Category: Company Updates

High Differential Pressure Doesn’t Always Mean A Plugged Filter

A high differential might not mean your filters are plugged. If you keep replacing filters and are still experiencing the same problem, or if your filters do not look clogged when you pull them, it’s time to consider some other data. Changes in fluid viscosity and excessive filter replacements can give false end-of-filter life warnings when the system is not calibrated correctly.

Case-in-point: RIG recently performed a high velocity, hot oil flush on a small compressor and electric motor package. After achieving an API-614 acceptable screen based on piping size and a lubricant ISO cleanliness code of 15/13/9, we helped the customer install filters in their on-board filter housings and install screens with cotton sheets in the supply headers to run their auxiliary pumps for verification through the bearing headers.

It was determined after start-up by the plant that the 10 um filter used plugged, at which time it was changed out for a new element. Knowing the system was clean, but not seeing the differential and operating factors, we knew something was not right about the findings.

Later, we performed the same flush on a similar system at which time we monitored flow and differential factors to repeat the process and use data to determine the performance factors of the filters.

Step One: RIG removed the filters from the housings, installed jumpers at the bearing supply headers and began flushing using our 400 GPM flushing skid. This proved a 19 psid differential across an empty filter housing with 30 psi system header pressure and oil temperature of 70°F. This would show a 63% filter life used giving the filter change out differential of 30 psid.

Step Two: After the system was cleaned by flushing and achieving the API-614 pipe cleanliness standard, along with the targeted ISO Fluid Cleanliness spec, the decision was made to add a filter and use the on-board aux pump in conjunction with our flushing skid. Based on understanding of flow differential, we knew we should gain anywhere from 1–6 psid with the new 10 um filter installed after start-up.

Step Three: The pumps were started and the bearing headers were still jumped so the only resistance we would encounter from the previous step was the filter and it would prove to be slightly less since the lubricant was at 150°F and the viscosity had dropped to 17.7 cSt. This proved out and we achieved a system pressure of 34 psi and a differential pressure of 23 psid, which would show 76% of used filter life with a change out differential requirement of 30 psid. This was a gain of 4 pounds of differential from adding a filter to the housing even while dropping the viscosity of the oil from 46 cSt to 17.7 cSt.

Step Four: After the system was circulated, using this process, the decision was made to install the bearing headers to the equipment and install a 100 mesh screen with cotton bed sheets to the supply piping after filters. This is where data helps provide a logical explanation of why the filter is not plugged. After installing the bed sheets and screen, we now add more resistance immediately after the filter housing, this will make the system header pressure increase to nearly 99 psi and the post filter pressure at 60 psi which proved a 39 psid across the filters with the lubricant at 80°F, which showed 132.64% of filter life used. After a few minutes, the operators shut down the system and wanted to change the filter, but it was explained that the screen with linen sheets were installed which created the differential from pump supply to filter outlet and asked them to continue running the pump for the duration of an hour so we could check the screens.

Step 5: The screen was pulled from the supply header and the system was restarted for circulation without any restrictions except operational flow orifices. After reading the header pressure and differential. It was concluded that the filter only had a differential of 8.7 psid and a system pressure of 36 psi.

PetrolinkUSA and Cogen Cleaning Technology Join to Form Reliable Industrial Group

HOUSTON, Texas – (Business Wire) October 30th, 2018 – PetrolinkUSA and Cogen Cleaning Technology have joined forces to expand the current platform of industrial reliability and global pre-commission services. The new name of the holding company for the two brands is Reliable Industrial Group (http://www.therigteam.com).

Bringing together PetrolinkUSA and Cogen Cleaning Technology will expand the geographic footprint to better serve the global precommissioning and reliability services market by allowing quick response for operations and engineering execution with the largest fleet of pre-commissioning and reliability service equipment in the industry. The RIG strategy will be focused on bringing in proven processes, training and technology to expand market share, and deliver reliable services to a broad range of global customers.

