Necessary for All: Based on an illogical argument, oil and grease are categorized among consumer goods while these should be among “raw materials”. No machinery and tool in the industry can operate without such materials and, in fact, lubricants are keys to industrial operation.
Lubricants are produced by utilizing advanced technology and are offered to users along with training, guarantees and after sale services, while in Iran, due to a lack of proper training programs, the significance of such materials are not known to the public. These lubricants are too significant that should be put at the disposal of consumers at low prices. However, due to high tariffs and heavy taxes as well as high prices, industry owners are not willing to use lubricants on a regular basis.
“Lubricating oils” are among the imported materials which are not subject to illegal trafficking. There are similar materials which carry foreign brands on the market, but they are substandard. Industrial oil and grease producers do have authorized agents through which they offer original products to the consumers.

A Winning Partnership: Through direct cooperation of the German company Fuchs, attempts have been under way to set up a lubricant factory in Iran which conforms to the new standards and utilizes the state-of-the-art machinery. Proximity to natural resources will give an edge to the country’s economy in terms of productivity while the plant will bring about considerable saving in the nation’s foreign exchange expenditure. The products of the factory would include oil, cream, grease, paste and spray.
Fuchs was created in 1931 in Germany and today it has over 60 factories all over the world conducting widespread activities. Fuchs manufactures a record 9,000 types of industrial oils and greases. Fuchs products enjoy top quality and are produced through specialized methods.
The technical services offered by Fuchs company include technical consultancy, finding lubricant replacement, operational testing and preliminary repairs as well as using lab equipment (CENT) of Fuchs.
Fuchs is one of the exemplary manufacturing companies in the world which has received ISO 14000 and ISO 9001 & 9002 certificates and in terms of output, it is the 14th from among the top 1,700 companies which produce lubricants in the world.

The Seminar: The recently-held seminar was an initiative taken by Fuchs LUBRITECH and MMI to update the industrial community of Iran on tribology, lubrication and coating technologies. It was a purely technical-scientific event; trade was no object here. In other words, it was an indication of a sense of commitment and responsibility. Working either at the private or state sectors, we all have a responsibility to look at the industries as a national asset for future generations. We felt it was our responsibility to inform Iranian industrialists about the amazing achievements at the leading edge of lubrication technology.
Fuchs LUBRITECH and MMI were both heartened by the great support and enthusiasm shown by the industrial community of Iran to this seminar. As the next step, we are planning to hold seminars in industrial plants to elaborate on the proper application of lubricants.

Urging Proper Maintenance: Lubricants must be referred to as basic materials for machinery. Smooth operation and running life of machinery all depend on lubricants. Why there should be shortcoming in maintenance of vital and expensive machinery? Use of substandard lubricants will turn out to be a more expensive option due to the damages incurred on industries. Economical maintenance in fact means using speciality lubricants. Each unit has a table of technical specifications which tell users what kind of lubricant it needs. That information must be taken into account by procurement officers. Those who purchase materials for industrial plants must be technically aware of these issues.

Wear: Wear may be defined as the process of continuous material loss from the surface of a solid body as a result of tribological stress. Another form of wear happens when Dynamic friction causes a temperature rise at the point of contact, and wear of the bodies in contact with each other.
Wear can occur in a variety of forms (wear mechanisms):

• Adhesion: Formation and separation of atomic bonds (microwelds) between basic and opposing bodies. Adhesion is the cause of ‘scuffing’.

• Abrasion: Scratches and micro-machining of the basic body, caused by hard spikes of roughness of the opposing body or by hard particles of the intermediate material.

• Surface destruction: Crack formation and crack growth until particles are separated, as a result of mechanical stresses, active in the surface regions of basic and opposing bodies. So called ‘pitting’ is initiated under the surface and develops towards the surface, until ‘pitting-size’ parts break away from the surface

• Tribo-oxidation: Chemical reaction of basic and/or opposing bodies with constituents of the intermediate material or ambient medium, as a result of friction.

Both these phenomena are undesirable and need to be kept within bonds, since friction causes energy losses, and wear causes material losses, possibly accompanied by subsequent destruction of machine parts.
The causes of wear may lie, on the one hand in the materials, material pairings and surface condition. On the other hand, the correct choice of a suitable lubricant offers considerable opportunities for minimizing friction and wear.

Why do we need lubricants?

World’s lubricant consumption is 37.000.000 tons and this amount reaches 1.200.000 tons in Germany. Lubricants are used to:

• to preserve the geometrical shape of machine components, i.e. to prevent wear at the surface of machine elements

• to control friction

• to cool interacting surfaces

• to protect the machinery from the environment

• to transmit forces

• to carry signals

Types of Lubricants: Oils, Greases, Pastes, Solid Lubricants and Coatings.

How to select?

In selecting a lubricant we must consider: The temperature and temperature range over which the lubricant must work. Also:

Environmental factors to be considered:

Fuchs LUBRITECH has been and is quite aware that some customers would prefer to buy its specialities ex local stock rather than importing directly ex Weilerbach.
Due to the cooperation with MMI having official licence to import our qualities, we are able to offer this service to our customers in this market.
Buying ex stock means that the customers do not need to apply for import licences and opening of letters of credit, but can get Fuchs LUBRITECH specialities immediately upon request or just in time upon demand. An additional advantage is having the possibilities to pay in local currency.
Major advantage of what LUBRITECH does understand under cooperation always was and is the service which the company is granting to all its customers.
This does not only mean that we confirm to carry out this service at least once a year to our customers, especially in the cement industry, but also keep ourselves stand-by for any request for help whenever technical problems occur which we might be able to solve. Such a request has just recently been received from Mobarakeh Steel Company, asking for Fuchs LUBRITECH inspection during their shut-down of the plant during end of October. Inquiry has been received by mid of October and we are quite happy being able to delegate one of our technical specialists to that plant.
This service however does not only mean to be understood as a very important sales argument, but even more as a technology transfer to the benefit of both the customer and the supplier.
When carrying out this service work, either on the regular basis or upon special request of our customers, we do also always arrange for some technical training of people at plant site to introduce to them our thoughts of most economical application of our highly specialized qualities.