‘Ask Ade’
the public face of Morris Lubricants’ technical department
Adrian Hill, automotive products manager at Morris Lubricants in Shrewsbury, is a man in demand. When he’s not writing the popular ‘Ask Ade’ column for Professional Motor Mechanic magazine, he’s busy speaking at seminars at major motor and oil industry events around the UK.
With almost 30 years’ experience in the oil and lubricant industry, Adrian is perfectly placed to provide his expert insight and analysis. He and his team at Morris Lubricants are responsible for developing advanced technology lubricants to meet the needs of the constantly evolving automotive industry.
For example, Morris Lubricants has recently developed two new low viscosity oils for new hi-tech Ford and Volvo engines to enhance fuel economy and reduce emissions.
With his columns and seminars, he has been tasked to demystify the technology used in automotive lubricants and break down technical jargon so that auto professionals have a better understanding of the often complex subject.
At Mechanex and Automechanika, he spoke about the next generation automotive and commercial vehicle lubricants. Topics included after-treatment devices and emerging AdBlue technology in passenger car vehicles and the impact of emissions legislation on engine hardware and lubricant technology.
“Ask Ade has become the public face of the technical department at Morris Lubricants,” he explained. “I am trying to educate automotive professionals to give them a better understanding of how a lubricant works and how it interacts with the mechanical system.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty in the industry because no-one has ever taken the time to explain lubricants to automotive professionals. I try to explain why the correct choice of lubricant is critical to prolonging the life of after treatment devices, such as diesel particulate filters and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) converters, which use AdBlue to reduce nitrous oxides.
“The AdBlue system is new to the market and is now fitted to all two litre diesel passenger cars. How is someone who buys an expensive car supposed to understand all the technical hieroglyphics in the manual? It’s often purely by chance that they select the right product for the engine.
In another ‘Ask Ade’ column, he explored the role a lubricants supplier can play in helping bus and coach companies to reduce operating costs to increase profitability and competitiveness.
20
Adrian Hill,
Morris Lubricants’ ‘Ask Ade’.
To achieve these challenging goals, a business needs to reduce vehicle downtime, tightly control stock inventory and increase fuel-efficiency, he suggests.
“One of the largest operating costs for any bus or coach operator is fuel, so being presented with a solution that will help the business make a substantial saving will certainly grab their attention,” he explained. “This is most certainly an area to be explored by those operating regional and national fleets.
“The objective of the exercise for lubricant manufacturers, such as Morris Lubricants, is to gain new business by shining a light on the value lubricants bring to the wider business.”
Earlier this year, Adrian addressed 500 delegates at the 20th ICIS World Base Oil and Lubricants Conference in London where he spoke about the challenges faced by independent manufacturers.
“One of the topics that the organisers wanted covered this year was a view from an independent oil company in this ever changing world,” he said. “A lot of the speakers tend to be from major additive companies, OEMs and base oil suppliers.
“My 40-minute presentation covered all the changes that we see in the current climate, how we are tackling new technological advances, how we are looking to ensure that we have the correct materials, how we store and handle them, once the product has been formulated how we market it and how we get new technical information to existing and new customers.
“We stand alongside all the major oil companies in being able to provide the required technology but our differentiator is our ability to deliver a better service in terms of speed, reliability, availability and face to face customer and technical support. That is why we as independents have a place in the oil industry of the future.
“What I really enjoyed was being approached after my presentation by delegates from China, Korea and Mexico, who all came from independent oil companies, and congratulated me for highlighting the challenge we all face. Hopefully, the independents can help each other in the future.”
LINK
www.morrislubricants.co.uk
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.134 AUGUST 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57