Cogen Cleaning Technology (http://www.cogencleaning.com/) provides a complete range of pre-commission cleaning needs, including; Steam Blows of headers, boilers, HRSG’s and process lines, Airblows of HRSG’s, boilers, and process equipment, Gas Line Air Blows on underground and above ground piping up to all users, Hydrolazing of piping systems, ACC’S and vessels, Hydrostatic Testing of all vessels, piping and pressure parts, Circulating Degreasing & Citric Acid Cleaning of HRSG’s, boilers and piping, Circulating Degreasing of HRSG’s and Boilers, Line Purging, ACC steam Flushing, Oil Flushing of all rotating equipment, Surge Flushing of process lines and Vaporphase Flushing

Gregg Alper, President and Owner of Cogen Cleaning Technology is recognized as a proven industry leader with over 25 years of experience planning and engineering global pre-commissionining projects. “Adding Cogen Cleaning Technology to the RIG service platform meets the market request to be a single source engineered pre-commissioning and reliability services company. Cogen Cleaning Technology is the global market leader with a proven track record of executing large scale pre-commission projects,” said Gregg Alper.

“We are happy to have Gregg and his team join our platform of companies. Mr. Alper is a managing partner and directly involved with all aspects of the combined companies. This service expansion puts our customers first, by forming a single source on-track, on-budget, critical path, engineered solution provider. Gregg and his team will be a valued part of our continued growth,” said Jason A. Bandy.

About PetrolinkUSA, LLC

PetrolinkUSA (www.petrolinkusa.com) has locations throughout the U.S., with primary service operation in Houston, Texas, PetrolinkUSA performs technically advanced oil flushing, chemical cleaning and other emergency decontamination services to guarantee system cleanliness on critical turbine, compressor and hydraulic systems in the US, Canada and Mexico. The company was founded in 1989 and is experiencing consistent growth by providing the market with technically trained operators and engineers. For more information please call 800-770-4510 or contact [email protected]

Developing the Right Oil Flushing Plan

What is the right acceptance criteria to use for oil flushing activities?

For clients, new to the world of oil cleanliness and flushing it is easy to get confused by the nomenclature. Those more seasoned professionals will throw out abbreviated words, acronyms, or API (American Petroleum Institute) Standards; like everyone has read and memorized all 300 pages of each standard. Here at RIG it is our goal to be the technical resource needed in executing flushing services. There is key information needed while developing the right flushing plan for each piece of equipment. Let’s break down each piece.

Does the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) have a specific guideline to use for flushing activities on the rotating equipment? Most OEM’s do have criteria for commissioning and some include general guidelines for maintenance

  1. Is equipment under warranty? If yes, OEM specifications supersede API standards. Each OEM is different.
    RIG works with the client and OEM to develop the right plan to meet cleanliness criteria.
  2. Has rotating equipment been modified where original OEM specifications are no longer valid? Not a typical situation but not totally unheard of. You would review the modified piece specifications and set criteria to the tightest (most stringent) specification.
  3. Has the site or plant developed their own criteria? We have seen this happen with larger corporations who share best practices on a national (and sometimes international) level. This situation usually take place when companies have had failures due to lubrication cleanliness issues. RIG experts have assisted in development and revisions to “Best Practices” alongside these companies. Focusing on prevention first, then executions of flushing during downtime to maintain cleanliness.
  4. Is the unit from 50+ years ago and no one has the specifications anymore? Or, is the criteria outdated and no longer best practices? This is the most common situation we run into today. Units from the 1950 and on are still in use today. Far out of warranty and flushing in the 50’s consisted of running some oil through the system and out the other side to disposal.

If you are in a situation with no obvious criteria from manufacturer what is the right direction? There are (5) key documents issue by ASTM (American Standard for Testing and Materials).

  1. API 686 – Machinery Installation and Design, Chapter 8 – Lubrication Systems Installation
  2. ASTM: D 4174 – Cleaning, Flushing, and purification of Petroleum Fluid Hydraulic Systems
  3. ASTM: D 6439 – Standard Guide for Cleaning, Flushing, and Purification of Steam, Gas, and Hydroelectric Turbine Lubrication Systems
  4. API 614 – Lubrication, Shaft Sealing and Oil Control Systems and Auxiliaries
  5. ISO (International Standard Organization): 10438-1 – Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries – Lubrication, Shaft Sealing and Oil Control Systems and Auxiliaries (Note: ISO10438-1 was developed jointly with API614 and is equivalent to)

The most utilized standard is the API614 for specific acceptance criteria (see example 1.0). All of the listed documents have useful information on what to flush in the system, inspection media, and minimal flow rates. However, these documents do not always take into account newer “Best Practices”. For example, a pneumatic vibrator will shake the pipes without damaging paint or scuffing fittings that “hammer blows” do. Or, in place of system pumps bringing in one of RIG’s high volume flushing skids. Increase volume will eliminate days of flushing utilizing flow to 2-3 times normal operating level. This will develop turbulent flow and a higher Reynolds number than can be achieved with system pumps.

