For want of a nail – about commercial fryers

Do you remember the old proverb that begins “For want of a nail the shoe was lost? ”I won’t lay out the whole thing here, but the story goes on to explain how a missing nail in a horseshoe led to a missing horse that led to a missing rider and so on, all the way up to “the kingdom was lost.”

Suffice it to say: small things can sometimes mean a very great deal.

There are some easy business parallels here, particularly when there’s such little margin for error in today’s business environment. Competition is fierce, and if you can’t take care of the little things consistently, then there are plenty of rivals waiting to take your share of the market.

At SKF, we design rotating components to prevent a catastrophic chain of results like the one described in the proverb. Why? Because we know what’s at the end: your fryer going down. The loss of production time and revenue is far from a small consequence. And if a bearing fails, it can mean the fryer is offline for days, or worse, that you’ll need to throw away or recall product. In the end, it can cost you considerable amount in lost revenue and severely damage your brand.

Because of this, we’ve focused on “the nail” in the world of commercial fryers; that is, the bearing itself. Our engineers took a fresh look at these bearings and their environment. How hot was too hot? Was lubricating grease even necessary? 
By pursuing these questions, they began to see things in a new light and developed an innovative design that’s incredibly resistant to heat and corrosion. Best yet, it uses the cooking oil itself for lubrication, so there’s no need for re-lubrication. This bearing technology can give you up to 16,000 hours of reliable service, well over twice the life of traditional bearings.  

Stop for a moment and imagine the savings here—in downtime, cost, maintenance hours, and more.

“For the want of a nail” may be an ancient expression, but I think it’s safe to say that sometimes the old proverbs still apply, even in the modern, hyper-competitive world of business.

Stephen White - SKF Food & Beverage Industry Portfolio Manager