Toromont Service Center’s Wireless Lubrication System Increased Production, Eliminated Shrinkage

A new PC-based wireless fluid management system that tracks dispense information by repair order and monitors the level of fluids in tanks has increased production and eliminated shrinkage at Toromont CAT’s service facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Toromont CAT, one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers, installed the state-of-the-art Matrix™ system by Graco when its Winnipeg heavy equipment and truck operation moved into a newer sales and repair facility in 2004.

“We were using a 30-year-old, Graco wired Electronic Fluid Commander™ (EFC) system to dispense lubricants in our old facility,” says Randy Gushuliak, who was Service Manager at the time. “While the system accurately dispensed lubricants from our pump room to the bay areas it required the service technician to walk to the tool crib to get authorization for the dispense. Then he would return to his workstation and dispense the fluid. During busy shop times, the technicians would need to wait at the tool crib to place their dispense request with the tool crib attendant. The other drawback during these busy times was the need to wait to dispense the oil. The EFC system was capable of dispensing one job at a time. On average, each dispense request took about 15 minutes. Typically, the shop performed 20 – 30 dispenses, daily. That’s up to 7.5 hours of production time each day!”

“Furthermore, it was the technicians’ responsibility to record the dispense on the repair order. If the technician was in a hurry, or if he was preoccupied, he might forget to note the transaction on the repair order. We tried to keep on top of the problem but we still lost 8 percent from missed billings — almost 5,000 liters — to shrinkage a year. This was unacceptable!”

The opportunity to correct these problems occurred when Toromont began planning to build a new facility. “We wanted to upgrade our fluid management system to the most current, state-of-the-art system available,” said Gushuliak. “Because we were moving into a new facility, we also wanted a wireless system so we wouldn’t have to run wires through the two shops, pump room and office. Because the old Graco system had performed so well, we elected to install Graco’s Matrix fluid management system in the new facility.”

When the installation was complete, everything had gone smoothly and, in fact, the cost for the wireless system was actually less than purchasing and installing a wired system.

Toromont’s new Matrix fluid management system transfers, meters, dispenses and tracks fluids in both the facility’s heavy equipment and truck repair shops. The system features Graco’s Matrix tank level monitors, metered dispense valves, Transceiver and software, as well as Graco FireBall™ air operated pumps and hose reels.

The heavy equipment shop, where off-road equipment is serviced, consists of six tractor bays and two special bays for engine work. Four banks of hose reels with Matrix dispense meters are mounted between the bays. This layout permits technicians from adjoining bays to use the same meters. The lubricants metered from these banks include 10W30 DEO and 5W30 Trans Multi-Season, as well as 30W Trans.

The truck shop contains 6 bays. Four bays are used for truck repairs while the 5^th and 6^th are industrial engine repair bays. As in the heavy equipment shop, hose banks with meters are mounted between the bays, allowing technicians in adjoining bays to use the same meters. Lubricants metered from these hose reels include15W40 and 10W30 oils.

The lubricants are stored in large tanks in a central pump room conveniently located between the truck shop and heavy equipment shop.  There are four 4,500-liter tanks that contain different grades of oil and ATF. Graco FireBall 6:1 ratio air-operated pumps are mounted on the tanks. The pumps transfer the fluids through a two-step filtration system (3 micron followed by a 1 micron filter) to the Matrix meters. The FireBall 6:1 pumps were selected because they have the capacity to transfer the lubricants through the fluid filters over long distances to multiple bay locations.

Each tank has a Graco tank level monitor mounted on it. The ultrasonic signal measures the fluid level in each tank and communicates this information wirelessly to the PC. According to Gushuliak, “the software keeps us appraised of the oil levels in the tanks. It’s eliminated the task of manually checking the volume. We don’t worry about fluid levels anymore. The information is right at our fingertips.”

When a service technician needs to dispense fluid in the bay, he simply enters the work order number in the Matrix meter and dispenses the fluid into the vehicle. The whole process was reduced from 15 minutes to less than 5 minutes, saving up to 5 hours each day.

The dispense amount and work order information is routed through a wireless Transceiver to a central computer where the information is recorded. A Toromont administrator reviews the recorded dispenses and adds the appropriate charges to the clients invoice.

“The new wireless system is simple, efficient and provides us with a very accurate method of invoicing the fluids we use” said Gushuliak. “It also increases productivity.”

“In fact, the Matrix fluid management system has worked out so well for us that a similar Matrix system was recently installed in Toromont CAT’s Thunder Bay, Manitoba facility,” he concludes.

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