Tulco Oils Uses CMMS to Keep Tulsa Plant Running Nonstop

The boiler at Tulco Oils’ Tulsa, Oklahoma, plant has never been out of service—and the company is determined to keep it that way. During a multimillion‑dollar expansion that added 15,000 square feet to the main facility, the mid‑size industrial lubricant manufacturer invested in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to streamline operations.

Tulco Oils selected Bigfoot CMMS from Smartware Group Inc. to automate maintenance for the new equipment—seven blending tanks, 50 pumps and an air‑compression system—installed during the expansion.

‘With the increased number of critical components in the expanded plant, we needed a CMMS for work‑order and preventive‑maintenance (PM) management to schedule ongoing maintenance and prevent downtime,’ said Don Stanton, vice president of operations.

The expansion also required automating maintenance processes for existing gas, air, boiler and steam systems, which now carry a higher load, making diligent upkeep even more essential.

As a custom lubricant manufacturer, Tulco Oils blends hydraulic, gear, transformer, turbine oils and cutting fluids for OEMs—from tractors on Midwestern farms to machinery used in China.

Typically, filling orders takes three to seven days, but the company frequently receives emergency requests that must be met within a single afternoon, delivering lubricants the next morning.

‘We often have to respond to a customer’s emergency,’ Stanton explained. ‘When a customer’s equipment fails and they need our oil immediately, we act fast. Major brands cannot match these rapid turnarounds.’

During the expansion, the team redesigned maintenance operations and customized the CMMS database to match Tulco Oils’ asset‑management needs, capturing the most relevant data for the lubricant market.

‘We don’t offer off‑the‑shelf products, and we can’t stock every customer’s blend,’ Stanton noted. ‘Each order is a custom mix.’

Because speed is a competitive advantage, maintaining equipment uptime is critical. A boiler outage would halt blending, while an air compressor failure would jeopardize the dry‑air system that keeps oil and water separate.

Prior to CMMS, staff tracked service calls and maintenance tasks with paper logs. ‘The more machinery we added, the more impossible it became to manage without a digital system,’ Stanton recalled.

Now, the CMMS replaces handwritten work orders with automated email reminders sent to the responsible technician or vendor. The system also filters out spam, streamlining communication.

‘One major benefit is clearer communication about maintenance,’ Stanton added. ‘When equipment stops, we can instantly create a work order without hunting down a colleague.’

The CMMS also supports a non‑asset PM calendar, covering occupational and environmental safety checks—such as water‑contamination testing—and municipal regulations.

With the expanded plant and CMMS capabilities, Stanton foresees Tulco Oils gaining even greater market influence.

‘We can now outpace our competitors,’ he said.