High temperatures and wash-out were particular lubricant challenges in Müller Dairy’s yogurt production process. The yogurt production process begins with milk from the dairy farmer and ends with individual-sized yogurt pots. Pasteurizing the milk requires a heating process to kill any harmful bacteria in the milk. Afterwards, the milk is cooled to warm temperatures, allowing the yogurt culture to ferment the milk. Additionally, to meet high food safety standards and to ensure product quality, regular wash downs of the equipment are necessary. High pressure water is used to clean the equipment, which was washing away the lubricant in very short periods of time.

Müller Dairy has enlisted the help of AV Technology to monitor and handle their equipment maintenance requirements. Keith Manning, Lubricant Engineer at Müller Dairy’s production facility, heard about Petro-Canada’s food-grade lubricants, in 2007, from his newly appointed Engineering Manager who had been involved with Petro-Canada at a previous production facility. With the help of Petro-Canada, Manning consolidated all lubrication products to Petro-Canada’s PURITY FG line of products and received timely technical support.

“Switching to Petro-Canada as our sole lubricant provider minimized our lubricant stock holding, resulting in immediate cost reductions,” said Manning. “With everything coming from one supplier, our logistics became much easier to manage.”

Petro-Canada’s line of PURITY FG products were implemented on all equipment in the yogurt production process. Manning noted improved equipment performance. With the change to Petro-Canada’s PURITY FG products, the emphasis is on using a good value quality product.

“With the PURITY FG products in use, we have had extended up-time in our yogurt production facility,” said Manning. “The new line of food-grade lubricants has allowed us to save both money and energy.”

According to Manning, “the success of the PURITY FG applications in the yogurt production process has encouraged us to use Petro-Canada’s lubricants across all processes in all of our facilities. Petro-Canada’s Lubricant Account Manager created a lubricant solution unique to our needs, making the transition seamless. I am thrilled with the performance, cost savings and enhanced equipment performance.”