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Petro-Canada™ Lubricants' distribution network extends to over 80 countries worldwide
About Southern Indiana Hardwoods
SOUTHERN INDIANA HARDWOODS, headquartered in Dubois County, Southern Indiana, is a family-run hardwoods business offering sawmill, logging and pelletizing services. Owned and run primarily by four brothers, Southern Indiana Hardwoods harvests trees and manufactures them into grade lumber, pallet stock and untreated railroad ties, serving the local community.
Formed in 1981, the company started its pellet mill operation in 2009. Running 24 hours a day, five days a week, Southern Indiana Hardwoods’ Pioneer / CPM pellet mill produces around 85–90 tons of product on a full day.
Despite this high level of production, Southern Indiana Hardwoods operates only a small maintenance team, responsible for keeping its machinery in service and, ultimately, the production line working. This means that any issues can have a significant impact on the company’s operation, which in turn can affect the bottom line for this family-run business.
Nick Merkley, Manager,
Southern Indiana Hardwoods
(PDF, 1 MB)
With its machinery working hard all day to deliver the product so that Southern Indiana Hardwoods can supply its customers, greasing the equipment is crucial. Delivering grease every two minutes, the company was using approximately 95 cubic inches of grease each hour during production.
Prior to 2022, Southern Indiana Hardwoods was using a grease from a different supplier and was experiencing significant issues with supply. An inefficient method of supply, which involved drums of grease, was causing significant contamination issues with sawdust and dirt—both typically present at a sawmill facility—mixing with the product.
When the maintenance team found that the previous product was also beginning to damage equipment bearings, they suspected there was an issue with the grease. They noticed air bubbles appearing in the product, caused by airborne contamination from holes in the vendor’s drum liners. This led to Southern Indiana having to throw away 20-30 pounds of grease per every 400-pound drum it purchased. Given its high rate of grease usage, this contributed to significant waste and, for a small business, a big hit on the bottom line.
Southern Indiana Hardwoods decided to review their options and proactively sought out a new vendor, contacting Ackerman Oil, a long-standing Authorized Distributor of Petro-Canada Lubricants, an HF Sinclair brand, based in Jasper, Indiana. Following successful Petro-Canada Lubricants projects at other pellet mills, Ackerman Oil suggested switching to PEERLESS™ OG2 Red, a long-life grease formulated for loaded bearings and suitable in dusty conditions and high operating temperatures.
Southern Indiana Hardwoods could be confident of PEERLESS™ OG2 Red’s performance thanks to its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) approvals:
Ackerman Oil also recommended using an innovative fluid bag system to deliver the grease. This bulk greasing solution uses a sealed, heavy-duty flexible bag to prevent contamination of the grease, delivering the product through piping directly to the bearings. As the fluid bag is sealed, airborne contamination is dramatically reduced. Containing 1,800 pounds of grease, the fluid bag system meant that Southern Indiana Hardwoods did not need to frequently move drums in and out of the mill. In fact, the bag’s ability to run unmanned without running out of supply was crucial for a family-run business with a small maintenance team.
After over two years in operation, switching to PEERLESS™ OG2 Red and using the fluid bag delivery system has had a significant impact on Southern Indiana Hardwoods’ business. The increase in productivity has provided significant value to the company and allowed maintenance to keep up with all operations.
REDUCED CONTAMINATION
The innovative fluid bag delivery system, which is sealed so no air can
come into contact with the grease, has eliminated airborne contamination
and reduced the impact of contaminants such as sawdust or dirt,
significantly improving the quality of the grease.
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE
Having addressed the contamination issues, Southern Indiana Hardwoods
found that PEERLESS™ OG2 Red also drastically reduced wear on the
bearings. Since switching grease, the maintenance team has even able to
regularly get a full life from the bearings for the first time in five years.
Based on the innovative recommendation, service excellence and proven performance of PEERLESS™ OG2 Red, the partnership between Ackerman Oil, Petro-Canada Lubricants and Southern Indiana Hardwoods continues to be successful and deliver results.
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