Lubrication Professionals Meet in Nashville to Gain Knowledge and Embrace Change

Attendees spent time in the exhibit hall
speaking one-on-one with exhibitors
and learning how the products and
services on display fit their specific needs.

Don’t fight change. This was the statement that Joe Theismann used to open his keynote address at the Lubrication Excellence 2004 Conference and Exhibition held in Nashville on March 23-25. “As changes take place in your industry, don’t fight them, accept them,” Theismann said. Theismann’s core message was that change stays with us and gives us an opportunity to excel and succeed. Certainly, this is a timely message for the lubrication and oil analysis industry. As industries around the world strive to lower maintenance costs and increase reliability, their maintenance practices are changing and they are counting on oil analysis and lubrication management to help them meet their goals and become world-class facilities.

Theismann said that success lies within, and spoke about how the lessons he learned on the football field helped him succeed in the business world. He explained that goals, attitude, confidence, teamwork, motivation and relationships with others affect everyone’s ability to succeed. Again, this message was especially appropriate to the Lubrication Excellence audience because helping lubrication professionals increase their knowledge and be successful are the event’s core objectives. Companies are counting on a highly-skilled and well-educated workforce to carry them through the changes they will face in the coming years.

Joe Theismann, Lubrication Excellence 2004
Keynote Speaker, officially opened the event
to a standing-room-only crowd.

This year’s event certainly provided invaluable information that should help anyone in the oil analysis and lubrication industry become successful. From Joe Theismann’s keynote address to the last breakout session of the week, delegates were exposed to information that will help them improve their performance in the workplace and help their companies reach world-class status.

“Lubrication Excellence is an excellent conference. What I have learned will allow me to take our program to the next level,” said attendee Dean Ashe, Northrop Grumman.

In addition to the energetic and enthusiastic keynote address, delegates were offered a wide range of educational preconference workshops and informative breakout sessions. With more than 80 speakers in 110 breakout sessions, delegates had no trouble finding a subject to fit their needs. Besides the many excellent papers that were presented during the breakout sessions, there were also several attention-grabbing panel sessions where topics such as developing new quality standards for the used oil analysis community and the causes and cures for sludge and varnish were debated and discussed. These sessions and many others were presented to near standing-room-only audiences.

Several panel sessions, allowing the panelists as well as the audience members to express their views, were offered at this year’s event. These sessions covered a variety of topics and were very popular.

“Lubrication Excellence was an excellent show this year,” said Roy Carter, Bama Foods. Mr. Carter commented more specifically about the session titled “How to Create Effective Lubrication Performance Metrics” saying, “The session utilizing statistics and metrics will be of tremendous use to us as a guide to help us develop our own system.”

Of course, the workshops and breakout sessions were only one part of the educational experience at Lubrication Excellence 2004. The 115 companies that exhibited at this year’s event also provided delegates with an opportunity to learn about the products and services available to make their jobs more effective and efficient. The Lubrication Excellence 2004 exhibitors filled the exhibit hall with new, as well as tried and true, products and services.

“The conference itself is exceptionally well organized with a world-class exhibit hall,” said Nathan Long, Haas TCM Corp. Delegates had the opportunity to talk with exhibitors and discuss their specific needs. Exhibitors were able to interact with not only potential customers, but with potential business partners as well.

Several attendees began the week by participating in the golf tournament.

Although the educational opportunities were central to the event, delegates and exhibitors also had time for a little fun. Some attendees kicked off the event by playing in the golf tournament at Springhouse Golf Course. Others opted to attend the Jack Daniel’s Distillery tour. Some attendees simply ventured out on their own and enjoyed the sights and sounds that put Nashville on the map. Attendees had the chance to visit with old friends and new acquaintances on Tuesday evening during the Y2K Fluid Power-sponsored Country Shindig Reception in the exhibit hall. On Wednesday evening, an Ice Cream Bash sponsored by ISOPur Fluid Technologies gave them a little extra networking time in the exhibit hall too. George Herrick, reliability engineer at Rochester Gas & Electric Corp.’s Ginna Nuclear Power Station, Ontario, N.Y., got a big send-off on Thursday, the final day of the show, when he became the lucky winner of the decked-out Ranger bass boat.

George Herrick, Rochester Gas & Electric Corp.,
stands by the Ranger bass boat he won
in Thursday afternoon’s drawing.

As in years past, Lubrication Excellence was again a great success. Attendees enjoyed three days of educational experiences as well as entertainment. They left Nashville armed with valuable knowledge that will help them succeed in their jobs and bring value to their employers. Attendee Diego Navarro, John Deere Forest and Construction, summed it up when he said, “This is one of the best conferences I have ever attended. Organization, quality of presenters, social events, people, materials, you have it all!”