Program Insights: Time to Make Adjustments and Improvements

How many times have you heard “in these unprecedented times” since 2020? Well the precedent has been set, times have changed and they are not going to change back…

The reality is: labor shortages are requiring staff to become more creative, oil supply has forced companies to extend their drains, equipment availability lead times are so far out that new equipment is not an option (even if you could, interest rates are continuing to rise). In addition to these challenges, parts and service are driving downtimes to be longer and longer. The truth is, these challenges are not going away anytime soon. So, what can you do now to solve some of these challenges?

Your Maintenance Program Isn’t the Same Anymore

You simply cannot hold on to the maintenance program you had in the past. Your program needs to be proactive – even world-class preventive maintenance programs are changing. Programs are finding new ways to drive efficiency, reduce rework and keep expenses down – all while keeping production up. These programs regularly turn to the experts at POLARIS Laboratories® to learn how they can keep being the best.

What Can You Do Today?

Programs that are seeing positive improvements and big impact aren’t making groundbreaking changes, they are making small, incremental changes that result in big impact, such as:

  1. Participating in our extended drain comments program to prolong the life of their oils
  2. Adding sampling valves to equipment to provide an accurate, consistent sample in half the time
  3. Scheduling quarterly Program Enrichment Reviews to learn what issues occur the most and on what pieces of equipment
  4. Discovering new tools and ways to integrate data to drive efficiency and effectiveness

Slow Down to Speed Up

In business it has been said “sometimes you need to slow down to speed up”.  When was the last time you asked for expert advice on how to improve your program? We know how busy you are, we understand the pressures of outside factors on your daily workload. The good news is, even though you may have hundreds of things to worry about and take care of, POLARIS Laboratories® has one focus: your preventive maintenance.

Call us today and talk to our experienced Reliability team. Ask their advice what you can do to make an impact and alleviate your maintenance challenges. They are here to help you implement a better program. As mentioned at the start of this blog, the unprecedented times are now precedented.  Things will only change if we do. Call us at 877-808-3750 or fill out our contact form – we’re here to help.

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Get Connected: Data Integration Platform Partnerships

DataConnect, a free service offered by POLARIS Laboratories®, allows customers to integrate their fluid analysis data into their existing maintenance management platform, such as an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) or business analytics system. Integrating data allows customers to view critical information within a single platform to make informed maintenance decisions, including auto triggering work orders, online sample data submission, equipment list updates and more.

This service uses a secure Application Programming Interface (API) and is easy for customers that have the time, resources, and skills to pull data from the API and integrate with their existing preferred maintenance management platform. For others, a ‘turnkey’ solution may be desired.

For the ‘turnkey’ solution, this is where POLARIS Laboratories® Integrated Partners come in. The partners, working with POLARIS Laboratories® and the end user, develop the integration from the API and the customer’s system.

Today’s existing integrated partners fall into several different categories:

  • Equipment OEMs
  • Telematics Services
  • Maintenance Service Providers
  • ERP/CMMS service providers
  • On-Board Sensor Providers

If your company falls in to one of the above categories, or any additional category pertaining to equipment reliability and monitoring, we would love to talk with you about becoming an integrated partner. We see this as a benefit of promoting your company and increasing your revenue stream while also promoting the services offered by POLARIS Laboratories®. Most importantly, we see this as providing value-added service solutions to our mutual customers.

If you are interested in learning more about POLARIS Laboratories® Integrated Partner solutions, please contact:

Randy Clark, Manager of Reliability, at rclark@polarislabs.com.

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Published May 3, 2022

Go Green with POLARIS Laboratories®: New QR Sample Labels

In the coming months, POLARIS Laboratories® will focus on improving its environmental footprint. With a constant increase of fluid analysis users submitting samples online through HORIZON®, users are less dependent on paper sample label forms to

provide the laboratory with equipment, component, manufacturer and fluid information.

As a laboratory, POLARIS Laboratories® operates under a Lean environment. This means we are constantly looking for improvements to eliminate waste – whether it be energy waste or actual paper waste affecting the environment.

Launching in July 2022, as part of our Green Initiative to help protect the planet, POLARIS Laboratories® will provide users the option to order QR-code only sample jar labels. These labels are small 2″ x 1″ labels that function similarly to the sample jar label found on the Sample Information Form today – just without the paper.

