It has almost become a cliché in the service truck industry (and in any industry which relies heavily on mechanical equipment) to compare the health of a piece of equipment to the health of a human being. But clichés develop for a reason: there really is an excellent comparison to be made between how people take care of their bodies and how they care for their equipment.
Michael Holloway, owner of 5th Order Industry LLC, certainly believes so.
Michael Holloway, owner of 5th Order Industry LLC,delivered a presentation on the importance of a robust fluids management program at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2020
“If you don’t use good fuel into the oil, (it’s the) same as having a poor diet,” says Holloway, whose company provides learning experiences for industry professionals. “It’s going to take its toll on the system for several well-understood reasons. But it’s the whole concept of cheap gas, cheap food. People like to go to fast food — it’s processed; it’s cheap; it fills you up and moves you on to the next day. But the problem is that you live on fast food, you’re going to die on fast food. Same thing with cheap MRO parts, inferior fuel that might be contaminated, maybe oils and greases that aren’t really designed for that system that are cheaper. But it’s like a body. If you don’t treat it with what nourishes it to get the job done, it’ll fail — same thing with a piece of machinery.”
Maintenance philosophy
At ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas in March, Holloway, along with BP Lubricants USA delivered a presentation "Maintenance Journey: The Importance of a Robust Fluids Management Program.” Attendees were advised about proper fluid storage and handling, the cultural change required to improve a maintenance program, the value of better quality lubricants and the importance of analysis of used oil. The underpinning concepts of the presentation, and Holloway’s philosophy towards maintenance, go back many years.
“The way in which maintenance was always done up until World War II was that you fixed it when it broke,” Holloway says. “And that was it. During the labor shortage during World War II, you really had to take a better look at understanding your asset availability. You can’t just wait till it breaks to fix it because what we really had to do was prevent it from breaking. Some folks say that was the birth of preventive maintenance. But I think even before the industrial revolution, people would change out their leather belts before it would break at the point of disaster. But embracing removing something before catastrophe occurred really occurred in World War II.”
This attitude started with the Army and the Navy, but was soon adopted by industry. It might take an hour to change the oil on a press or a dozer, but if it isn’t maintained, a repair could take days and much more manpower. As such, what Holloway calls the “five galaxies of preventative maintenance” became more important for businesses. Those galaxies are vibration, thermography, ultrasonics, oil analysis, and non-destructive testing.
“These companies said, ‘Hey listen. We’ve got some really cool products and services. We can show you how to save money by doing this. But it’s going to require an investment of your time and you’re not going to see an immediate return on your investment. But that’s OK. We can almost guarantee that you’ll save money down the line.’ And any company that’s not involved in predictive maintenance because it can’t guarantee a savings doesn’t understand maintenance. If you’re not doing predictive maintenance now, chances are you’re wasting money. But if you’re not doing preventative maintenance and you’re just doing reactive or break down maintenance, you’re definitely wasting money.”
Service trucks at both sides
This topic is of paramount importance regarding service trucks, as they see this issue from both sides. Service trucks are often used in the maintenance and repair of pieces of heavy machinery, but they themselves are pieces of machinery that require maintenance.
“There’s companies out there that use their assets to get a job done, obviously, like a fleet that delivers product. But there are other companies that service those fleets for other companies, but they have their own fleet too. It could be useful because whether you’re going to employ a certain strategy to increase your profitability or you’re going to be using a strategy as a service to sell. Either way it’s going to work.”
Service companies engaged to look at fleets have several options for upselling a client to a more engaged maintenance program, says Holloway. A company hired for a repair on site can also offer to overhaul engines or other equipment before they break down. Even beyond that, a service tech can try to predict if there is a new emerging failure that hasn’t been considered.
Holloway says the biggest challenge with imposing a preventative maintenance program is the impatience of business owners. He compares it to a football game — a coach should not necessarily change strategies every time the other team scores. It is better to stick with a proven game plan.
“They manage by the quarter, but you can’t manage a business by the quarterly results,” says Holloway. “It’s foolhardy. A president, a CEO, a manager, a fleet manager, whoever it is, you’ve got to look at a year plan, a decade plan. You can’t go by the daily, monthly or quarterly because that’s just foolish. You’re going to be constantly changing everything. Your team’s going to get frustrated and you’re going to be wasting money and time. The problem with some of these new strategies is that you’re not going to see an immediate return on your investment. It’s going to require elements of change and one of the biggest metrics is time.”
This is where a corporate culture becomes important. Every company should have a defining mission statement that drives the choices of employees at every level, he says. That focus then allows aspects such as employee skill and competency development and effective resources to be utilized most effectively. But management drives these corporate culture changes.
“There’s an old expression, it’s either Norwegian or Finnish, but a fish stinks from the head down,” says Holloway. “It’s the leadership, same with the army or with anything. In football, people either love the Patriots or you hate them, but the bottom line is that (manager Bill) Belichick knows what he’s doing. He’s a leader. It’s a pretty recognizable skill set, the same thing in a maintenance team or a fleet operation or a company, it’s always the leadership and it always comes down to that choice.”
ConExpo-Con/Agg 2020 took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Festival Grounds March 10-14. For more information, visit www.conexpoconagg.com.
— Matt Jones
Matt Jones is a freelance writer based in Fredericton, N.B.