Benefits beyond cost savings
Even good lubrication maintenance can be improved
Lubrication maintenance has evolved from a junior technician's task into a scientific discipline over the past two decades. This transformation has been driven by developments in lubricant technology, increased research insights, and the availability of advanced monitoring and analysis tools. Peter Bakkum, Managing Director at Interflon Holland, has spent years spreading knowledge about proper lubrication techniques.
“What’s remarkable is that even companies who seem to be doing ‘well’ in this area – with few or hardly any breakdowns – often still have considerable room for improvement. In such cases, the gains don’t lie solely in preventing failures, but also in unlocking hidden cost savings.”
The foundation of effective lubrication
Bakkum explains that machine lubrication serves three critical functions: reducing friction between moving parts, dissipating heat, and preserving surfaces. “To achieve this effectively, you need the right lubricants applied at the right time, in the right quantity, and in the right manner. Most companies have improvement opportunities on all these points, though they're often unaware of them.”
The impact of proper lubrication
Companies meeting all requirements for effective lubrication maintenance benefit across multiple areas with corresponding cost savings. Energy efficiency provides a prime example. “Global research shows that approximately 20% of worldwide energy consumption is spent overcoming friction,” notes Bakkum. “You can then make a simple calculation of what this means for energy consumption, associated costs, and a company’s CO₂ footprint. These figures aren’t new, but many people are still unaware that proper lubrication techniques can make a significant contribution to reducing friction and improving energy efficiency.”
Proper lubrication maintenance also extends equipment life. Well-lubricated machine components with minimal friction are less prone to wear and fail later in their service life. Bakkum explains: “And if we translate that directly into costs, then other studies show that 15 to 40% of maintenance expenses are caused by incorrect lubrication.” In addition to energy savings and longer equipment life, there is also clear potential for reducing maintenance costs. And thanks to ongoing developments, the opportunities to save are only continuing to grow.
Developments in lubrication knowledge and technology
Bakkum refers to the knowledge developed in recent years in areas such as tribology, lubricant formulation, additives, and determining the optimal quantity and frequency of lubrication. Yet putting this knowledge into practice remains a challenge. “Lubricant manufacturers and suppliers do share this knowledge,” he explains, “but its real-world impact has so far been limited. A great deal of energy is still lost to excessive friction. Seized machine components, prematurely failing bearings due to insufficient lubrication, and rising operating temperatures are still all too common. This is often not due to unwillingness, but to a lack of practical lubrication knowledge, the kind of knowledge essential for effective and efficient lubrication.”
In practice, maintenance personnel are rarely given in-depth training on how lubricants work, what they do, and how to apply them correctly. “If it’s unclear which lubricant to use, how to apply it, or if a lubrication point is hard to reach or not properly scheduled, the risk of it being unintentionally skipped is high,” says Bakkum.
Management
There are also barriers at management level. “From a cost perspective, it’s understandable that lubrication is often seen as a secondary concern,” Bakkum continues. “However, both research and practical experience show that this is exactly where significant gains can be made — in equipment availability, energy and maintenance cost reduction, and less unplanned downtime. Yet the costs of wear, component replacement or unexpected stoppages are often accepted as normal, even though in many cases they are preventable.”
Bakkum refers to research by the University of Southampton on production losses caused by friction, wear and poor lubrication. “If you extrapolate these findings to an industrialised country such as the Netherlands, the estimated annual waste adds up to nearly 6 billion euros. That figure for the Netherlands alone shows just how much value is still waiting to be unlocked through well-structured lubrication maintenance.”
Time for a new approach
But back to the reason for this article: there’s also a group of companies that experience few or no lubrication-related issues, and yet could still significantly improve. Bakkum explains: “This may sound odd, but when you take a closer look, the absence of problems is often the result of a preventive maintenance strategy. In such cases, components are replaced preventively, and often far too early, without investigating why certain parts are actually failing prematurely. When it comes to bearings, the root cause is often lubrication-related, typically the use of the wrong lubricant. And that’s not always because the wrong product was chosen at the start. Over time, machines are often pushed for higher output, and this may cause them to operate beyond the limits of certain lubricants, in terms of temperature or pressure tolerance. The need to change the lubricant is then overlooked, which, to be fair, is understandable.”
A holistic approach
For companies looking to restructure their lubrication maintenance, reassess their current approach, or take steps toward professionalising their maintenance strategy, Interflon offers a practical step-by-step roadmap:
- Comprehensive audit: Map all lubrication points with relevant machine properties, current lubricants, and maintenance frequencies.
- Compatibility review: Verify that current lubricants still match equipment specifications. Have speeds, pressures, or environmental conditions changed?
- Product optimisation: Work with specialists to ensure appropriate lubricants for each application whilst reducing product variety. “This step benefits most from specialist input,” explains Bakkum. “Specialists can assess lubricant suitability and help reduce the number of different products used, which often accumulates through new equipment purchases or staff changes. This reduces logistics costs whilst minimising the risk of using incorrect lubricants.”
- Frequency optimisation: Determine proper lubrication intervals with specialist guidance.
- Advanced solutions: Consider additional measures for further cost reduction:
• Automatic lubrication systems for multiple lubrication points reduce maintenance costs, save lubricants, ensure timely application, and prevent forgotten lubrication points
• Integration with existing maintenance programmes creates work orders automatically and builds historical data for trend analysis and optimisation
“These methods can be tailored to different levels of ambition,” Bakkum concludes. “Start with quick wins, focus on critical equipment, or address specific problem cases. Once the benefits are clear and support is in place, expansion becomes a natural next step.”
Want to know how to optimise your lubrication maintenance programme — and what it could mean for your operations?
Get in touch with Interflon’s specialists to uncover hidden opportunities, reduce costs, and boost equipment performance — with a tailored strategy that delivers measurable results.
This article was written by ing. M.de Wit - Blok. It appeared in Vakblad Aandrijftechniek on April 11, 2025 and has been translated from Dutch.
