LUBRICATION – PROCUREMENT
Asking AI
about lube
The complex chore of choosing the right lubrication is getting easier.
With artificial intelligence (AI), a new generation of online, smart and
mobile platforms could smooth the path to efficient lube procurement
Oil chemistry is complicated.
For operators of
commercial or industrial
facilities, this complexity
is such that the challenge
of selecting the correct lubricants and
fluids is significant. There are a myriad
of different organic and synthetic oils,
greases and hydraulic fluids. With their
various additives, like lithium stearate,
molybdenum disulphide or PTFE, each
is suited to any number of specific
applications.
Each individual machine may require
several different grades and types
of oils within a number of separate
compartments, for instance the hydraulic
systems, gearbox and final mechanical
drive. Furthermore, over the lifespan of
some machines, OEM-specified lubricants
may go out of production, therefore
requiring the selection of alternatives.
For an engineer with dozens of
machines from different makers, choosing
the right lubricants is time-consuming
and complex, but also vital. Oil supply
companies typically offer online and
telephone support to their commercial
customers, but now they are looking at
new digital tools that can help.
PASS THE WORD
Suppliers have developed many ways to
pass on required product information.
Mobil, for instance, offers a menu-driven
website where searching by application
results in product recommendations.
A more detailed data sheet is available
for PDF download if required, and more
complex enquiries can be done via email or
telephone.
A rather more complex development
comes from Total. Lub Advisor – an online
and mobile platform – allows customers
to search for the correct lubricants via
the license plate or by make, model and
type for most modern civil, agricultural
and construction vehicles. The software
produces a recommended choice from a
list of Total’s full range of engine lubricants,
as well as transmission, axle and gear
oils, antifreeze and coolant. On selecting
the vehicle, different lubrication choices
are displayed with a few core details.
Choices may also depend on the ambient
temperature conditions at location of the
operating unit. Again, there’s an option to
download a comprehensive data sheet on
each product.
In addition, like many similar platforms,
there is a third party-operated chat
window for almost immediate, though
technically limited, human support. More
complex enquiries are referred back to an
experienced team for direct follow up with
the customer at a later date.
Alongside the major lubrication
product suppliers, OEMs are also building
functionality into their web offerings.
Coming as a value-added service, these
platforms are designed to leverage
expertise in, for example, bearings and
condition monitoring with knowledge of
friction, wear and lubrication.
SKF is one such company. LubeSelect
is a web-based product platform for SKF
greases, and joins a number of additional
SKF lubrication services from specialised
lubricants to full systems. As before, this
application is designed to help in the
selection of an appropriate lubricant for a
particular application. Lubricants may be
chosen based on application conditions,
such as rpm and temperature ranges, or
by application profiles. The platform gives
best-practise suggestions, SKF says.
Relevant pages deliver product and safety
technical specification data sheets, as well
as information on pack sizes, for example.
SMARTER ABOUT SELECTION
While all these various platforms offer
varying degrees of sophistication, they
are, nonetheless, still time-consuming
approaches to lubricant selection. Now
though, smarter IT systems and AI tools
are enabling the next-generation of
advanced selection tools to emerge.
LubeChat, from Shell, is one of the first
of this new generation of smarter AI-driven
platforms to emerge. It’s designed
to enable commercial and industrial
By David Appleyard
16 www.operationsengineer.org.uk May 2019
/www.operationsengineer.org.uk