Onsite Labs vs. Offsite Labs: Which is Best for My Lube Program?

With facilities running on leaner staff, increased run times and the expectation of fewer failures, quality data from lubricant analysis has only grown in importance. By looking at the data contained within an oil or a grease sample, we can determine if the lubricant and the machine are still healthy and ultimately make maintenance decisions that impact one or both.

- Wes Cash

With many organizations pushing for data-driven decisions based upon machine condition (rather than a static time interval), lubricant analysis is being relied upon more heavily. We are in an age where we are used to finding, in near real-time, the information we use to make choices on everything from what product we buy off the internet to where we are going to eat. This has also made its way into maintenance, and now more professionals are looking with renewed interest at a question that has existed for some time: should we perform our lubricant analysis in-house or rely on a commercial laboratory? 

For more mature programs, there is often a desire to bring the majority of the testing in-house or to have the ability to do some analysis to determine if there could be problems with equipment or lubricants. While this can be incredibly beneficial, there are downsides as well.

As is the case for most improvement projects, there would need to be a cost-benefit analysis or, even more simply, a pros and cons list. If we were to provide that for most facilities, it might look something like the following (far from exhaustive, but a good starting ground to understand the impacts).

BENEFITS OF ONSITE ANALYSIS

Turnaround time — Perhaps the most significant tangible benefit to performing the testing under your own roof is the ability to sample and analyze much quicker than what is traditionally possible when using a commercial laboratory. A scenario such as someone hearing a strange noise or noticing an increase in temperature could trigger an immediate response; we could receive useful data in a matter of hours to make corrections and stave off failure or downtime.