FUCHS CARE: concept created in Portugal captures international interest
From Maia to the world: Four years ago, FUCHS Portugal developed a set of services to guarantee the permanent well-being, high performance and longevity of emulsions in machine tools. FUCHS CARE brings together a specialized team, state-of-the-art equipment and a laboratory. Every day, an emulsion technician drives the specialized FUCHS CARE van to the companies and carries out the necessary services. With regular maintenance, the companies guarantee the good performance and long life of the emulsions, which reduces the environmental impact and ensures hygiene and safety at work. FUCHS CARE services are therefore a solution for today and the future. Given the success of this pioneering service in Portugal, other subsidiaries of the FUCHS Group are interested in replicating the lubrication solutions model in their countries and thus going beyond the sale of lubricants.Created in 2019 by FUCHS Portugal, the FUCHS CARE service package has been so successful that it has now caught the attention of other subsidiaries of the Group. It seems that the team at the Maia company really thought of everything when developing the services to guarantee the permanent well-being, high performance and longevity of the emulsions in the machine tools. The fact that it improves the environmental balance, as well as health and safety at work, makes FUCHS CARE services a current and future solution for metalworking companies.
"We have a specialized team, state-of-the-art equipment and a laboratory, which in Portugal is crucial, as we are one of only two lubricant companies in the country with a laboratory for lubricants," says Carlos Braga, Technical Director of FUCHS Portugal. Carlos Braga says he is very pleased with how well the concept has been accepted: "We have around 20 companies as FUCHS CARE customers." The team consists of three people: an emulsions technician, a mechanical engineer with the role of Application Engineer, and the Metalworking Product Manager who has a Master's degree in Chemical Sciences. "Normally we only need one day to carry out the service, but depending on the number of pieces of equipment, situations can change. We can spend three or five days on a client. We have customers with 10 machines and others with 100," says the emulsion technician, who travels with the FUCHS CARE van to the different companies. The specialized van carries various pieces of equipment to carry out the different services and has a winch that allows the technician to "bring out the vacuum cleaner that weighs hundreds of kilos", says Carlos Braga.
"This surface vacuum cleaner is extremely effective at removing foreign oils," he continues, explaining: "Foreign oils are unavoidable contaminants in emulsions - which are soluble metal cutting fluids mixed with water. Emulsions can be contaminated by external substances, such as machine tool lubrication oils, hydraulic oils, gearbox oils, guide and busbar oils or even greases. Our vacuum cleaner is able to remove these foreign oils from the emulsions because they separate and remain on the surface. This operation is only carried out on the surface, which guarantees that the emulsion is not removed and that no more waste is created than necessary." Carlos Braga goes on to explain the advantage: "The clean emulsion has a more stable pH value and is free from contamination that could lead to the existence of micro-organisms." Regular maintenance ensures good performance and extends the life of the emulsions, which reduces the environmental impact. "The FUCHS CARE service can extend the period of use of the emulsion, for example from 6 to 12 months, which increases the sustainability of the system and reduces costs. This cost reduction is enhanced because it eliminates the need for operators to remove the used emulsion, make a new emulsion and deal with the filling, as well as eliminating the cost of disposing of the emulsion," explains the Technical Director.
After each service, the FUCHS CARE technician prepares and sends a report to the customer, with images of the emulsion "before and after the service". It is also this technician who takes the emulsion samples, if necessary.
Whenever necessary, the Application Engineer accompanies the colleague to the customers to provide all the technical support. As for emergency situations, the FUCHS CARE team is able to respond overnight: "Let's imagine that a tap has been left open at a customer's premises and all the emulsion has come out of the machine's tank. In this case, we can immediately go to the customer to carry out the necessary actions: prepare the emulsion, clean the tank and fill it up. Or when the analysis gives a negative result. In this case, after analyzing the sample in our laboratory, we can add an additive to the emulsion the next day," says Carlos Braga. He stresses that the service is generally regular and that many customers hire the service in advance for periods when the plant is closed.
The FUCHS CARE service package is an asset for the metalworking sector in Portugal. Could it be for other countries too? In October, Carlos Braga will present the concept, which is part of FUCHS Portugal's Technical Assistance Services (SAT), to other FUCHS subsidiaries, given the Group's interest in extending the supply of lubrication solutions beyond the sale of lubricants.
