LE Papers Final.
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Optimizing a Preventative Maintenance
Program for Construction Equipment
By: Stacy Heston, Noria Corporation
It seems that the emphasis in the oil analysis industry is on non-
mobile manufacturing equipment. However, oil analysis can play a
key role in maintaining heavy construction and other fleet type
equipment. In fact, oil analysis can play a key role in how you handle
the preventive maintenance of your equipment fleet.
With the high cost of petroleum products on the rise, the ability to
extend oil drains is ever increasing. But how does one know how
long to extend the interval? Or is the question should there be a set
interval for oil changes? Oil analysis can allow you to modify the set
interval into an “as needed,” or condition based, oil change. All it
requires is a flexible scheduling system, and creativity when
establishing an activity to be scheduled.
Whether you have a large or small fleet, having a preventive
maintenance program can increase uptime, decrease lubricant cost,
and decrease labor cost. Mobile equipment is not limited to only a
construction setting, and has several unique challenges that do not
apply to the fixed equipment of the manufacturing industry.
The first step to optimizing you fleet preventive maintenance is to
determine the type of fleet that your company has. There are three
basic types of fleets: one person-one location, one person-multiple
locations, and multiple people-multiple locations.
The “one person-one location” type of mobile equipment fleet has a
minimum of one person responsible for the maintenance and the
equipment stays in one location. It is probably the easiest type of
fleet to maintain since equipment will not be moved to a new
location, and one person knows where the equipment stands
maintenance-wise.
The “one person-multiple locations” type of mobile equipment fleet
has a minimum of one person responsible for the maintenance who is
dispatched from one central location to equipment that is located at
various locations. This type of fleet encounters the logistics
challenge since equipment may move from site to site; however, with
centralized scheduling the risk of double work is minimized.
The “multiple people-multiple locations” type of mobile equipment
fleet has equipment at various locations that moves from location to
location and has personnel assigned to each location. Maintenance
schedules are generated from one central location, or separate
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maintenance schedules are generated at each individual location.
This type of fleet is the most complicated type of fleet to manage.
This is due to the fact that the equipment changes location and
maintenance personnel. These changes increase the probability of
double work as equipment changes location without maintenance
history following it.
Before oil analysis can be utilized to optimize your preventive
maintenance program, a proper scheduling system is required. This
system does not necessarily need to be computer based, but with
larger fleets it does become a necessity otherwise a scheduling
nightmare could ensue. Generally, the system should allow for the
following fields of information: Equipment identification, Make,
Model, Equipment Type, Component, Hour Meter Reading, Date, and
Maintenance Task.
Equipment identification should be a number that is unique to each
piece of equipment. This provides a method for tracking the
maintenance that is performed on each piece of equipment, and for
tracking the equipment itself. The Make and Model provides specific
descriptive information on the piece of equipment pertaining to the
machine size and engine horsepower. Equipment Type clarifies the
how the equipment is utilized, and can aid in identifying the equipment
when in the field. For example, a Caterpillar 631E may start out as a
scraper and eventually may be converted to a water wagon. This is
important information because a scraper typically experiences a
heavier workload and therefore more wear and tear, where as the
water wagon has essentially been put out to pasture and is utilized
when the dust starts to fly on a work site. Hour meter reading and
Date information are used to create a historic timeline of maintenance,
and dictate when the next maintenance Task should be performed.
Each type of fleet requires the same standard information for
tracking and scheduling purposes in order to extend intervals. The
Multiple people-multiple location fleet requires one additional field of
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information, location. The location field aids in directing the
preventive maintenance schedule to where the equipment is at, and
should have the flexibility to change as the equipment is moved from
location to location. This will help maintain an accurate history and
reduce doubled fluid changes.
The component refers to the equipment system that needs to be
scheduled; engine, transmission, hydraulics, gearboxes, differentials,
final drives, etc. Scheduling maintenance tasks by component
increases the flexibility of scheduling, adds the ability to extend drain
intervals independently of the other components, and increases the
legitimacy of collected data. Flexible scheduling means that only
compartments that are due for a maintenance task are listed. And
each compartment is scheduled independently from the other
equipment compartments.
The Maintenance Task refers to the specific maintenance being
performed. There are three general tasks that must be performed for
each lubricated compartment: oil sample, filter change (if applicable),
and oil change. Oil sampling is the driving task for filter and oil
changes.
MAINTENANCE TASK SCHEDULING
As stated above, there are three general Maintenance Tasks that
must be performed for each lubricated compartment. The oil sample
is the key task because the oil sample label is where the Task
information is recorded. This is because when a filter is changed, a
sample should be pulled, when the oil is changed an oil sample
should be pulled, and when the proper interval has lapsed between
samples an oil sample must be pulled. Below is a typical
Maintenance Task intervals and schedule that one may see on a
Hydraulic System:
INTERVALS:
Task 1 Oil Sample Pulled every 250 hours
Task 2 Filter Change every 500 hours
Task 3 Oil Change every 2,000 hours
SCHEDULE (Based on one oil cycle):
As you probably noticed, every time you perform a Maintenance
Task an oil sample is involved. This simple schedule and its intervals
are the typical time based schedules that are provided by the
manufacturer, and represent a time based method for preventive
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maintenance scheduling. These intervals offer a very conservative
view of when fluid changes should be performed, and assume no
problems are found using oil analysis.
