POLARIS Laboratories® Unveils Analysis Engine Powered by AI

The company has announced the launch of Aurora, an advanced AI-driven analysis engine designed to transform equipment reliability and maintenance strategies.

“These are groundbreaking times for our organization,” said Mark Westlake, Chief Information Officer with POLARIS Laboratories®. “Aurora embodies years of dedication, combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to create an intelligent, adaptable system that enhances how our customers manage equipment health.”

Leveraging their 25-year legacy of processing millions of fluid samples, POLARIS Laboratories® has one of the industry’s most comprehensive datasets for lubricant performance, equipment health trends and application-specific conditions. These insights allowed the company to develop advanced diagnostic algorithms and flagging thresholds to optimize maintenance actions.

By integrating Machine Learning, Aurora continuously refines its predictions, becoming more reliable as it processes more data. Maintenance teams can now anticipate issues, minimize downtime and make better data-driven decisions to extend the lifecycle of critical assets.

“Aurora represents a new era of equipment reliability,” Westlake continued. “It’s not just about monitoring performance—it’s about redefining what’s possible with predictive maintenance.”

Advancing the capabilities of fluid analysis and revolutionizing the future of equipment reliability, this new AI-driven system has launched across POLARIS Laboratories’ network. Aurora is here to make fluid analysis more accurate, more reliable and more timely.

View the Full Press Release

POLARIS Laboratories® Announces 2024 Fluid Analysis Program Champion Awards

Each year, POLARIS Laboratories® honors exceptional customers for excellence in their fluid analysis programs. These awards signify program excellence, significant improvement efforts, impactful maintenance actions taken and appreciation of the dedicated work put into the programs.

This year’s finalists will be recognized at the 2025 Reliability Summit, the annual fluid analysis and reliability-focused conference powered by POLARIS Laboratories®, on October 7, 2025, in Indianapolis.

“A program champion plays a vital role in the success of a fluid analysis program, acting as the bridge between mechanics, management and the laboratory while driving the program’s adoption and implementation. It’s inspiring to witness the dedication these champions and maintenance teams bring to their programs. Congratulations to this year’s finalists!” – Randy Clark, POLARIS Laboratories® Manager of Reliability.

POLARIS Laboratories® awards Calfrac Well Services Ltd, as the Tier II Winner and NYC Ferry, operated by Hornblower, as the Tier I Winner of the 2024 Fluid Analysis Program Champion Award. Kokosing Construction Company and Flywheel Energy are named Tier II and Tier I Award finalists, respectively. To hear words from the program champions themselves, click below.

View the Calfrac Well Services Ltd Fluid Analysis Program Champion Award Video

View the NYC Ferry, operated by Hornblower, Program Champion Award Video

View the Kokosing Fluid Analysis Program Champion Award Video

View the Flywheel Energy Fluid Analysis Program Champion Award Video

 

View the full press release

POLARIS Laboratories® Announces Strategic Investment

POLARIS Laboratories® Announces Strategic Investment from Riverspan Partners to Accelerate Innovation and Growth

Indianapolis, IN – POLARIS Laboratories® (“POLARIS” or the “Company”), an industry leader in fluid analysis testing and reliability services, today announced it has received a strategic investment from Riverspan Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm specializing in growth-oriented investments in the industrials sector. Riverspan’s support will bring capital and expertise for POLARIS to advance its position as the independent global leader in maintenance and reliability condition monitoring services.

Founded in 1999, POLARIS provides predictive testing and analysis of oils, fuels, coolants, and greases, helping customers increase reliability and proactively prevent failures. Through state-of-the-art laboratory testing and AI-enabled software, POLARIS helps customers reduce or eliminate high-cost equipment downtime. Through its seven laboratories across the world, the Company differentiates itself by providing leading analytical accuracy, strong turnaround times, and broad geographic reach across a diverse set of attractive end markets. POLARIS is supported by its best-in-class AI-enabled software platform which allows the Company to provide accurate, insightful, and action-oriented recommendations to its customers.

