Reliability Questions & Answers with John Malone of ChevronTexaco by Terrence O'Hanlon, CMRP

ChevronTexaco Products Company recently launched Computex® MMS, a web based Maintenance Management System as part of its Reliability Based Maintenance Solutions program.  We decided to catch up with John Malone from the Reliability Solutions group to learn more.

1)   ChevronTexaco is already well known for its quality lubricants so why offer Reliability Solutions?

Lubricant purchases average roughly 3-5% of a typical industrial maintenance budget, but lubrication has a tremendous impact on a plant’s labor and parts replacement costs, which account for up to 85% of the entire maintenance budget.  By integrating lubricants into a complete reliability offering, ChevronTexaco is able to better assess the overall needs of an operation and provide not only the proper lubricant for a specific application, but a customized lubrication program designed to extend equipment life, improve reliability and ultimately increase productivity.

2)   What is Computex® MMS and how does it fit into the Reliability Solutions being offered by ChevronTexaco?

Computex® MMS is a web-based lubrication maintenance management system designed to promote more reliable equipment performance and operating life.  Unlike other computerized maintenance management systems that concentrate mostly on monitoring machinery and parts statistics, Computex® MMS focuses primarily on preventive maintenance through lubrication.  Computex® MMS is designed to be simple or multifaceted.  It can be either a basic work order management tool or a full-featured asset management system.  Computex® MMS can easily expand from an information only equipment list to a lubrication routing and scheduling system to a reliability-centered maintenance asset and inventory management tool.  It can be used to schedule and plan preventive maintenance service; track work orders and work requests; control parts inventory and issue purchase orders.  Computex® MMS is the only maintenance management system you’ll ever need.

3)   What makes your Reliability Solutions different?

ChevronTexaco takes an integrated approach to Reliability Solutions.  Billions of dollars have been spent on re-engineering reliability over the past fifteen years with little to no change in the mix between reactive and predictive maintenance.  ChevronTexaco Reliability Solutions are designed to incorporate all aspects of reliability so that maintenance decisions are based not only on the independent results obtained from tools used for oil analysis, thermography, vibration analysis, etc., but from a compilation of information that provides a complete picture of an operation’s overall reliability program with a lubrication foundation.

4)   Are the Reliability Solutions being offered solely related to lubrication issues?

No.  ChevronTexaco Reliability Solutions encompass not only lubrication with ISOCLEAN™ Solutions, but also e-Business Solutions such as Computex® MMS and consulting services such as T-REX™ Total Reliability Excellence.

5)   How were things done at client sites prior to your offering Reliability Solutions?

ChevronTexaco has always offered value-added products and services to its customers.  The change is a shift from traditional lubricant sales to the sale of lubricants as part of a total reliability offering.  In other words, rather than focusing on the application of lubricants, ChevronTexaco looks at the impact of lubrication on a plant’s overall operations and the subsequent effect on equipment reliability.

6)   What kind of impact does ChevronTexaco Reliability Solutions have on overall plant and machinery reliability?

ChevronTexaco Reliability Solutions not only have a wide-ranging impact on plant and machine reliability, but can also create a safer operating environment.  The offering can be something as basic (but important) as ISOCLEAN™ Solutions for improved lubrication system integrity to extend equipment life, or as advanced as T-REX™, a full-blown reliability consulting service which produces an average return on investment of 11:1, and directly impacts a plant’s bottom line.  But all of our Reliability Solutions follow the ChevronTexaco Tenets of Operational Excellence to “do it safely – or not at all.”

7)   Do you find you have to educate potential customers as to how and why they might benefit from improving reliability?

Customers vary in their level of sophistication with respect to reliability.  T-REX utilizes a Reliability Business Case Calculator to determine where a plant ranks within a four-quartile system, with First Quartile being Top Performers.  T-REX will demonstrate how a plant’s overall maintenance performance compares to that of other operations in a given industry; the investment necessary to move an operation up one full quartile, or directly into the top quartile; and the financial benefits of improving an operation’s performance by one or more quartiles.  ChevronTexaco offers the Business Case for Reliability Workshop to help a prospective customer develop a reliability business case for their own plant and gain a better understanding as to the importance of improving reliability.

8)   What is the best success story you can share about providing Reliability Solutions?

A manufacturer of drive shaft components was in an almost entirely reactive maintenance mode.  An ISOCLEAN™ Service Provider conducted a plant survey, pulled samples from each of the hydraulic systems, and submitted an engineering service report that covered the benefits of the ISOCLEAN™ Solutions program as a whole.  The problematic systems were then treated utilizing ISOCLEAN™ Fluid Conditioning Services and have been placed on a preventive maintenance program. The customer has benefited from an astounding 82% decrease in unscheduled downtime which has resulted in thousands of dollars in savings on parts and labor, along with increased production. The customer now uses ISOCLEAN™ Storage Containers and ISOCLEAN™ Solutions Desiccant Breathers throughout their operation.  In the words of the customer, “It becomes easy for a manufacturing facility to believe that a program like this is simply geared toward us dumping out questionable oil and purchasing new.  The ISOCLEAN program was quite the contrary.”

9)   What are your future plans and goals for Computex® MMS and other Reliability Solutions you may be planning?

ChevronTexaco will continue to explore emerging technology that can be easily employed to improve reliability.  Whether it is a stand-alone service or one that incorporates ChevronTexaco’s back office systems, we’re always looking for new ideas.  By utilizing our vast resources and significant distribution channel, ChevronTexaco has been quite effective at delivering solutions to our customer base in a safe, efficient and economic manner.

10)  Where can people go to learn more?

Contact ChevronTexaco Reliability Solutions at 866-354-4476.

Editor’s comment:  It is nice to see a vendor looking beyond their traditional product oriented boundaries to provide solutions that help customers be successful.  A successful customer is probably the best type of customer you could ask for so the approach is sound!    We hope that is a paradigm that will catch on with more vendors soon.

If you know of innovation in the Lubrication market that you would like to see explored in this Q&A Column, please email to my attention.