The oil sample label captures a good deal on information and
should be utilized for collecting completion information for
Maintenance tasks. Since an oil sample is required when all other
tasks are required, it can be a safe assumption that if the oil sample
is not complete then the filter or oil change is not complete. In most
cases, the oil sample label will ask for information pertaining to
whether or not a filter change or oil change has occurred. If it does
not, it is a simple matter of discussing the addition of this information
to the label with your oil analysis provider.
To begin extending drain intervals, it is important to ensure that the
proper tests are being performed by the oil analysis laboratory. Oil
Analysis testing requirements vary by component, fluid type, and
desired goals. Engine oil analysis does not require particle count;
however, a hydraulic system would because of the close tolerances
of moving parts within the system, particularly the cylinders. Engine
oil requires fuel dilution and soot testing because of the nature of its
system, where as hydraulics do not. However, if drain interval
extension is the goal, oxidation testing should be performed for all
compartments where that goal is desired.
The oxidation number represents the amount of life left of the
antioxidant additive. When this number begins to decrease, the
additive has begun to breakdown. Water, heat, air, and contaminants
can accelerate the speed at which the antioxidant additive is
depleted. Once additive depletion is complete the lubricant itself
begins to oxidize.
There are additional analysis tests that should be performed in
order to determine if a fluid is fit to stay in service. Tests common to
all fluid types is: elemental analysis, water, and viscosity. These
tests will not necessarily call for a fluid change, but they can be
indicative of fluid problems or even failure problems to come.
Once a suitable test slate has been established, oil analysis results
can be utilized to extend oil change intervals to an as needed or
condition based basis. In terms of filter changes and sample
intervals, the schedule will remain the same with the exception of the
actual oil change. The following schedule outlines a condition based
oil change for a hydraulic system that has a recommended oil change
at 2,000 hours:
Once an oxidation result comes back as Severe, an oil change is
immediately ordered. In this case, the hour meter has a 30 hour
lapse between pulling the sample and the results being available.
This also means that the next oil sample is due at 3,030 hours. The
overall result is an oil drain that has been extended 780 hours. With
a hydraulic system it is also important to look at particle count, high
particle counts can be rectified using offline filtration if the oxidation
number is still within a normal range.
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SCHEDULE (Based on one oil cycle):
COST COMPARISON FOR SCHEDULING
BY COMPONENT
Let’s say you have a backhoe. A backhoe consists of an engine,
transmission, hydraulics, axles, and cooling system. Each one of
these compartments contains a considerable amount of lubricant,
lubricant that has not necessarily met the end of its useful life at the
scheduled change interval. Scheduling multiple compartment oil
changes based on the date and time of one compartment only
increases the cost of maintenance and labor. The following example
demonstrates the cost savings that is attainable when compartments
are scheduled independently and interval extended.
Using manufacturer suggested intervals for oil changes based on
80% utilization for a standard backhoe is equal to approximately $119
per year for the engine. By extending the drain interval 50 hours, a
cost savings of $20 per year can be realized. During the course of an
entire year, if fluid drains for the transmission, hydraulics, and engine
are extended 20%, a cost savings of $50 per machine per year can be
achieved. However, do not think you have to stop at a 20% life
extension on all components.
The following table lays out possible cost savings by compartment,
and drain interval.
Based on the following cost assumptions:
Engine oil = $8.00 per gallon
Hydraulic fluid = $7.00 per gallon
Transmission fluid = $10.00 per gallon
Gear Oil = $11.00 per gallon
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By extending the drain interval on each compartment by 20%, a
cost savings of 17% can be achieved on the cost of lubricants.
Increasing the drain interval 40%, would be equivalent to a cost
savings of approximately 30%.
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON SCHEDULING BY
COMPONENT
Once a machine is well into a life of component scheduling, it is
important to note that eventually components will not be due for
servicing at the same time. With manufacturer schedules, all
components are due for service at an interval that is a factor of 250
hours, whether it is 250 hours, 500 hours, 1,000 hours, etc. When a
piece of equipment has each component scheduled independently,
the components will take on a life of their own. This is a good thing
because eventually items break and components spring a leak
therefore each component can be scheduled based on the merits of
its own performance.
SUMMING IT UP
Preventive Maintenance scheduling can be optimized by utilizing oil
analysis. By following he key steps for pursuing a condition based
scheduling oil drains can be extended and costs reduced. First,
determine the type of fleet setup that your company has: one
person-one location, one person-multiple locations, or multiple
people-multiple locations. Second, setup profiles for each piece of
equipment that includes: Equipment Identification, Make, Model,
Type, Components, Hour Meter Reading, Date, and Maintenance
Tasks. Third, determine which components are applicable to each
piece of equipment and the Tasks necessary to maintain that
component. Next, develop an oil analysis test slate for each
component with an extended drain interval in mind. Finally, use the
oil analysis data. It is not enough just to pull the samples and send
them in; the data must be reviewed and used for oil change
decisions.