At RIG our goal is to become an extension of your Reliability and Maintenance Teams. Providing that technical expertise in Lubrication Services.

If you would like to learn more about RIG, contact Jason Bandy at [email protected] to schedule a Lunch and Learn at your facility today.

By: Larry Jordan

Why You Need a Quality Filtration Program

How many different lubricants are used throughout your plant? What does your OEM manual recommend for each piece of machinery within your plant? Which bottle of lube oil is oldest? What is the date of the last oil top-off for each piece of equipment? What about the last oil analysis?

If you cannot easily pull up all of this information, then it’s time to consider a Quality Filtration Program (QFP). Not only does a QFP make it easy to answer all the questions above in a matter of minutes, but they provide the following long-term benefits:

  • Extending equipment life by helping ensure every piece of equipment has the right lubricant that’s in acceptable condition, and that the lubricant is being applied correctly, at OEM recommended intervals, and in OEM recommended amounts.
  • Reducing overall lubricant costs by efficiently managing lube oil purchases (knowing when you need to purchase and how much) and preventing unused oil from accumulating and sitting until past expiration.
  • Helping you identify where changing specific systems and machinery to a different lubricant can help you save costs and simplify plant operations. Often you can consolidate the types of lubricating system required by the plant by reviewing OEM manuals and identifying machinery on rare lubricants that can be converted to a shared lubricant, simplifying your lubricant purchases and often saving time and money moving forward.
  • Helping plant maintenance personnel upkeep machinery more efficiently but organizing all pertinent information in one master document and scheduling preventative maintenance tasks at appropriate intervals.
  • Improving plant safety by ensuring all lubricant handling safety practices are documented and in place.
  • Identify costly machinery and mishandled maintenance faster through fully documentation of all lubrication related tasks and costs over time. if expected costs are being exceeded by certain pieces of equipment, or under/over maintenance is occurring, you will now be able to see that because you will have a planned baseline to compare to.
  • Maximizing lubricant analysis reports by establishing lubricant program goals and key performance indicators. These performance metrics will help see progress overtime and keep everyone focused on improving overall lubricant and machinery health as you move forward.

Best Practices for Implementing an Effective Quality Filtration Program

A good quality filtration program has four basic steps. You might already have some type of filtration program or be doing some of the items mentioned below. Or you could be starting from scratch. Either way, we have outlined best practices that you can follow to create a program or check your current program against.

Step 1: QFP Development

To develop a robust program, you will need to create all of the following:

  • A full equipment list of all machinery to be included in the lubricant program listing (at minimum) equipment identification names, numbers and process descriptions. This list should go beyond pumps, motors and compressors, and include any and all equipment requiring lubricant in the facility.
  • Plant lubrication survey which is a detailed lubrication inspection of all plant equipment. You will want to review each machines OEM manual, current state of operation, current maintenance practices, and all related characteristics. This should take several weeks to complete.
  • Lubricant selection & consolidation goes hand-in-hand with the survey. During the survey you will want to note all the lubricants currently in use. Then, you will make a consolidated list of lubricants and review that list for opportunities to reduce the total number of lubricants that will be used in the program. If only a few pieces of equipment use a certain brand or grade, see if safely change out that lubricant for another more common lubricant. The lower the number of lubricants used, the less overall work moving forward, from documentation to purchasing.
  • Plant lubrication manual – you should consolidate all the lubricant information you’ve collected so far into an electronic plant lubricant manual. This manual will be your master document for all lubricant related information, and will updated with any changes moving forward. At minimum it should include; equipment numbers and descriptions, equipment pictures, lubricant sections from OEM manuals, and selected lubricants technical data sheets and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).
  • Purchase necessary lubrication equipment for storing and applying lubricants safely. Equipment may include storage racks, plastic heavy duty storage containers, grease guns, filter carts, and bulk storage containers.
  • Set lubrication Preventive Maintenance (PM) frequency to generate a service schedule. Remember to include the following services; lubrication inspection and top off, visual inspections of equipment, equipment temperature readings, and oil sampling schedule.

