Probably one of the most essential elements to any successful oil analysis program is credibility. After you establish credibility in a program, you must maintain the credibility. Any knowledgeable predictive maintenance person will agree that how internal customers view the program can determine if the program is a hero or a zero. When establishing credibility in any oil analysis program, consider these points:<\/p>\n
\u2713 Credibility in any oil analysis program is some what political. <\/strong>One of the best ways to avoid this phenomenon is education. \u00a0Management, operations, maintenance, and others may view the program differently. \u00a0The oil analysis may be forced on them just because it\u2019s part of the current maintenance strategy. As a result, you want to educate everyone on what oil analysis is and isn\u2019t, tailored to each level within the company to reduce any political issues. \u00a0Having personnel handling your oil analysis program who can communicate clearly and properly is of utmost importance. When someone asks a question concerning his oil analysis program, he needs and deserves a frank, understandable, truthful answer. \u00a0<\/p>\n Acronyms, such as PC and FTIR, are foreign terminology to most people outside the oil analysis realm. \u00a0Most managers don\u2019t have time to listen to a lesson in oil analysis. \u00a0They just want to know if their oil is good and if their equipment is going to fail or be reliable until the next sample frequency. \u00a0For example, simply stating, \u201cContamination level of foreign particulates exceeds our desired level and oxidation has caused the viscosity of the oil to raise past a safe level for this machine\u201d is much easier to understand than getting bogged down in technical terms, such as telling your manager that \u201cThe PC is 21\/19\/16 and the VIS has raised 20 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n