A day that could save you millions

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What if a single day on-site could reveal millions in untapped savings? Lubrication Engineering’s SnapShot Audit is a fast, insight-driven approach that’s challenging the way heavy industries think about lubrication.

We spoke with National Business Development Manager, Nathan Newell, to learn how their SnapShot Audit is empowering reliability teams across Australia.

We recognised a gap in the market where customers were looking for audit options where they didn’t just get handed a huge bill and a 12cm-thick booklet with lots of data but no clear pathway for next steps. So, we began looking at distilling those insights into a more efficient and timelier audit. In a way, it’s maintaining the thoroughness of an audit while finding ways to simplify the process and report, making it more efficient, faster, and giving customers immediate, actionable recommendations.

It’s managed through a cloud-based platform. Our team use iPads in the field for the convenience of accessing every area on-site. We have a series of set templates and questions for our team to use. The audit itself can typically be done in a day, weather permitting, then our team can have the report sent over the next day.

By automating the process and platform, our customers get results faster and can start to take action on the recommendations.

Most issues relate to poor lubrication practices and contamination control. Our team highlight opportunities to improve equipment life and increase uptime.

Education around contamination and the impact it can have on assets is a big one.

We have a customer with an underground site in the NT, and through our SnapShot Audit, we helped them save over $1.5 million per year in parts and labour just from improvements to their drill rig lubrication process.

Another great outcome, we had a customer storing lubricants on the fourth floor of a building. As you can imagine, this raised serious WHS and cleanliness concerns. Our recommendation was to relocate the lubrication storage to ground level and install a piped dispensing system. We helped with this process, and it is now a safer, cleaner and a more efficient way to work.

Our audits are performed by our experienced Key Account Managers and Business Development Managers who have strong backgrounds in lubrication and engineering. They have an excellent working knowledge of the technical and operational side of equipment maintenance.

Consistency is critical for the reporting outcome, which is why we have standardised audit templates. Our team are trained on this platform, and everyone works off the same set of questions and scoring metrics, which results in clear and comparable reporting.

Our customers receive a site-specific professional PDF document of their audit. The report is structured around eight key pillars that form our Lubrication Circle of Reliability.

Each area is scored against global industry averages, helping customers see how they compare.

We include photographs, content and three immediate actionable recommendations, typically quick wins with strong ROI. These might range from simple procedural changes to more strategic CAPEX items.

At this stage, we collaborate with our customers to focus on next steps and prioritise a plan. Our team can provide follow-up training and support, including equipment and lubrication supply and ongoing consultation.

We strongly recommend the SnapShot Audit for both existing and new sites. Ideally, an audit should be conducted as early as possible in the site’s development. If you want a world-class maintenance standard from day one.

One thing I do say to customers, especially on new projects, is that the SnapShot Audit gives them a great baseline of where their lubrication practices are at, and they can build and monitor their reliability practices from there. It definitely gives them a benchmark for their lubrication standards and over time, they can measure improvements by comparing against future audits.

The SnapShot Audit isn’t just a technical check, it’s a strategic tool. In just one day, it can uncover critical inefficiencies, increase uptime, and put you on the path for long-term cost savings. With a mobile cloud-based platform, it’s never been faster or easier to take control of your lubrication program.