Bryan Debshaw, Chief Executive Officer of POLARIS, said, “This investment is a testament to the strength of our team and steadfast commitment to constant innovation. Partnering with Riverspan will facilitate development of our cutting-edge solutions – including the launch of new HORIZON® tools and advanced automation technologies – and accelerate our expansion into new markets. We are confident that Riverspan is the right partner to help us drive meaningful advancements, foster innovation, and achieve our shared vision for future success.”

Dave Thomas, Partner at Riverspan Partners, said, “We deeply admire what POLARIS has built over the past 25 years and are excited to partner with Bryan and the team to drive continued growth. In particular, we see significant opportunities to support investment in product and service offerings and geographic expansion. We support Bryan’s vision and look forward to helping the Company accelerate its growth trajectory.”

KPMG Corporate Finance LLC is serving as financial advisor and Barnes & Thornburg LLP is serving as legal advisor to POLARIS. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal advisor to Riverspan.

View the Full Press Release

News: Celebrating 25 Years of Saving Equipment

POLARIS Laboratories® Celebrates 25 Years of Saving Equipment

The company is proud to announce its 25-year anniversary, marking a significant milestone in its journey of excellence and innovation in the fluid analysis industry. Since 1999, POLARIS Laboratories® has been at the forefront of the maintenance and reliability industry, consistently delivering accurate, reliable and timely maintenance recommendations to customers around the world.

Throughout its 25 years, POLARIS Laboratories® has achieved several milestones including opening 7 laboratories across the globe, developing an award-winning mobile app, implementing LEAN laboratory practices across all locations, expanding into additional product offerings and designing a secure API connection to sync fluid analysis to maintenance management systems. The company continues to advance innovations using machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve data analysis and interpretation. These accomplishments not only reflect the company’s growth and evolution but also reinforce the company’s position as a leader in the industry and dedication to their customers’ success. [Read our story here]

Through testing and analyzing oil, coolant, fuel and grease samples, the company has been able to provide reliable maintenance recommendations that resulted in more than 68,000 pieces of equipment saved from failure and 2,800,000 critical severity reports delivered, all equating to over $300,000,000 maintenance dollars saved for customers.

“POLARIS Laboratories® has experienced remarkable growth and advancements over the past 25 years and we thank our customers for partnering with us,” said Bryan Debshaw, chief executive officer, POLARIS Laboratories®. “Our future will focus on improving our customers’ experience, developing innovative solutions and advancing specialty testing so we can help them save more of their equipment.”

View the Full Press Release Here

POLARIS Laboratories® Expands Texas Fluid Analysis Laboratory

POLARIS Laboratories® Expands Texas Fluid Analysis Laboratory

Company relocates Houston, TX laboratory to larger facility

HOUSTON – The Indianapolis-based company announces the relocation of the Houston, TX laboratory facility. As the company continues to grow, additional space was needed to maintain continued lean processes and workflows, support the expansion of available laboratory testing services and reduce sample turnaround times.

POLARIS Laboratories® opened the first laboratory in Houston in 2003 and has since outgrown the building space. The expanded space of more than 9,500 square feet includes a larger laboratory floor, additional conference rooms, office and breakroom space.

Read the Full Press Release

News: POLARIS Laboratories® Nominated for Innovation Award at 2024 Mira Awards

POLARIS Laboratories® Nominated for Innovation Award at 2024 Mira Awards

Company recognized for leveraging software to provide predictive analytics

INDIANAPOLIS – POLARIS Laboratories® is honored to be nominated as a finalist for the Conexus Manufacturing Innovation Award, presented at the 2024 TechPoint Mira Awards later this spring.

In an effort to bridge the gap between Indiana’s technology ecosystem and industrial innovators and manufacturers, Conexus Indiana partnered with TechPoint, to present the first-ever award which gives industrial companies an opportunity to showcase innovation, digital transformation and entrepreneurial success stories.

Through a Manufacturing Readiness Grant (MRG) provided by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and administered by Conexus Indiana, POLARIS Laboratories® invested in proprietary software to provide predictive maintenance and analytics for its manufacturing customers around the globe.

“We are leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to marry traditional fluid analysis with operational data to build a predictive maintenance model. We are then able to monitor and identify that a component’s real-time operating conditions could lead to maintenance issues, and proactively inform our customer.” – Mark Westlake, Chief Information Officer, POLARIS Laboratories®.

