Concepts - Lincoln Industrial

1 ConceptsA GUIDE TO BETTER LUBRICATIONVOLUME 20, and selling concreteis a gritty business. Heavyloads, caustic materials,constant exposure to dust anddirt during manufacturingand hauling and thesubsequent acid-basedwashdowns used to removethe residue all contribute tofrequent breakdowns. Vehiclessuch as front-end wheelloaders and trucks that areused during the processexperience extreme wear onmoving pins, bushings andchassis components. Manualgrease lubrication of thisequipment is often hit or missdue to critical productionrequirements, which alsocontributes to acceleratedwear. Repeated downtimeand repairs slow production,bloat maintenance costs anddrain Green, Director of maintenance for Southdown's ConcreteProducts Group, the third largest producer of cement products inthe United Lubrication Yields Concrete Results I ve tracked vehicle maintenancecosts and seen themdrop as a result ofQuicklub. No one knows this better than TerryGreen, Director of maintenance forSouthdown's Concrete Products owned, Houston-basedSouthdown, Inc.

2 Is thethird largest producer ofcement products in theUnited States. Last yearthe Concrete Product'sGroup alone generatedrevenue of more than$240 million. The Group consists of threecompanies: Florida Mining and Materials,which operates in Florida and Georgia,Transit Mixed Concrete and CityConcrete which operate in southernCalifornia. In addition to themanufacture and selling of concrete, thegroup also manufactures and sellsconcrete block to the downtime and repairs slow production,bloat maintenance costs and drain GUIDE TO BETTER LUBRICATIONTHE CONCRETE PRODUCT GROUP HAS 52 BATCH PLANTS FOR PRODUCING CONCRETE, 12 BLOCKPRODUCING PLANTS, SIX DISTRICT maintenance SHOPS, AND 21 SATELLITE MAINTENANCESHOPS. IT HAS A FLEET OF 600 READY-MIX TRUCKS, 75 RUBBER TIRED FRONT-END LOADERSAND 50 BLOCK TRUCKS. TO KEEP THINGS RUNNING THERE'S A DRIVER/OPERATOR FOR EVERYVEHICLE AND A maintenance TEAM OF Provided by Lincoln Industrial3 Since he joined Southdown in 1989, Terryhas continuously looked for and foundways to lower maintenance costs andimprove productivity.

3 One of his first goalswas to move from manual lubricationmethods to automated lubrication. Terrystates, "I've never met a mechanic wholikes to grease anything." "In 1991 we installed anautomated lubrication system from anothervendor on a few of our trucks and saw the potential for cost savings fromnot having to manually grease components,except u-joints, anymore. Parts would lastlonger because they get ongoing, consistent lubrication resulting in a reduction of costly out-of-service time."After experiencing maintenanceproblems and systems failures with thevendor and realizing a #2 grade greasesystem would provide better lubrication inthe concrete environment, Terry investigated the automated lubrication systems from Lincoln Industrial . "We were impressed with the design of the Lincolnsystems, the way the systems were puttogether, the electric operation, and theirease of use." He says, " Lincoln personnelworked with us to develop systems to suitour applications and helped us retrofit thefirst few loaders and trucks.

4 "Manual LubricationLubricant in bearings (quantity)Lubrication inter valswear due to friction,little protectionminimum quantitygood lubrication,good protectionLubrication inter valsAutomatic LubricationSeven features of evidence for ultimateprofitability and reliability when usingautomatic centralized lubrication:Longer maintenance inter valsprofit increaseless costs for repair / spare partsimproved operating time / time of readinessdecrease of lubricant consumptiongenuine contribution to environmental protectionpositive lubricationStarting withautomatedlubricationBill McNeese, Lincoln Industrial Southeastern Regional Sales Manager,explains system operation to Florida Mining maintenance personnel. I ve never met a mechanic wholikes to grease anything. COMPARISON AUTOMATIC/MANUAL LUBRICATIONT erry decided that Lincoln Industrial 's Quicklub system would work best on thecompany's loaders and trucks. The system utilizes an electric pump (12 VDC for trucks,24 VDC for most loaders and construction equipment) designed for reliable operation inextremely rugged environments.

5 The pump has a minimal 2 amp draw, a clear reservoirfor visual monitoring of the lubricant level and an integrated adjustable timer to controlthe on and off cycles of the system. The Quicklub system incorporatesunique one-piece metering valves that provide positive, proportional,displacement of standard NLGI #2 grease. The valves contain close fit metalpistons to displace the grease instead of "soft" parts (springs, gaskets, orwashers) that have the potential to wear prematurely. Included on the valvesare indicator pins that provide visual feedback that the systems are workingand that all components are accepting grease. High-pressure hose and tubing is used to connect the meteringvalves to the lubrication points. In most cases Terry has specified Lincoln 'sunique Quicklinc press-to-lock tube fittings for secure connections and easeof serviceability. The system we have chosenConceptsA GUIDE TO BETTER LUBRICATION4 Information Provided by Lincoln IndustrialQuicklinc fittings are the only press-to-lock ones onthe market with highpressure pump works withstandard NLGI grease No SSV divider valves have noweak points compared to othersegmented metering valves.

