Stampers would be well-served to close the loop on waste and increase awareness of and accounting for all of the soft costs associated with lubricant waste, in addition to the more obvious hard costs.
The purchase price of the fluid is just the tip of the iceberg – ‘the costs above the water’, but you need to consider those hidden costs below the water that you can’t necessarily see so easily.
Hidden costs associated with excess lube include those for floor cleaner, absorbents, rags and towels for shop cleanup, and excess washing fluid used to remove lubricant from parts. Not to mention downtime of the presses during cleaning, the insurance premiums, regulatory compliance, non-recurring equipment maintenance, and repairing damage done to sensors and other press-line equipment when hit with excess lubricant.
Studies have shown that once a barrel of fluid makes it through a stamping facility, its lifecycle cost can be eight to 15 times the original purchase price. When analyzing the whole picture, such as through the scrutiny of our Fluid Lifecycle Analysis, its easier to see the bottom-line benefit of making a few changes.