Step 2: QFP Rollout & Implementation

After you have gathered all the necessary information, you will need to enter information in the plant’s Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) or Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system. Next, set the Preventive Maintenance (PM) and task frequencies and create the clear and concise lube routes.

During implementation, you will need to ensure safety procedures are in place for the lubrication program. Make sure safety practices are both documented and have been reviewed recently with all plant personnel. You should also check that following are in place:

  • MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) are available and are reviewed.
  • Lock out procedures are followed
  • Leaks are under control
  • Spill response in place
  • Handling practices maintain a safe environment
  • Lubrication Equipment use is understood
  • Sampling procedures are followed

Finally, you will need to make sure anyone working with lubricants is properly trained and can follow the new procedures and schedules. Make sure every step in the process is well documented, accessible by all employees who need it, and gives clear instructions, safety guidelines, purposes and desired outcomes.

Step 3: On-going Program Management

Once everything is flowing in the right direction and the program has been successfully rolled out, you must continue to actively manage the Quality Filtration Program for success. Make sure you have a plan for who is accountable for the programs success moving forward. That person should be ensuring all scheduled tasks actually happen and are properly documented for a reliable work history in your CMMS or EAM. This work history will become the primary source of information for finding problems and improving lubricant management moving forward.

Step 4: Goal Reviews & Program Improvements

Periodic review of your QFP program is required to find success. These reviews should address the following through thorough examination of your work history compared to expected maintenance. Consider:

  • What lubrication issues exist currently?
  • Is the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) you have acceptable? Is above or below your plant goal?
  • Are the costs for maintaining your equipment acceptable?
  • Do all your lubricants meet your desired ISO cleanliness specifications?
  • Are there frequent and expensive machine repairs or system maintenance that could be prevented or improved with cleaner lubricant?
  • Do you have certain pieces of equipment that you need to try to extend the life of?
  • Is a Pareto analysis required to prioritize issues? What about a Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA)? Or a Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Methodologies review?
  • Have you established goals and metrics to measure your program’s progress with? Are you meeting those goals and metrics? If not, what needs to be changed?
  • What is your current vision for the program? What is the programs current state compared to this vision? What improvements still need to be made?

After you consider these questions, list all the changes you need to make and prioritize them by impact and urgency. Implement your changes, and make sure to update all related documentation, especially maintenance schedules and manuals. Set the date for your next review and continue to monitor progress.

Don’t Climb the Mountain Alone

Finally, don’t feel that you have to take everything on yourself. RIG is happy to help you design, implement and find success with a Quality Filtration Program. We help plants improve lubricant quality every day and we are here to help. Please reach out with any questions, concerns or requests: 1-800-770-4510.

Why Temporary Filtration is Crucial for Process Equipment

Temporary filtration of hydraulic and lube oil systems is an efficient, cost-effective way to prevent problems before they happen. Often overlooked and underestimated, temporary filtration provides key benefits to the oil and gas industry. These include:

  • Stopping materials from contaminating a system before they can cause damage, downtime, or failure
  • Preventing premature equipment failure caused by plugged lines or damaged bearings
  • Eliminating contaminants of all sizes, particularly on water and condensate systems — both before system startup and during active operations
  • Removing particles and debris that a visual inspection and other methods miss
  • Reducing or completely preventing operational problems caused by contamination

In addition, temporary filtration is a highly cost-effective method that saves money in the long-term.

The Importance of Filter Selection and System Setup

The key to a good temporary filtration system is selecting the right filters and setup. There are several key factors to consider to ensure you get effective filters that work with your system:

  • Micron level rating — how fine a particle filters can catch
    • ISO Standard 4406:1999, which covers hydraulic fluid contaminants, requires filtration of solid particles as small as four microns in the oil
    • For context, a micron (μm) is one-thousandth of a millimeter — 0.00004. Traditional filtration can only remove particles to about 1 μm. And the smallest particle visible to the human eye is 25 μm; a human hair is about 100 μm wide.
  • Rating: absolute vs. nominal
    • Absolute — remove 98%+ of contaminants in one pass
    • Nominal — remove 50% – 97% of contaminants in one pass (varies by manufacturer)
  • Ability to withstand various process conditions — check manufacturer recommendations for the following to ensure proper filter operation:
    • Temperature
    • Pressure
    • Flow rate

Selecting the right filter and doing a proper setup is a specialty area of RIG’s. We can walk you through the process and ensure both critical equipment safety and minimal downtime during setup and breakdown.