See How QR-Code Labels Work

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Published April 18, 2022

Oil Analysis: Why You Need it Now More than Ever

Today’s oil analysis capabilities offer a great deal more than just monitoring component health. With today’s technology, along with performing the proper tests, we can:

  • Monitor the condition of the oil
  • See the oil is suitable for continued use
  • Reduce the amount of used oil disposal
  • Adjust maintenance intervals and strategies
  • Adjust component replacement schedules
  • Improve forecasting and budgeting
  • Increase component life hours

Why Testing Now is Crucial

In today’s world, there’s another reason for oil analysis and why you need to do it now more than ever. Over the past many months, lubricants have been and continue to be in short supply. This is being caused by increased demand, additive shortages, logistics delays and a shortage of delivery drivers. Unfortunately, many companies are on allocation and only receiving partial amounts of their lubricant delivery. If you can’t get the lubricant supply you need, it might be a good time to look at how to get more out of the lubricant you already have.

Condition-Based Monitoring

Oil analysis is the tool to extending and optimizing drain intervals without compromising your equipment reliability. Many customers are still doing a preventive maintenance (PM) program, rather than a condition-based monitoring program. Often times, when a used oil sample is sent to the laboratory, the oil has already been disposed of. Now is the ideal time to look at moving to a condition-based monitoring program and let the laboratory’s data guide you on how much farther you can safely go with the lubricant you have in service. Ultimately, optimizing drain intervals reduces cost and waste, and helps lower maintenance costs when done correctly.

So, with finished lubricants in short supply right now, plus the ever increasing price of crude oil in today’s world (which ultimately raises the price of finished lubricants) one of your best options might be to consider extending your oil drains with “extended drain comments” from the data analysts and subject matter experts at POLARIS Laboratories®.  Please see below an example of a used oil analysis report with “extended drain comments”:

Click to View the Entire Report

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Published March 14, 2022

Tips to Confidently and Safely Extend Your Oil Drains

Short on lubricants? Lubricant supplier has your company on volume allocation?

Want to save on costs? Want to keep equipment running?

Look no further than the lubricants you have on hand.

Lubricants can be safely extended past the recommended oil drain. This requires testing of the lubricant to verify its physical properties and to evaluate its ability to continue properly protecting the equipment. A routine, consistent Fluid Analysis Program can determine any unusual wear pattern in the equipment, identify and control any contamination present and determine the suitability of the lubricant for continued use.

Therefore, if you follow the appropriate guidelines and participate in fluid analysis, you can squeeze a little more from your lubricants during these challenging times. For additional information on how to successfully achieve this, take a look at this infographic:

Five Tips to Optimize Oil Drains

If you would like additional information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact POLARIS Laboratories®.

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Published February 15, 2022

Submit Daily Component Meter Readings with Your Samples

With POLARIS Laboratories® data integration solution, DataConnect, you can sync your sample data and submit samples through your CMMS. DataConnect now comes with a feature to sync daily component meter readings from your maintenance management system or telematics with your sample data.

Before this new functionality, POLARIS Laboratories® provided sample schedule reports in HORIZON® based on an assumption of the number of days it would take to reach your ‘sample due date’. Here’s an example: your last sample was performed at 2,000 hours and your sample interval is 500 hours, we would forecast, based on interval days that you provided, the date the next sample was due (sample interval 500 hours, equipment operated 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, number of days to reach 500 hours = 88 days, hours on component at last sample + 88 days = next sample date).

In a perfect world, this would suffice for optimal use of your maintenance data, but very few companies run equipment on a predefined number of hours per day. In reality, run time is dependent on many factors.

When you connect your data together through DataConnect and provide the laboratory with daily meter readings, we can forecast your next sample due date with much greater accuracy. Our team is working on additional functionality to send you alerts when your equipment is approaching the next sample due date based on these real-time meter readings.

We’re on the journey to help you achieve optimal equipment reliability – are you? Get started with DataConnect today.

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Published February 10, 2022

International Shipping Made Easy with POLARIS Laboratories® Europe

If the last two years have taught us anything, it is that shipping fluid analysis samples internationally has become more challenging. These challenges come from changing regulations around Brexit as well as COVID-19-related issues with sending and receiving shipments in these arduous times.

Solving these international shipping problems has been a key factor for POLARIS Laboratories in Europe. We strive to allow the seamless continuation of our customer’s analysis programs and the timely, cost-effective delivery of all samples to our laboratory located in Poznan, Poland.

