Grease-tracking tech start-up born from lockdown

A Queensland start-up founded by three engineers during COVID-19 lockdown has signed its first major contract with Glencore. GreaseBoss is set to provide intelligent grease application hardware and cloud tracking technology for the miner, beginning with the Oaky Creek North site in the Bowen Basin. The business also announced this week that it had been selected to join the Silicon Valley start-up accelerator program Y Combinator - which helped launch Airbnb, Doordash Dropbox, Stripe and Twitch. GreaseBoss is described as a simple lubrication management system that prevents equipment failure and reduces maintenance costs. "Six months ago a group of us came together with the idea of finding a way to better track and trace the greasing that can hold up production at major industrial operations," GreaseBoss co-founder and chief executive officer Steve Barnett said. "For GreaseBoss to be the only Aussie start-up selected (for Y Combinator) is a huge win for us and we could not be more excited.” Maintenance oversights spark downtime Mr Barnett said that while the heavy machinery sector grappled with inconsistent maintenance, technology was now helping to create previously unobtainable efficiencies. “It is not a surprise that heavy machinery will sometimes fail," he said. "When we envision this, we imagine a particularly tough rock stopping a digger in its tracks or an excessively heavy load applied to a crane. "The reality is that the vast majority of unplanned downtime is due to humans not correctly maintaining the equipment 100 per cent of the time. "These enormous, expensive and vital pieces of equipment are brought down not by a giant iceberg like the titanic, but by a thousand smaller mistakes compounding over time into a big issue. The patented GreaseBoss head unit. “What is surprising is that the industry as a whole has learned to accept this state of affairs. "It is part of human nature to make mistakes, to miss a grease nipple or two on a maintenance round or to improperly apply grease in the haste to get the round done and get out of the heat, rain or snow. "We put together an effective solution within just a few months and today are launching GreaseBoss technology into the hands of equipment maintenance teams around the world to enable safer, smarter and more productive industrial operations.” GreaseBoss has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the State Government via the Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas Fund to help launch the product across Australia.

Grease-tracking tech start-up born from lockdown

Industry Queensland

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