About Reliable Industrial Group

At RIG, we’re one of the most trusted oil diagnostic, flushing and cleaning service providers for plants worldwide. We’ve served the biggest names in the oil and gas, energy, petrochemical, and refinery industries. Our highly trained and certified professionals are experts in lube oil flushing and have deep experience delivering projects quickly and on budget.

Why and How to Test New Oil Deliveries

Have you ever gotten milk from the grocery and later opened it only to find it had already gone bad? Bought a carton of eggs and found a couple were cracked? These things happen. Even if 99.999 percent of the time everything is perfect, that .001 percent can pose a big risk to your health. Just like those eggs from the store, machine oil can be defective and pose risks to the health of your machinery.

The key is not to allow defective products into your machine systems—that’s where testing is mission-critical. In this article, we’ll walk you through the absolute must-checks before you put your new oil into service.

A Word on Filtration

While many facilities filter their oil, filtration only removes dirt and particles, not the dozens of other contaminants and potential issues that can lurk, hidden in your oils. As such, we highly recommend proper testing for your lubricants.

Test Your Oil for Yourself

Some lubricant suppliers offer oil analysis services, wherein you could send your supplier a sample of newly delivered oil and have them test it. But there’s an inherent conflict of interest involved. While most are honorable, and you can trust them, it’s best to test at least some of the oil with an independent, third-party lab to confirm the results from your supplier’s lab.

Define Your Acceptable Quality Limit (AQL)

The first step in testing is to know what level of quality and consistency you need from your supplier—bottom line, you will get some defective oil, sometime. We do this using the acceptable quality limit (AQL) measure.

An (AQL) is the worst process average (a percentage) you can accept, prescribing the range of the number of defective components considered acceptable when random sampling those components during inspections.

Component defects fall into three categories (specified by the manufacturer):

  • Critical
  • Major
  • Minor

What are your product quality controls? Is your AQL 95, 97 or 99.99 percent? As you set this, keep in mind small percentages on a large scale can create massive waste.

For example, the world’s biggest oil producer refines 241 million gallons of oil each day. With an AQL of 99.9 percent, that’s 241,000 gallons of defective oil per day—88 million gallons per year.

Bottom line, you can’t know your oil is acceptable if you don’t sample and test it, and you’ll need a nice, high quality standard that your supplier can still meet.

Once you’ve defined your AQL, it’s time to start testing for a variety of potential issues.

Types of Testing

Several types of testing can quickly tell you whether or not the brand new oil delivered to you is, in fact, suitable for your system:

  • Viscosity Testing—Test with viscometers to ensure you get the correct grade (if your oil is too low a grade, it can massively impact your system)
  • Particle Counting—Will help you determine how much filtration is necessary; you can use many quick, simple particle counters
  • Offsite Testing—After viscosity and particle tests are performed, it’s best to take your oil to a third-party lab offsite that can run a series of tests

Drawing a Proper Oil Sample

The first key to proper testing is taking a proper oil sample. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you through the process.

  1. Preparation
  • Confirm the port ID plaque matches the work order
  • Remove plug from tank opening
  • Clean any exposed ports
  1. Hardware flushing
  • Insert one end of your new nylon tubing into tank and the other end into vacuum pump; don’t tighten the knurled nut on the sampler to allow air to vent during sampling
  • Loosely thread on the purge bottle
  • Purge 10x estimated dead volume by pumping vacuum pump
  • Loosen knurled nut to stop flow
  • Remove flush bottle
  1. Sample bottle preparation
  • Open sampling bottle
  • Tightly thread sampling bottle onto sampling pump (nylon tubing end must puncture bag)
  1. Sampling
  • Pull vacuum pump handle to extract oil sample
  • Fill bottle no more than 75 percent full
  • Stop oil flow by loosening knurled nut to break vacuum
  • Extract tubing from tank
  1. Labeling
  • Unthread sampling bottle from vacuum sampler
  • Tightly secure cap without opening plastic bag
  • Write required data on label
  • Attach label to sampling bottle (if it’s not already attached)
  1. Cleaning
  • Detach and discard tubing
  • Clean sampling pump and place in a plastic bag
  • Wipe clean and reinstall dust cap on sampling valve
  • Wipe any fluid spilled on machine
  • Dispose purged fluid, nylon tubing and any used, lint-free cloth (in accordance with your plant’s environmental policy)