Because our facility is located within the EU Economic Zone, this alleviates any Brexit-related customs issues and costs when shipping samples to a UK-based laboratory. Additionally, for any UK-based customers, we have a collection point located in the UK, which removes any complexities and additional costs for customers when using POLARIS Laboratories® for their fluid analysis programs.

What’s more, we also have strategically located sample collection points in Antwerp, Cologne and Istanbul – which allows customers located in these markets to send in samples locally. All our collection points utilize a global courier for next-working-day delivery of all samples from each collection point to the laboratory.

POLARIS Laboratories® offers larger customers the opportunity to utilize our own courier accounts, which further eases the complexity and costs associated with shipping samples to our laboratory.

Video: Fluid Analysis in Europe

When you switch to POLARIS Laboratories®, you save time and money – not only on shipping samples, but also on maintenance & reliability budgets as a whole.

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Published February 3, 2022

Case Study: Extending Oil Drains with Micropatch Testing

When looking at options available to extend oil drain intervals, a U.K.-based power generation company contacted Delta-Xero® (a fluid systems manufacturer) to assess their new filtration systems as a potential way to remove or reduce contamination levels, optimize oil drain intervals and realize better cost and environmental savings on the company’s operating units.

Download the case study below to see how the power generation customer utilized micropatch testing on their samples to better understand the condition of the oil, and with close monitoring and regular sampling, was able to extend the oil drain interval from a weekly change of around 150 hours, to an operating time of 650 hours on average. This has resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of oil changes required on each engine, as well as significant savings on the labor involved, and the associated disposal costs of the used oil from each change out.

Download the Case Study

Submit Samples Faster with QR Code Asset Tags

Any number of component ID’s registered on the HORIZON® platform can instantly be rendered into a QR code directly from your list of equipment. The QR codes can be conveniently printed and affixed near the sample point of the corresponding equipment with a tag or label. The component ID tag can then be scanned anytime with your smartphone while using the HORIZON mobile app. Whether registering a sample after collection or searching for the latest sample report, component ID tags effortlessly identify the asset’s sample point on-the-spot.

Here are just a few advantages of utilizing component ID QR code tags:

  • Completely eliminates the need to hand-enter ID’s
  • Decreases time locating equipment and increases operational efficiency and productivity
  • Streamline sample registration during maintenance intervals saving time
  • Instantly locate reports for a unit with signs of trouble
  • Maintain component ID integrity utilizing the same identifications system across your organization without the pollution of false IDs or risk when units move location
  • Integration with CMMS or 3rd party applications incorporating the same component ID
  • Easily able to scan even when damaged and can be manually read in a worst state scenario

Learn More about QR code tags

Avoid Delays and Ship Samples ASAP

Sample. Ship. Results. 

Taking into account the shipping issues and labor shortages affecting shipments in addition to the holidays fast approaching, it’s more important now than ever to ship your samples as soon as you can so they can make it to the laboratory for testing.

We know how vital your sample results are when faced with making tough maintenance decisions and we want to help you prepare to navigate this crazy time to eliminate your equipment’s downtime.

The good news is, we’re providing a few steps you can take now to help tackle today’s shipping problems we’re facing.

1. Pre-order Kits and Supplies

Place orders for sample kits now. Having a back stock of sample jars on hand for when equipment is scheduled for its upcoming preventive maintenance makes it simple and convenient to pull your samples. Don’t forget to add tubing, vacuum pumps, prepaid postage and valves to your cart!

Place Your Order Now

2. Implement a Shipping Strategy

Get those important samples taken and send them on their way to the closest laboratory as soon as you can (click here to see all of our locations). Timing is everything these days and, if you plan accordingly, you can avoid your package being delayed by this season’s holiday shipping surge. Also, be sure to utilize carriers who offer a trackable shipping service to our laboratory doors. This way you know when your package arrives for processing.

3. Communication

Team communication is very important as well this holiday season. Make sure your team is prepared to ship samples out to a laboratory location closest to them as soon as they can (click here for a guide on How to Ship Samples). In addition, make sure they know that they can purchase prepaid UPS labels on the online store when ordering kits. These pre-paid labels are perfect for a 10-pack of samples and are designed to reduce packaging preparation time so you can get your samples on their way to the laboratory.

While these are unprecedented times, POLARIS Laboratories® is continually looking for ways to save you time and money.

Proven Impact. Proven Uptime. Proven Savings.
Let us prove it to you.

Published November 2, 2021