data from their lab instruments; however, they lack the total understanding of Caterpillar machines and engines.  They cannot comprehensively analyse data and provide the most meaningful recommendations concerning Caterpillar machines.  

Only Caterpillar engineers know exactly what metallurgical specifications were designed into each part and component.  With synthetic materials being used more frequently, the situation becomes increasingly difficult, even impossible for oil companies or competitive labs to make meaningful recommendations.  

Caterpillar dealer technical communication systems are geared to providing information concerning samples via such sources as Technical Information Bulletins, Service Magazines, Service Letters, etc.  Caterpillar product engineers are familiar with the value of S∙O∙S Services and keep it in mind when communicating through their normal media.  No competitive oil analysis company has this expertise backing their programs.  In addition to design knowledge, S∙O∙S Services pulls from the vast database of sample information collected over the years.

Independent oil laboratories lack the proprietary wear data and machine profile that only Caterpillar dealer labs can access.  Because of this, they can only give a standard interpretation based on generalized component information.  

Oil analysis is very similar to medicine.  At the end of the day, you want the best information available, not just the test results.  In the case of disease, the doctor interprets the medical test results and provides information on treatment options.  Hastings Deering’s S∙O∙S Services lab does the same thing.  We provide information about the problem and then help you decide the best course of action.