6 We were impressedwith the design of theLincoln system. QUICKLUB SYSTEM DESIGNSTRUCKEXCAVATORFRONT END LOADERC ommercial Vehicles:Increase maintenanceintervals by 15,000 Machines:Optimum protection against moisture, grit and partspurchases have beenreduced by at least 25%5 Terry has been specifyingQuicklub on his vehicles since1992 with currently over 40loaders and 200 trucks protectedby the system. "It's a standardspecification on our loaders, andboth ready mix and block trucksbecause I've tracked vehiclemaintenance costs and seen themdrop as a result of Quicklub." he states. "Replacement partspurchases of steering, brakingand suspension components anddrum rollers have been reducedby at least 25%."The workhorse at eachbatch plant, the front-endloader, continually supplies rawmaterials such as rock and sandfor processing. This is so theplant can continuously fill 20-25 trucks with concrete fordelivery to waiting such, preventativemaintenance is often neglectedor overlooked.

7 Even with thebest manual lubricationpractices, once a day is notenough in this severe, causticenvironment with critical pointson a loader wearing hinge and tiltpins and bushings, bucket liftarm pins and bushings and thecenter pivot points and trunionscan all wear prematurely costingup to $6,000 for repairs. Due tothe required dismantling of theloader to replace failedcomponents, repairs can takeover a week to complete. Oftenthis necessitates the rental ofanother loader to maintainproduction. Quicklub is standard on ourloaders, ready mix and block trucks Lift arm and steering cylinderRepairs can takeover a LINCOLNA utomated Lubricationwith LINCOLNA utomated LubricationCOST REDUCTIONA classic example of the paybackSouthdown has received on itsinvestment in lubrication systems isthe Caterpillar 936E front-end loaderat their Melbourne, Florida has been equipped with a Quicklubsystem since it was new in 1992,working continuously 8-10 hours,racking up over 8,000 service hours.

8 Ithas experienced no downtime relatedto the lubrication system or connectedcomponents. "I recently checked itduring operation and its pins andbushings are as tight as when it wasnew. If we had been manuallylubricating it we would have had tore-pin and bush at the five-year mark or after 4,000 hours, " says savings have also beenrealized on Southdown's concretetrucks. A typical ready-mix truck cancarry 40,000 pounds of concrete insidethe drum that rides on two drumroller bearings. When a truckexperiences drum roller bearing failure,the truck must be pulled out of serviceand the failed roller replaced. It cancost in excess of $400 for parts, laborand downtime per failure. "Some trucks have required sixrollers a year. A drum roller costs about$250, takes half a day to replace and was one of our highest maintenancecosts before using Quicklub. In 1992our drum roller cost was 3% of ourtotal maintenance costs. Today its 1%as our older trucks are not equippedwith lubrication systems.

9 " 8,000 hours no downtimeConceptsA GUIDE TO BETTER LUBRICATIONDrum roller failures caused the highest maintenancecosts before automated CAT wheel loaderhas experienced nolubrication relateddowntime since for lifetimeInformation Provided by Lincoln IndustrialServing steering and suspension With Lincoln we ve reducedtruck downtime to 2% The Quicklub system installed on amixer truck lubricates the steering,braking, suspension and mixercomponents about 34 lubricationpoints. With the new "lubed for life"u-joints; maintenance personnel onlyneed to lubricate two points on the whole vehicle. "After we began installingQuicklub systems, our componentfailures have decreased significantly tothe point that we track them withreduced emphasis. In the past, 15% ofour trucks were always down. WithLincoln Industrial 's automatedlubrication systems as part of ourmaintenance initiatives we've reducedthat to 2%." In regard to both truck andloader preventative maintenance ,Southdown experiences less example, it takes about 30 minutesto manually lubricate one completevehicle (truck or loader) and 15minutes for the two drum rollerbearings on the concrete are lubricated every day, thedrum roller bearings once a week andthe truck chassis components eighttimes a year.

10 By using Quicklub, Greengains an average of 159 hours ofproductivity per week, enablingmaintenance personnel to work onother projects. Also the safety hazard ofclimbing over, under or around thesometimes slippery equipment forlubrication is arm with grease sealA more efficient fleetInformation Provided by Lincoln Industrial "We have Quicklub on over 240vehicles," says Green. " The totalsavings amounts to 8,300 hours ofmechanics time saved. Take that times$35 per hour, and that comes to$290,500 a year in labor savings alone."Green reports that his replacementparts bills overall have been reduced by25%. For the past five years he haskept the fleet the same size because"we don't have as much of it brokendown and we have increased the payloadper truck." Consequently, maintaining asmaller, more efficient fleet saves money. "We have always received andcontinue to enjoy excellent service fromLincoln Industrial ," says Terry. "Thesales and support has helped us onretrofits, maintenance , training-whateverwe need.