Mechanical Technology — August 2013
9
⎪
Special report
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Above:
Using logos and company identity, Inter-
tek can brand the whole OCM kit, all of the pa-
perwork in the process chain and create a website
to suit any company’s brand preferences.
Left:
OCM test reports can be turned around within
24-hours and made available via email or a secure
web-based portal.
laboratory
turn-around times need never be much
more than 48-hours in total,” Beard
predicts.
An independent one-stop
laboratory
“Intertek is a listed com-
pany on the stock ex-
change and we are
truly independent.
Our business is in-
spection, and we
have no affiliations
to oil or lubricant
OEMs and no inter-
ests in filters or any
other maintenance-
related equipment,”
Beard assures. “This
makes us a truly third
party, independent
and impartial inspection
company. There will never
be hidden agendas associ-
ated with the OCM results
we report.”
Addressing the issue
of certified tests, Beard
reiterates that the core
purpose of OCM is for
trending and to track
machine condition. “Nor-
mal OCM results are accurate enough
for this key purpose, but sometimes, for
evidence in legal matters, for example,
or for certifying product specifications
according to a contract, certificates are
required. The tests involved for certifica-
tion are done using higher calibration
accuracies, therefore there is an ad-
ditional charge for that service.
“Most importantly, though, this is a
service that we offer globally and that
we are also qualified to offer from our
new laboratory,” says Beard.
A key incentive for customers to use
Intertek’s new OCM service is the range
on offer from the company as a whole.
“Intertek offers such a full range of tests
that I am still finding out about some of
them. The new OCM laboratory offers
the full package of OCM tests as stan-
dard, but in addition, we can also run a
screening test for fuels, including total
contamination of a fuel sample (IP440),
and we can give you a quick result that
is accurate enough for most purposes.
We offer
XRF testing for the sul-
phur content of diesel, if you are unsure
whether you are using 50- or 500-ppm
fuels, for example, and we offer the full
range of tests for transformer oils and
coolants.
“We can test turbine and other
lubricants for their varnish potential
using the RULER
®
test, which mea-
sures phenolic and amine antioxidant
content,” Beard adds. “And we have a
brand new HFRR test rig for analysing
fuel lubricity. To my knowledge this is
the only one available in South Africa
right now.”
For additional value, Intertek offers
branding, which allows customers to
brand all of the labels, boxes, submis-
sion forms and reports involved in an
OCM programme: “Using your logos
and company identity, we can brand the
whole kit, all of the paperwork in the
process chain and create a website to
suit any company’s brand preferences,”
Beard explains.
Looking to the future, he says that
Intertek is continuing to grow its pres-
ence across Africa. “We can already
access and service most countries in the
world and where we don’t have a pres-
ence, we can at least collect samples
for analysis in a country nearby. We see
real growth potential across southern
Africa and are in the process of setting
up in Tanzania.
“We have trained personnel who
are able to assist on site, by taking the
samples according to ISO standards, so
that clients can be sure that the sample
is clean and representative of the condi-
tion of the machine. We are also willing
to set up laboratories at plant sites,
should the volumes make sense.
“And as well as offering OCM ser-
vices, Intertek is a global leader in
conformity assessment services and
provides testing, inspections and certi-
fication solutions on minerals, grains,
petrochemicals, chemicals and general
commodities at all stages of the produc-
tion cycle and supply chain. We are
able to offer a range of services across
many business lines, from inspection
and testing of chemicals to supply chain
social responsibility audits, technical
inspections and calibrations.
Intertek is an ISO 9001:2000 certi-
fied company, with rigorous internal
quality control standards and compre-
hensive testing capabilities – and our
flagship laboratories are all accredited
to ISO 17025,” Beard concludes.
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