A Namibian customer who was first in line to book and participate in two brand new one-day short courses recently introduced by SKF’s Training Solutions Department, was extremely impressed at the swiftness and efficacy of the training.

Due to the fact that 64 maintenance employees needed to attend the training courses, getting the most effective training in the shortest possible time was a big concern for the customer who is a leading operator in Namibia’s marine industry.

“We understand the pressures customers face when it comes to up time and production, two fundamentals that simply cannot be compromised,” says Gail Taylor, Business Development Manager: Training Solutions at SKF South Africa. “So we have especially developed these two short one-day Bearing Mounting and Dismounting and Lubrication courses with the key objective of up-skilling teams quickly and effectively using best practices to ensure minimum disruption to the customer’s process and / or plant.”

Designed as introductory or refresher classes, the two courses address important topics covering bearing systems and rotating equipment and are designed to assist customers in getting the maximum life out of their bearings. “Anyone working with, who are interested in or who are responsible for improving the reliability of rotating equipment would benefit from attending these two courses,” explains Taylor. “By applying the right maintenance practices and using the correct tools, customers can considerably extend their bearing’s service life, subsequently increasing their productivity and efficiency.”  

The Bearing Mounting and Dismounting course addresses inter alia incorrect as well as recommended mounting practices on roller bearings and ball bearings. Topics such as lubrication theory, correct lubrication selection, the application of lubricants to bearings as well as automated lubrication are included in the Lubrication course.

According to SKF course presenters, Lourens Pretorius and Cody Petersen, the training of the Maintenance Team was successful. Importantly, as each course was presented over only one day, the Maintenance Team was able to get back to work in no time. “Alongside the training courses, we also set aside one day to conduct onsite mentoring of the Maintenance Team,” add Pretorius and Petersen. “During the site visit the Maintenance Team happened to be mounting and dismounting bearings on a large motor; this presented us with the ideal opportunity to reinforce the training we had just delivered during the two courses.”

SKF’s Training Solutions Department also supplied the Maintenance Team with reference material which included a full set of posters as well as complimentary bearing maintenance handbooks.

Pretorius and Petersen identified additional opportunities for the supply of SKF’s Mapro range of Maintenance Products to the customer such as gloves, bearing pullers, an induction heater as well as grease. “We introduced our customer to SKF distributor, Namibian Lubrication Systems, who will be able to assist with the delivery of high quality bearing and rotation technology solutions, products and services.”

Namibian Lubrication Systems is a distributor for Lincoln Lubrication South Africa, which is part of the SKF global group, and holds the title as the only company in Namibia that is qualified to service and repair all Lincoln Lubrication equipment. Located in Swakopmund, Namibian Lubrication Systems specialises in the supply of lubrication equipment and systems to the industrial and mining sectors across the entire Erongo, Khomas, Karas and Otjozondjupa regions of Namibia.