Interview with Nathan Lechene, Our expert in lubrication solutions for the steel and aluminum industry

What challenges do the steel and aluminum industries face?

The metal industry is facing several challenges at once right now, so it is quite dynamic out there and the ways that companies are dealing with all the challenges are quite varied. Among the challenges that nearly all metals manufacturers are facing are:

• A global push to decarbonize and make “green steel.”
• Steel prices that are coming off all-time highs and rapidly dropping, pressuring profitability and the ability to fund major projects and initiatives.
• Shortages of available labor.

How can lubricants help address these challenges?

Lubricants cannot increase the amount of labor that is available to fill open positions or push steel prices back up to record levels, but the unique thing about lubricants is that they touch nearly every part of the manufacturing process and are the lifeblood of the equipment. Proper lubricant selection and maintenance can reduce the labor needed to care for the systems and repair worn equipment. A world-class lubrication program can also minimize the budgets needed for maintenance, lubricant purchases, and disposal. New classes of lubricants can even be considered carbon neutral, green, or biodegradable, which can help companies reach certain renewable and green targets. Having a well-trained maintenance team and a top-notch lubricant partner is critical in extracting the most value out of your lubrication and maintenance programs. When done properly the savings can be quite substantial.

What sets FUCHS apart from other lubrication suppliers?

FUCHS is unique among the major lubricant companies because we are large enough to have worldwide reach and technology, but nimble enough to offer customized solutions, innovative products and technologies, and a locally-based support team that is eager to support the needs of our customers.

Major oil companies are really good at having a product offering that can be standardized around the entire world, but they often lack the flexibility to develop innovative technologies quickly and deploy them to customers in a way that can offer large cost savings. FUCHS excels in this area, by having globally available products while also launching new products every year. These new products are always designed to address a new challenge customers face or to bring paradigm-shifting performance and savings to our customers’ operations.

A great example of this is our RENOLIN CLP Plus line of gear oils that are designed for gearboxes in wet environments and can reduce their wear by 50-80%, which extends gearbox life by 2-5X. The unique additive package in this line of oils is also capable of extending oil drain intervals by nearly 2X in areas with little water contamination. You are essentially getting the service life of synthetic oil from a much lower-cost mineral oil product.

FUCHS is also unique among lubricant companies because we are one of the only ones that has a complete line of industrial lubricants. Our product offering spans the entire range of maintenance oils, metalworking fluids, rolling fluids, greases that we blend in our mills, corrosion inhibitors, stamping/drawing fluids, cleaners and nearly every other type of lubricant used in an industrial setting.

What is your favorite part about working at FUCHS?

Without question, my favorite thing about working for FUCHS is the impact that my role and my work have on my customers, my company and the people that use the products. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to be able to provide so much value to so many people and improve the working lives of all those fine people in the metals industry.