WHAT IS A QUALITY LUBRICANT? THIS IS WHAT OUR MORRIS TECHNICAL MANAGER TELLS US:
Quite simply, as a lubricant blender, it’s our moral duty to supply a quality product to our customers. Quality should cover performance, reliability, consistency and its ability to fulfil the specific applications it was intended for.
Inclusive of field trials, it can take between five and seven years to bring some lubricants to market, particularly engine oils. It’s a process that can cost millions of euros, but one that ensures the fluid produced gives maximum protection to the equipment from the first to the final hour of its service interval.
If you want the best lubricant to look after an engine, transmission, hydraulic system and so on, then price should not be the compromise. Obviously end users need to control their overheads, but if that product is going to protect the asset, then it should really be seen as an insurance policy. We are driven to make sure our customers want to keep coming back to us because they’ve bought an oil which has done its job.
New products are made available when a new market requirement is identified. We work with trusted and globally recognised base oil and technology providers to develop the correct formulation, which is then blended in-house. Enhancing the integrity of the lubricant even further, the technology providers collaborate and work directly with the original equipment manufacturers to develop the lubricant chemistry that’s appropriate for combating the stresses and requirements of a particular mechanical system. It will be tested in their labs, static rigs and field trials, before approval by the manufacturer.
Our lubricant technology providers will inform us of the exact formulation, and take the utmost care to make sure we replicate it with the specified chemistry and base oils. This is why we have an extensively equipped quality control laboratory that can make sure we are doing precisely that.
As a reputable oil blender, we have to support any claim that we make about our products by being able to provide documentation, including data sheets, letters from technology providers, and if needed, formal approval from the OEMs.
It’s important that we can provide a customer with all the background information that supports our claims on the products that we sell – proving that it’s fit for purpose. We can provide data about all those years of test work that have taken place to develop a formulation. There’s an old saying in the industry, ‘oil is a cheap insurance policy’. If that engine fails you’ve not only got to replace the engine, you’ve got the downtime and potential loss of income associated with that.
Correct lubricant choice can be a minefield, so as a company it is important that we are approachable and able to offer support. Our technical team is on hand to provide expert insight, answer questions and carry out sample analysis if an issue arises. A wealth of online resource is also available from us, including a portal with access to training for end users that want to learn more.
Blog by Adrian Hill, Technology Manager at Morris Lubricants