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Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

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Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#141

Post by sokoloff »

I’m not sure the wisdom of adding a washer under an NPT-threaded fitting at all, nor under a straight threaded fitting not originally specified to have a washer (especially in an aviation or other highly regulated application).

I wonder if you could get by in some of those applications by having the tag in a grease zerk cap instead (installed after and without disturbing the zerk torque/seal).

On my airplane, I rotate grease cap colors as a visual check that all fittings were serviced during the annual inspection. It’s a multi-day affair with more than one mechanic plus me plus interruptions, so it’s not difficult to miss some. But if the cap is blue and this year’s color is red, you find it at final walk-around.

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#142

Post by laurent92 »

SteveGreaseBoss wrote: post #43
jeffrallen wrote: post #31

So here's a question: if a company was suffering below average equipment downtime from lube problems, because they had somehow managed to have above average compliance to manufacturer's specs, would your sales pitch still work? Because as they said on Prairie Home Companion, "all our children are above average". No one thinks they have incompetent maintenance teams. There are industries where safety risks make lube h…

great question and good logic. Many sites are reducing headcount in maintenance due to high labour costs, greasing is one of those things that can be neglected. Our pitch is to do more maintenance with less head count, with GreaseBoss anyone can pick up the grease gun and be directed what to do, with no prior trianing. Further down the track, we want GreaseBoss to power robotic greasing. But to get to this nirvana, y…

I’m imagining the robotic arm picking up the grease and applying it to its hinges. What, that is exactly what you are planning to do, isn’t it? Will it replace its worn body parts too, before expiration? It is the obvious next step, isn’t it? You are right, this is a billion dollars market.

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#143

Post by mauvehaus »

sokoloff wrote: post #141

I’m not sure the wisdom of adding a washer under an NPT-threaded fitting at all, nor under a straight threaded fitting not originally specified to have a washer (especially in an aviation or other highly regulated application). I wonder if you could get by in some of those applications by having the tag in a grease zerk cap instead (installed after and without disturbing the zerk torque/seal). On my airplane, I rotat…

For anybody who doesn't already know what NPT-threads are: it's a standard for tapered threads. You see it frequently on pipes, or anywhere you need the threads to seal up.

The point of it being tapered is that the fit between the male and female parts gets closer as you tighten the fitting. In domestic plumbing, you wrap the male threads with Teflon tape, and as you tighten, the tape gets squished into the very close fit and forms a seal.

The key point to understand before introducing a washer into the system is that there isn't a well-defined point where the system can be considered bottomed axially. It isn't like a nut and bolt where once the nut hits the bolt head, it isn't going any farther.

If you introduce a washer that doesn't allow the tapered thread to tighten to a sufficiently close fit, you've potentially lost your seal and might have a loose fitting. If your Zerk falls out, you risk loss of lube and/or contamination of the lube.

I'm sure they've given this some thought, but I would also be curious to hear how this works.

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#145

Post by estsauver »

blhack wrote: post #113

Holy crap I love this. Great job, you guys! A thought on pricing: per machine is probably the best. If you do per zerk, customers are going to try and do one zerk on the machine, and track it on a per machine basis, instead of per zerk (which is what you want). The employees will then learn this, and grease that one spot. The customers won't see the value (since the data will be crappy), and might end up seeing it as…

I think you'll almost certainly want to have "Contact us" pricing. The cost of a zerk being poorly greased depends greatly on the value of that machine to the plant and the cost of that machine going down.

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#146

Post by joncrane »

SteveGreaseBoss wrote: post #111
joncrane wrote: post #109

This is fantastic and I'm one of those amateur "tribologists" you mention in one of your replies. Have you looked into contracting with the US government, particularly the military? You might think of partnering with a company that's established in that space.

great to hear from a tribologist. We have the military on our plan - we just don't have an entry point yet. Do any companies for a partnership come to mind? We want to make a camo head unit

My email is in my profile if you want to discuss off HN.

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#147

Post by joncrane »

timhall99 wrote: post #110
joncrane wrote: post #109

This is fantastic and I'm one of those amateur "tribologists" you mention in one of your replies. Have you looked into contracting with the US government, particularly the military? You might think of partnering with a company that's established in that space.

yes, defense is definitely on our radar and we are looking for partners to assist us in getting into these places.

Government contracting is a whole separate animal, can discuss separately, my email is in my HN profile.

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#148

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

sokoloff wrote: post #141

I’m not sure the wisdom of adding a washer under an NPT-threaded fitting at all, nor under a straight threaded fitting not originally specified to have a washer (especially in an aviation or other highly regulated application). I wonder if you could get by in some of those applications by having the tag in a grease zerk cap instead (installed after and without disturbing the zerk torque/seal). On my airplane, I rotat…

I think this is a very good idea and point. I raised the idea of GreaseBoss on the reddit aviation forum a few weeks ago and got shot down by all the questions about regulartory issues and approvals.

The tag in cap idea is solid

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#149

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

ehnto wrote: post #134

That's fascinating, my father works in Australian mine sites and I can't wait to tell him about this. He wouldn't be a potential customer, he'd just be fascinated as I am. I love that this is borne of a real world need for an industry not initially related to software, identifying cross-industry problems is what a lot of founders have trouble doing because they don't have much exposure to other industries. Applying s…

Thanks for the kind words

The cofounders are spread across Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast in Queensland

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#150

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

laurent92 wrote: post #142
SteveGreaseBoss wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

great question and good logic. Many sites are reducing headcount in maintenance due to high labour costs, greasing is one of those things that can be neglected. Our pitch is to do more maintenance with less head count, with GreaseBoss anyone can pick up the grease gun and be directed what to do, with no prior trianing. Further down the track, we want GreaseBoss to power robotic greasing. But to get to this nirvana, y…

I’m imagining the robotic arm picking up the grease and applying it to its hinges. What, that is exactly what you are planning to do, isn’t it? Will it replace its worn body parts too, before expiration? It is the obvious next step, isn’t it? You are right, this is a billion dollars market.

TBH, I recently finished the code for a product that did almost exactly what you are describing, but for a very specific domain and use case, so yeah, there's a market.
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