Incoming Oil Tests

We recommend conducting the following tests for incoming oil:

  • Viscosity at 40 degrees C (ASTM D445)
  • Viscosity at 100 degrees C (ASTM D445)
  • ISO particle count (ASTM D7647)
  • Acid number (ASTM D664, D2896, D974, D3339)
  • Karl Fischer moisture (ASTM D1744 or D6304)
  • Elemental spectroscopy (ASTM D5185, D6595)
  • Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (ASTM E2412)

Tests by Fluid Type

Compressor, Gear, R&O and Turbine Oils:

  • Color (ASTM D1500)
  • Foam stability/tendency (ASTM D892)
  • Demulsibility (ASTM D1401, D2711)
  • Linear sweep voltammetry (ASTM D6810, D6971)

Hydraulic and Motor Oils:

  • Varnish potential (ASTM D7843)
  • RPVOT (ASTM D2272)

Maintain Top Cleanliness Standards

The health of your equipment and machine systems depends on the quality of your oil. Sub-par oil can cause component failures, equipment malfunctions and costly plant downtime. It’s crucial to your oil and your plant that your oil analysis program provides for proper oil sampling and testing of new oil deliveries.

At Reliable Industrial Group, we can help. We have more than 15 years of experience in oil sampling, analysis, testing, cleaning and flushing. We’ve helped major plants worldwide ensure total oil quality in their machine systems, extending the life of critical components, equipment and whole systems. Partnering with independent, third-party testing services, we ensure total peace of mind for your lubricants and your plant.

Learn More About Our Oil Diagnostic Services

Our RIG Leadership Mindset

At RIG, we take pride in condition monitoring and predictive maintenance done the right way. We apply hard work, intentional thought, integrity, and transparency every day to deliver the quality service our clients rely on. To consistently meet that standard day in and day out, it takes a world-class team. And it takes a leadership approach that helps that team max out their abilities and empower every team member to shape the way we grow as a company.

The RIG leadership approach relies heavily on fostering an ongoing dialogue throughout our business. Every person is engaged to shape our vision, our service and the way our company develops a culture of quality.

We wanted to share a bit about our approach, and after digging around our internal log of resources, found a great one that not only summarizes our values but can also be a strong resource for leaders in any business we touch. Below is combination of materials from that resource, a Harvard Business Review research guide that explores a conversational leadership model, and some of the keys that help us in our business.

The Changing Landscape: Why Our Leadership Approach Focuses on Open Dialogue

We believe traditional “command-and-control” management isn’t suited to the modern challenges of today’s growing business and plant environments. New communication strategies are taking the place of the old model to help manage information flow to, from and among employees in an open conversation. The new organizational conversation model is less formal and top-down and now looks more like ordinary, person-to-person conversation.

Conversation is happening every day in every company — that’s always been true. But today, with social networks and instant information dissemination, it can spread well outside of the company, and management largely doesn’t hold control over it anymore.

Forward-thinking leaders and companies find ways to use conversation to manage the flow of information openly and honestly. Traditional, one-way broadcast messaging has become a largely outdated practice that’s being replaced by a new conversational model, where conversation is two-way and directed throughout the entire organization.

The Old Model: Corporate Communication

In traditional internal corporate communications, information flow has largely been top-down and formal. Corporate messages have been broadcast to employees through print newsletters, memos and speeches. The top executive leadership created and controlled messaging, while employees were passive consumers of information.

Communications were fragmented, reactive and ad hoc, not necessarily structured with tremendous intention on an ongoing basis. Leaders would assert agendas to achieve strategic alignment, and employees in many companies were largely along for the ride and in the dark on many key decisions.

The New Model: Organizational Communication

Today, teams expect an open, ongoing dialogue that’s genuine and inclusive to all employees. With the right framework, team members will not only listen to and understand the vision, but also help shape it and ensure it pervades the company culture.

Communication in the new, conversational model is personal and direct. Leaders value trust and authenticity, talk with employees, not at them. Organizational culture fosters back-and-forth, face-to-face interaction, with leaders relinquishing some control over content. But the reward for leaders is that employees become active participants in organizational messaging and gain a sense of ownership and belonging that improves the whole company. One key component in this new model is a clear agenda informs all communication — this requires leaders to carefully explain the agenda to employees then allow strategies and tactics to emerge out of a cross-organizational conversation.

