Ignoring oil analysis can cost a plant a lot of money, not to mention the headaches involved in frequent breakdowns. Let’s calculate how much money you could lose by ignoring oil analysis.

First, determine the wear rate of your asset. Our company uses ISO 281 to do this.

The formula requires a lot of correlations, but there is also a chart of guide values from Schaeffler Group USA. One important detail from the chart is that, given typical contamination, our bearings are only reaching between 10 and 30 percent of their lifespan—and this comes from the worldwide ISO standard, meaning it’s typical across the board. To get to the 19/16/13 target, we’ll need to reach standard cleanliness.

We’ve settled on 10 to 30 percent bearing life for so long. We need to strive for standard cleanliness levels.

The table above, which is published on several different sites (I recommend you look for it), has been the most influential single document of my career, and I’ve been an oil analyst for over 20 years. Whenever I look at it, I notice we only have to clean up one code level to extend an asset’s life by 10 percent. When it comes to hydraulics, you can extend the life up to 10 times (relative to the typical cleanliness level). This table will help you calculate your wear rate.

Now that we know how to calculate wear rate, we need to determine the daily value of the asset. You can use either the rebuild or replacement cost, divided by the number of days it is designed to be in service (this does not take into account production losses).

Next, multiply the number of days between samples by the wear rate to determine how many days have been gained or lost.

Next, multiply the daily value by the number of days gained or lost to determine the value for that period.

Keep a running total of both of these numbers for long-term analysis.