The purchase of lubrication pumps, distribution systems and connector products is a significant investment, one worthy of proper maintenance and mastery by certified technicians. Companies often carefully select and purchase high-quality pump-to-point lube systems or hydraulic hoses without an understanding of how and when to inspect this equipment. The results can be disastrous—a complete shutdown of activity, lost hours, cost overruns, and impatience among employees and managers.
Avoiding this problem must be a priority for vendors of pumps and valves. The industry has a responsibility to educate and empower technicians so that they and all end users can keep their plant’s machinery operating successfully.
Three major principles should drive decision making:
- Selecting the right equipment for the right reasons
- Maximizing the equipment’s use with proper training seminars and frequent educational programs
- Ensuring that all stakeholders involved honor these ideals
Without consistent instruction of equipment operators and other end users, plant owners and management have nothing but an expensive product, a receipt and a warranty. Those things do not constitute service or benefit the plant of the pumps or system manufacturer. All parties—starting with product manufacturers—must partner with credible vendors.
Teaching the Fundamentals
To equipment manufacturers who benefit from a strong reputation, the fastest way to destroy that advantage is to authorize the wrong vendor to sell their products. Careless vendors will not prioritize service and education.
If a distributor ignores an otherwise easily fixable warning, a client will draw the wrong conclusion—that the equipment manufacturer is overrated, unjustly expensive and guilty of making inferior products. No business wants to be the victim of misinformation when everything from research and development to product testing and refinement works toward a quality product.
The only way to avoid this scenario is with education—monthly classes focused on teaching workers about topics ranging from basic rules of operation and maintenance to more sophisticated projects involving the repair of specific parts and systems.
One company has a series of sessions dedicated to topics such as distribution systems, basic lubrication principles, and the use of centralized lubrication pumps and systems. In addition to a Q-and-A section and classroom discussion, trained technicians show attendees how, when and why to suitably use these various types of equipment. Sessions often use a combination of general prepared material and specific information on individual products.
If the industry highlights these issues, if education and technical training take their rightful place next to the manufacture of pumps and systems, then efficiency can be supreme and the reliable functioning of equipment can be secure.
To accomplish this goal, the material must be demystified and the confusing jargon removed. Workers should have the confidence to succeed and the ability to make on-the-spot repairs. Teachers should bring clarity and enthusiasm to this material.
These rewards can inspire other businesses to emulate these practices, to the delight of the most important party: the individual customer, who wants to enjoy many years of satisfied dependability from a specialized piece of equipment.
By educating that client, and through a sustained investment in the very best customer service for all clients, the pumping industry can be a guidepost of wisdom and leadership.