The Elements of Organizational Conversation

There are four key elements to the organization conversation communications model:

  • Intimacy — How leaders relate to employees
  • Interactivity — How leaders use communication channels
  • Inclusion — How leaders develop organizational content
  • Intentionality — How leaders convey strategy

Intimacy

Here’s what it looks like to foster intimacy in corporate communications:

  • Minimize the distance between leaders and employees
  • Leaders seek and earn trust from employees by listening to people at all levels of the organization
  • Conversation is directly speaking personally, transparently and authentically with team members
  • Communications are less corporate and more casual in tone — less about issuing orders and more about taking questions
  • This involves intentional listening to employees at all levels — often through structured settings, but also in unstructured personal interactions to glean insights into every aspect of the business
  • Be open about asking for criticism from employees, and take the criticism seriously to improve leadership — if the CEO of Duke Energy can do it, so can you

Interactivity

 Interactivity involves:

  • Promoting dialogue in a two-way conversation
  • Embracing unpredictability of vital dialogue
  • Providing employees the tools and platform to speak up
  • Promoting an interactive culture
  • Developing values, norms and behaviors that create a welcoming space for dialogue
  • Unscripted and personal interviews of leaders can be a strong tool to foster genuine communication and invite dialog

Inclusion

Inclusion involves:

  • Expanding employees’ roles
  • Personal conversation that allows employees to contribute their ideas and take ownership in the business
  • Having employees generate content that makes up the company’s story, such as blog posts, social media posts, internal communications and orientations
  • Focusing on the role employees play in the process to get close to other team members and to leaders in the organization
  • Allowing team members to act as brand ambassadors, thought leaders and story tellers

Intentionality

All of these interactions benefit from the same leadership and intentionality that executives and managers bring to the table. Be intentional and have goals in mind when it comes to communications, but you have make it rich and rewarding for the employees to get them to engage.

Here’s what that looks like:

  • Give employees a sense of direction
  • Don’t allow communications and company-wide conversations to be aimless
  • Align the shared conversation with the strategic vision of the company (and help form it)
  • Bring closure to the company-wide communications process
  • Convey strategic principles, not just by asserting them, but by explaining them — generate consent rather than commanding assent
  • Have leaders speak extensively and explicitly with employees about the vision that underlies executive decision-making — be transparent and genuine
  • Gives team members a high-level view of the business
  • Also give employees a part in developing the governing strategy
  • Tech giant Infosys is an example: executives developed a list of 17 trends, then held open forums (online) with employees
  • Employees helped develop ideas for taking advantage of and responding to trends

What It Means to Us

At RIG, we emphasize listening to our employees, rather than just speaking to them. Our team members engage us in an open, team-driven exchange of ideas, and we heavily involve our team in telling our company story. Every member of RIG is not only a representative of our brand, but a true ambassador of it, helping to shape it and share it with our clients, vendors and the public.

What that means for us? Our future isn’t just in the hands of our executive leadership. It’s in the hands of every member of our team. And that means it’s in good hands.

Is Self Performing Flushes Costing You?

Self-Performing vs Flushing Contractor

Cost savings on hourly rates of internal labor vs. contract personnel is only a small portion of the flushing expense. There are many factors to take into account that are not quantified in the hourly rate. Most specifically is time. The total hours which can be impacted by flushing a unit with the systems pump and filters.

System pumps do not generate the same turbulent flow (Reynolds Number) that an off-board system can generate. Taking longer to move contamination out of the system or worse, leaving larger particle behind. For example, most circulating systems on board pumps will generate between a 6,000 -10,000 Reynolds number. While this is turbulent flow it is not enough turbulence to pick up and move all the particles sitting in the bottom or traps in the pipe. Leading to potential catastrophic failures in an inopportune time. Flushing with system pumps on average take up to three times longer than sizing the right off board system for the job.

In addition, most lubricant circulation systems utilize a filter between
5–15 microns in size and a Beta rating of 200. RIG utilizes 2.5 micron filters at a Beta 1000. Increasing efficiency and minimizing the time to meet the OEM specified particle count.