The Conexus Manufacturing Innovation Award winner will be announced during the prestigious Mira Awards ceremony on April 26 at the Old National Centre in Indianapolis where industry leaders and innovators will gather to celebrate nominations for outstanding achievements in Indiana.

View the full press release here

Published February 22, 2024

POLARIS Laboratories® Increases STLE Leadership Involvement

POLARIS Laboratories® announces two leaders of the company’s Data Analysis team have been inducted into the STLE Board of Directors, the newly founded Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) and OMA Committee, respectively.

Elaine Hepley, Data Analysis Manager, was inducted into the 2023-2024 STLE Board of Directors during the 77th STLE Annual Meeting and Exhibition held May 21-25, 2023. Elaine has been a member of STLE for 5 years, has held positions as Chair of STLE’s OMA Committee, is paper solicitation chair (PSC) of STLE’s Power Generation Technical Committee and Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC). Elaine holds her CLS and OMA I certifications and is an active member of the STLE Lower Ohio River Valley (LORV) Section.

“Teamwork makes the dream work, there is no life without challenges and there is no success without failure in between. The best investment anyone can make is in themselves,” says Hepley on her recent induction into the STLE Board of Directors.

Brandon Van Horn, Data Analysis Supervisor, has been named member of STLE’s OMA Committee and will serve as Vice-Chair. Brandon has held his CLS and OMA I certifications and STLE certifications for 5 years.

 

With their extensive industry backgrounds and involvement in the STLE organization, Elaine and Brandon understand the significance of STLE’s education efforts for their members. They bring their education, experiences and learnings to both STLE’s members and POLARIS Laboratories® teams, nationally and locally.

View the Full Press Release Here

POLARIS Laboratories® Expands Suite of Integrated Partners

POLARIS Laboratories® is excited to announce the expansion of our suite of integration partnerships. The company has worked with several Integrated Partners to develop API (Application Programming Interface) connections to seamlessly connect HORIZON®, POLARIS Laboratories’ data management system, to maintenance systems, reliability service providers and original equipment manufacturers. We call this integration solution DataConnect.

Integrating sample analysis data and recommendations allows customers to see their sample results, submit samples and create maintenance actions and work orders within the platform of their choosing. Thus, allowing a ‘single view’ platform to monitor the health and reliability of equipment.

Included in these expanded partnerships:

CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) and ERP Systems (Enterprise Resource Planning)

  • Total Resource Management, providing integration with IBM Maximo Enterprise Asset Management
  • Asset Management Solutions, providing integration with JD Edwards
  • ProExcellence, integration with SAP
  • Cohesive, providing integration with IBM Maximo Enterprise Asset Management
  • Fluke, providing integration with eMaint Enterprise Asset Management
  • UpKeep, Asset Operations Management
  • Fiix, Maintenance Software
  • DINGO, Predictive Maintenance Software
  • Tango, Reliability Information Management

Reliability Service Providers

  • IJSSEL, Predictive Maintenance Solutions
  • Allied Reliability, Asset Management Solutions
  • AVT, Predictive Maintenance and Reliability
  • I-care Reliability, Predictive Maintenance Solutions

OEM’s

  • Hitachi / ConSite, Hitachi Construction Machinery Corporation

Our list of Integrated Partners continues to grow. Whether you perform the integration of fluid analysis data on your own, work with your primary maintenance management platform or work with one of our integrated partners, POLARIS Laboratories® has the solution to your data challenges. Want to join the list of integrated partners? Contact rclark@polarislabs.com.

POLARIS Laboratories® Donates to Local Community

During this holiday season, POLARIS Laboratories® raised $2,000 to benefit Gleaners Food Bank, a local food bank in Indianapolis, to support the community and help those in need. Employees of all laboratory locations were invited to donate throughout the month of December, beginning on Giving Tuesday. The company’s donation will provide meals for more than 9,000 local Indiana families during the holiday season and beyond.

Gleaners Food Bank has been serving 21 counties across central and southern Indiana since 1980 and is the state’s largest food pantry.