OREANDA-NEWS.  June 27, 2013. ExxonMobil opened its new Asia Pacific Signum Laboratory at the ExxonMobil Shanghai Technology Center. The new laboratory in China is the company’s first in the Asia Pacific region and provides customers direct access to high quality oil analysis to help improve their equipment performance.

Signum, ExxonMobil’s oil analysis program, leverages more than 40 years of oil analysis expertise and is designed specifically to help evaluate the condition of in-service lubricants. It is a quick and non-invasive way to gauge the health of a machine and help achieve optimum performance.

“The new Signum Laboratory at the Shanghai Technology Center extends ExxonMobil’s  technology footprint in China and the Asia Pacific region and enables us to better support customers in the region,” said Darrin Talley, vice president, marketing, ExxonMobil Fuels, Lubricants & Specialties Marketing Company. “With the Mobil branded lubricant business growing steadily in China and the Asia Pacific region, more and more customers are requesting superior oil analysis to improve productivity and reduce downtime. The new Signum Laboratory will help meet customers’ requests quickly through technical application expertise.”

The Signum Laboratory at the Shanghai Technology Center is designed to exacting laboratory standards and complies with stringent quality requirements. ExxonMobil has full control of the laboratory operations, quality assurance, data integrity, equipment reliability, and safety standards. The Signum Laboratory provides access to the Company’s centralized database of oil analysis results and is capable of handling several hundred analyses a day.  The lab then generates a comprehensive analysis report for most client applications in 24 to 48 hours after sample reception.

“At ExxonMobil, we take pride in providing high quality services. Our network of engineers is globally connected to equipment builders, which gives us intimate knowledge of lubricant compositions and requirements for modern equipment. The decision to operate our own lab at the Shanghai Technology Center is a key strategy for us. By integrating this wealth of information, we are now able to provide an even more comprehensive level of service to our customers in this fast-growing and important market.” said W. Berlin Genetti, global lab operations manager, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company.

ExxonMobil’s Signum oil analysis examines lubricant properties, contamination levels, and wear debris. When oil analysis results are regularly tracked, maintenance trends can be identified, helping machine-owners to improve productivity by avoiding costly repairs and sudden breakdowns.

Signum oil analysis helps extend oil life by pinpointing proper oil drain and filter change intervals of different lubrication systems. By doing this, customers can reduce waste and also improve the efficiency and durability of their industrial equipment, further supporting environmental care.