Other costs include the materials utilized to bypass critical components and on site particle count analysis. RIG performs operational surveys with experienced Flushing Project Leads. Creating a materials list and pulling from our shelves of fittings and racks of pressure tested hoses to custom build the jumper package for your unit. RIG includes on site particle count analysis with a portable calibrated Particle Counter. This allows for real time data to know when the target cleanliness has been met. Without this equipment, it can take up to two days to get analysis back from a laboratory…. And that is if it is expedited!

Lastly is the cost of additional projects the site employees could be doing. More and more facilities are running lean with personnel and just do not have the manpower to execute the flush properly. Leading to a partial flush and unable to complete other vital tasks.

Before you decide to perform your flush in house, speak to one of RIG’s experienced flush leaders. In the end it might save you money and get your system to the level of cleanliness it needs.

Foreign Material Exclusion

What is Foreign Material?

To put it in a simply, Foreign Material is any material that does not belong. For this discussion, we are going to focus on industrial lubricants and service contractors.

Common Foreign Materials in this category can include anything from:

  • Particulates
  • Comingled lubricants
  • Lint / fibers
  • Moisture

Where does foreign material come from?

Foreign Material can come from many locations including but not limited to:

  • Dust, dirt, airborne particles while a system is open
  • Rice Paper (Weld Purge Paper)
  • Rags, Oil Pads
  • Improper draining and storage of equipment and fittings.
  • Welding, grinding activities

How do you protect yourself?

As with any service, the work performed is only as good as the contractor you use. What does that mean?

  • Does your contractor understand Foreign Material Exclusion?
  • Do they use proper techniques to drain equipment and hoses going from one site to another?
  • How does the contractor maintain their equipment? Is it in good working order and presentable.
  • Are the materials they bring in good condition? Are they carbon-steel or stainless? If carbon, are they rust free?
  • How are the contractors transporting their hoses? Are they blinded and drained?
  • Does the contractor perform a final inspection when performing reservoir cleaning to verify all material are removed? In extreme cases, do they inventory items in and out of reservoir?

What can you do?

First and foremost, ask questions.

  • What precautions does your company take for Foreign Material Exclusion?
  • What type of product was in your system last?
  • Will you need 100 gallons (example) to purge out your hoses and equipment?

Secondly, do not hesitate to inspect equipment upon arrival. Make sure the contractor understands FME is a priority to your site and include in the plan.

At RIG, we pride ourselves in being solutions providers. Using proper FME techniques is one way we ensure we bring our technical expertise to our clients. Always verify proper FME processes are followed and you can save both time and money when executing lubrication related services.

For more information on how RIG can help with your lubrication services please call 800-770-4510.

RIG Emphasis on Pre-Commissioning Safety

At RIG, pre-commissioning safety is paramount, and we have put measures in place to reduce the risk of injury and damage to personnel and equipment. Safety is important to us because it protects our crew (whom we like, or else we wouldn’t employ them) and it protects you from liability and risk.

Our crew takes ownership and responsibility for their safety and wellbeing on every worksite. They are trained to be observant and detect potential hazards, reporting any instances that could cause injury to personnel or damage to equipment. Precautions taken during every phase of the job, from pre-commissioning through completion, ensure successful delivery of your services.

Things we do to create a safe work environment while on-site include:

  • Hire only highly trained MLA 1 & MLA2 trained & certified technicians that we trust to be on our crew — all of our guys have proven on-site safety track records
  • Use high-quality materials and proper tools to reduce the risk of leaks and injuries
  • Always wear proper PPE onsite including steel-toed boots, hard hats, flame-retardant clothing, safety glasses, and hearing protection equipment
  • Conduct internal safety observations and daily safety tool box talks
  • Lock-out tag-out any equipment before maintenance
  • Walk-down the site before any job to pre-plan procedures and address any logistics so there are no surprises
  • Pre-meet with your site coordinator to discuss and plan for further safety precautions to prepare our technicians ahead of time

We proactively pursue our goal of zero quality defects, environmental incidents and OSHA recordable incidents. We do our due diligence to create and maintain a safe working environment throughout our time on-site. By taking the necessary precautions and following the proper procedures from day one, we significantly reduce the risk and liability for you while making sure our valuable crew members make it home safely.

For more information, or if you have any questions, contact one of our certified technicians today at 800-770-4510.

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