56%

of premature bearing failures are caused by contamination and inadequate lubrication

More than half of your bearing damage is therefore a lubrication problem, not a bearing problem.

up to 33%

less lubricant consumption

By switching from manual to automatic lubrication. Less grease, precisely dosed, at the right moment.

15–20 min

per machine per maintenance cycle

That’s how much time correct manual lubrication costs. Automation gives that time back to your technicians — and to your production planning.

40–60%

of your maintenance costs stem from inadequate lubrication

While lubricants themselves account for only 2 to 3% of your operating costs.

Level 1 · Basic

Manual lubrication

The right tool for points you deliberately keep manual

• SKF Lincoln 1882-E— 20V Li-ion cordless grease gun, for faster and more consistently dosed lubrication rounds
• 1142 / 1151 / 1035 — pistol-grip, lever and double-lever grease guns for lower frequencies
• LAGN 120 — grease fitting kit with 120 conical fittings, for standardizing your lubrication points across the entire line

Strong in: low investment, direct control, suited to points with generous intervals and good accessibility.

Limits: dosing depends on whoever does the round. Too much grease contaminates your product and your zone, too little lets the bearing run dry. And with 24-hour production, that round has to happen while the machine is running — with all the safety risks that entails.

Level 2 · Consolidation

Semi-automatic lubrication

Bringing multiple lubrication points together into one

• SSV — progressive divider block, distributes grease from one supply point across multiple outlet points in a fixed, verifiable sequence
• SSVD — adjustable progressive divider block, for when lubrication points need different amounts from one another
• Armored, canvas, polyamide, steel tubing — custom-made for your machine layout

What it delivers: instead of hunting for and operating fifteen points separately, your technician lubricates one central point. Distribution happens mechanically and forcibly: if one outlet blocks, the whole block stops — so a fault becomes visible instead of going unnoticed.

Ideal for: machines with hard-to-reach points, wet zones where you’d rather not stand with a grease gun, and lines where you’re not yet ready to invest in fully automatic.

Level 3 · Continuous · Most chosen in F&B

Fully automatic lubrication

The right lubricant, in the right amount, at the right moment — with no one involved

• CLP / PLP — electrically driven compact grease pump for small to medium progressive systems
• P203 — electrically driven oil/grease pump for larger systems and sectional setups
• ETP — electrically driven compact lubrication unit
• EDL1 — electric grease booster pump for long pipe runs or higher back-pressure
• CLK — electrically driven oil-based chain lubrication kit
• OCL-M — shaft-driven chain lubrication kit, for chains that only need lubrication while actually running
• Lubrigun — compressed-air-driven drum pump for sectional systems across a full bottling line

Why this matters heavily in food:

• Lubrication happens while the machine is running — exactly when the bearing needs it
• Dosing is fixed, so over-lubrication and its contamination risk disappear
• Your technicians no longer need to enter moving zones for routine lubrication
• The lubrication round disappears from the critical path of your planned stops

Practical effect: a bottling line can up to double the speed of a spiral conveyor, because automatically lubricated transmission chains can run faster without damaging bottles.

Stainless-steel execution: components in wet zones are made of stainless steel or housed in a stainless enclosure, so they withstand high-pressure cleaning and stay corrosion-free.

Level 4 · Data

Connected lubrication (SKF eLube / IoT)

See what your lubrication system is doing, without stopping the machine

• CLP / PLP Smart — connected compact grease pump with three operating modes: time-based, counter-based and progressive cycle-based
• P253 Smart — connected oil/grease pump with up to three pump elements and various reservoir sizes
• SKF eLube app — connects automatically to all eLube products in range

What you do with it:

• Read fill level, operating status and mode without entering or stopping the line
• Spot a blocked line or an empty reservoir within minutes instead of at the next round
• Start a test lubrication cycle from your phone
• A log of all faults, warnings and events; reports are saved automatically and emailed
• Each user logs in individually, so actions in the status reports are traceable — valuable for audits

Why this is relevant in food: the log shows that lubrication happened, when, and with what dose. In an audit or a complaint investigation, that’s the difference between assuming and proving.

Filling, bottling and capping machines

Why critical: the filler largely determines the OEE of the entire line. The market expects it to keep running precisely, hygienically and reliably at high speed, continuously, with no planned maintenance windows. While an OEE target of 80% or higher often collides in practice with a reality closer to 60%.

Critical components: carousel slew ring and main bearing, lift and height mechanisms of the filling valves, cam followers and guides, crown corker and screw capper heads (capper/seamer), star wheels and transfer stars.

Indicative number of lubrication points: typically 40–120 per carousel machine, heavily dependent on the number of filling valves and the design. (To be validated during the line scan.)

Typical setup: progressive or single-line system with a CLP or P203 pump and SSV divider blocks, in stainless-steel execution, with LGFG 2 or LGFQ 2.

Additional risk removed: over-lubrication on a filling carousel isn’t a cosmetic issue but a contamination risk. Fixed dosing rules it out.

Conveyor belts, chains and spiral conveyors

Why critical: it’s rarely the expensive machine that shuts down your line, but the conveying between machines. Chains run through wet zones, over long distances and at hard-to-reach heights.

Critical components: transmission chains, sprockets and tensioning stations, roller bearings of belt supports, turnaround stations of spiral conveyors, PET bottle guides.

Indicative number of lubrication points: 20–200+ per conveyor section, depending on length and number of drive stations. (To be validated during the line scan.)

Typical setup: CLK oil-based chain lubrication kit with LFFM 100, or OCL-M where lubrication is only wanted while actually running. For PET bottle transport: LDTS 1 dry-film lubrication, which leaves no wet film behind.

Speed gain: automatically lubricated transmission chains can run faster without damaging the bottles — a spiral conveyor can therefore up to double in speed.

Thermal zones: tunnel oven, pasteurizer, dryer, roaster, tunnel freezer and cooling tower

Why critical: these are the zones where standard grease fails fastest. On the hot side, chain temperature climbs well beyond what an ordinary grease can handle; on the cold side, the grease stiffens and the bearing runs dry. Both ends of the same line call for a different lubricant.

Critical components: transport chains through the oven or freezer tunnel, guide roller bearings in the hot or cold zone, fan bearings, drive stations at the infeed and outfeed.

Indicative number of lubrication points: 15–60 per tunnel unit. (To be validated during the line scan.)

Typical setup:

• Hot zone: LFFT 220 food grade chain oil up to 250°C, via a CLK kit; bearing points with LGFQ 2
• Cold zone: LGFQ 2 (usable down to −40°C) via a CLP or P203 system
• Pump and controls placed outside the temperature zone, with piping running in

Labeling, packaging and palletizing machines

Why critical: at the end of the line there’s no more buffer left. If the palletizer stops, everything upstream halts within minutes. At the same time, these are often the machines with many small, scattered lubrication points — the first thing skipped when the manual round runs short.

Critical components: linear guides and ball screws, robot wrists and gripper bearings, lift and tilt tables, chain and timing-belt drives, glue rollers and labeling drums.

Indicative number of lubrication points: 25–80 per machine, a large portion of which is hard to reach. (To be validated during the line scan.)

Typical setup: progressive system with CLP or CLP Smart and SSV/SSVD blocks. This is exactly where the connected variant pays off most: many points, little visibility, high impact when it fails.