The single most important task in the mill.

Harry and Red were two of the best mechanics in the mill. They had the experience, they were level headed, and they wanted to make their work life easier.  They were cheerful, crusty and very knowledgeable about everything a mechanic needed to do in a market pulp mill. 

Between them there wasn't one job that they hadn't been involved in over the years, from changing springs on the vibrating conveyor in the chip yard to repacking the bottom outlet device on the digester, to taking a link out of the turning roll drive chains on the pulp dryer. Harry and Red had definitely 'been there', many times.

For all those reasons and more the Maintenance Manager wanted to convince these two that he needed them as his 'ace' lubrication mechanics. This was going to be the biggest 'selling' jobs he'd ever attempt. 

Lubrication mechanics (oilers in this mill), were pretty much thought of as the dregs of the maintenance department.

Sam, the maintenance manager, had come to realize, over the past ten years, that the most important function in his mill was that of preventing avoidable repair or replacement of equipment. No other single job in the mill held as much responsibility, not even the Mill Manager. There simply would not be a mill to run if someone did not take care of the equipment care fundamentals.  And the basic in any mechanical operation is proper lubrication, pure and simple.

Mechanical equipment rotates, slides, strokes and twists and all of those motions require some type of lubricant to keep two hard surfaces from contacting each other. 

Sam knew that avoiding this metal to metal contact will prevent the majority of the mechanical maintenance associated with rotating equipment. He also knew that preventing avoidable maintenance will produce sustainable operation.  Of course he wasn't so naive to think that other factors don't play a part in failures, such as, fatigue, looseness, corrosion and erosion, and just plain poor design but Sam was convinced the majority of failures can be directly attributed to improper lubrication caused by insufficient lubricant, or poor quality lubricant.

Sam was sure that if he could control the lubrication quality and delivery he could keep the other causes of failures under control.

Lube techs in every mill Sam had worked in are considered to be the 'low life' of the maintenance department. In fact, in one of the mills from his past the maintenance department just barely and very reluctantly accepted responsibility for the lubrication crew.  That's how badly the lubrication crew personnel were perceived.

Sam's reflection on the history of oilers reveals some of this disdain for the position within the mills. A long time ago the oiler was someone you called to come up (out of somewhere from beneath the mill's operating floor) and slop some animal fat on the slide or bearing or gear. 

The oiler was dirty...(wouldn't you be too if you crawled all over parts of machines that others neglected). 

The oiler was non-social...(when caught in an environment where your job places you in most of the out of the way places in a mill one does not have ample opportunity for socializing). 

The oiler was an outcast...(again circumstances plays a large part in the development of the behavior of the oiler in general).

Typically, the lube tech was hired off the street, given no training and told that today he is an oiler. 

Lubrication is usually the lowest paying job in the maintenance department.

The lube tech is shown the 'rounds', usually by his/her predecessor, told how much grease or oil this lube point requires, told how often it is required and finally told to keep busy and 'out-of-the-way'. If a failure occurs, the lube tech is the first to be blamed, regardless of the real reason. And usually, the real reason is never discovered because its real easy to accept 'lack of lubrication' as the reason.

There are derogatory remarks commonly used to describe the habits and work behavior of the oiler.  Unpleasant, unnecessary and hurtful remarks. In short, the oiler takes it on the chin from day one. Most accept it, others, with a chance to become the best maintenance mechanics in the world, leave the lubrication crew as quickly as possible to become anything else...mechanic, electrician, welder/pipefitter, maintenance diagnostician, whatever.

The typical paper mill oiler, unfortunately, is considered, by many within the mill, to be ignorant, untrainable and totally unnecessary. Yet, if this unaccepted person did not perform the lubricating function, the operation would literally fail within moments, overnight. Is this a wise business practice to place that much responsibility on a function considered in such low regard, by almost everyone?

So here Sam was, sitting across the table from two of his best Mechanics trying to figure how he was going to convince these two hardened veterans that much of their work over the past twenty years could have been prevented and therefore, was unjustified. Further, how was he going to convince these two 'crafty' wise men that the most important job in the mill was one that everyone ridiculed? Most of all how was he going to convince them that they were the best men for the job?

"Harry...Red", he started. "You two are probably the best mechanics I've ever had the chance to work with in the few years I've been a maintenance boss and I want you to know how much I appreciate you both."

Harry looked sideways at Red, "Just what exactly is it you are having so much trouble asking us Sam?" He asked.

"Well...um...oh hell, I want you two to take over the oiling job here in the mill", Sam blurted out.

"You what!!!" Red gasped. 

"Hey, you guys know better than anyone that the reasons this mill hasn't made production over the past couple of years is the mechanical failures, right?"  Sam asked. 

"Well, sure, don't take eight years of vet school to know that horse is lame." Red smiled, "but I ain't and never will be no oiler, that's for damn sure." 

"Just give me a chance to explain myself, will you? Please?" Sam pleaded. 

"Go ahead, it's your dollar, we get paid whether we're sitting here or working elsewhere." 

"How soon do you figure it would take this mill to shutdown from some failure if we all of a sudden stopped the lubricating we're doing right now?" Sam asked.

"Probably wouldn't get through the shift." Harry ventured.

"And how many jobs would be lost if we didn't keep producing pulp?" Sam continued.

"You know as well as I do, so what's the point." Red was getting irritated.

"The point is this, you two guys know everything there is to know about every piece of mechanical equipment, and probably most of the electrical as well, that there is in this joint. Right?" Sam stared at them both. 

"Right?" he asked again when he got no response.

"Yeah, probably" Red answered. Harry nodded.

"Just who, then, do you suppose is the most well equipped to think of the right solution to the problem we have with our lubricating practices around here? I mean, you guys could study a problem and have a solution in place in no time. I'd give you free rein in making decisions about what, where, when, how and who it takes to get the equipment properly lubricated. That's a major task, with great rewards for us all...everyone us in this mill. And, you both know that all it would take is a little of your 'expertise' applied in the right way at the right time." Sam poured out his heart, "Wouldn't it be something if you two got this mill back on its feet with a little common sense and had some fun doing it?"

"Think about it. Just think of the possibilities. Think about all the work you've ever done and why it was necessary. Think about what would have prevented you from having to grunt your way through one of those all night episodes. What simple little lubricating scheme might have saved a whole lot of back-breaking, bone-chilling, finger-smashing work, if only someone had taken charge and prevented the failure. Well, I'm offering you two an opportunity to take charge. I bet you have ideas, right now, about things that could use a different slant on the way they are greased or oiled. Do it, take charge." 

"Show me." Sam continued, "If you don't like the idea after a couple of weeks we'll give it up. What have you got to lose? Two weeks of the same stuff you been doing for twenty years?"

"Thirty-five." Red corrected.

"Well?" Sam looked from Red to Harry and back.

"We get free rein?" Harry asked.

"Yep, and you report directly to me. Anything you need, within reason, of course, we try to get. If you need help, I'll try to break people loose. I'm behind this one hundred percent because I believe we can make it work."

"Hell, let's give it a shot, okay?" Red said as he turned to Harry for confirmation.

"Why not, sure beats working for Carl." Harry grinned, rationalizing in his own mind his decision to take on a task he had disdained for years.

That mill had been struggling to make 480 tons per day with equipment designed to produce 500 tons of long fiber pulp per day. One of the reasons that mill went on to average well over 540 tons per day was the simple act of convincing two wise men that lubricating is not some thankless, mindless, dirty job that is reserved for some faceless soul assigned to hell. It is the single most important task performed in any manufacturing facility with moving mechanical equipment.