Oil-free bearing concepts, such as active magnetic bearings, are increasingly presented as lubrication-free solutions for demanding industrial applications. At first glance, this may appear to pose a threat to the lubricant industry. If key machine components can operate without oil or grease, the role of lubricants may be questioned.
Even though this may seem like a reasonable first impression, this reading is too narrow. The focus of industrial lubricant and maintenance management is shifting. Industrial customers are no longer looking at individual components, lubricants or maintenance tasks, but at increasing the overall reliability of their business operations and output.
This shift revolves around reducing friction, energy losses and CO2 emissions. It also includes prolonging effective lubricant and equipment life, eliminating unscheduled downtime, and optimizing the use of maintenance resources.
Whether this is achieved through bearing design, advanced lubrication and lubrication systems, condition monitoring or a combination of these, the direction is clear: operational reliability, lower lifecycle impact and maintenance decisions based on performance rather than routine consumption.
Oil-free bearing technology should therefore not be viewed as a threat, but as part of a broader movement toward smarter, cleaner and more reliability-driven industrial operation.
Oil-free Bearings, Not Oil-free Tribological Systems
A lubricant-free component is not the same as a fully lubricant-free tribological system.
Active magnetic bearings (AMBs) offer contactless interaction between moving parts in normal operation. The absence of mechanical friction removes the need for conventional lubrication. This absence of friction and wear makes AMBs particularly well suited for high-speed operations in turbines, compressors, electrical motors and other high-speed applications. In these applications, some of the disadvantages, including higher initial cost, complex control systems and dependence on continuous power supply may be balanced out.
Although the AMB itself is technically lubricant-free, auxiliary, backup and touchdown bearings are needed to support its operation, including standstill and start-stop procedures. These components require (highly specialized) lubrication.
Furthermore, applications that benefit from AMBs are typically part of a larger tribological system. Electrical motors, for example, are part of a drivetrain that may include gearboxes, couplings, rolling element bearings and other friction points. These components all require careful consideration of friction, wear, surface interaction, contamination, temperature and load. And that is where tribology, including lubrication, remains essential.
The question is therefore not whether one component can operate without oil or grease. The more important question is how the total machine system manages friction, wear and energy loss over its full operating life. In some cases, the best solution may be an oil-free bearing concept. In others, it may be a high-performance lubricant. In all cases, there is an increased need for tribological understanding at system level.
Innovation is Not a Zero-sum Game
Innovation in bearings, condition monitoring, lubricants and lubrication is not a zero-sum game, where one supplier loses out so another can win. The lubricant industry should not feel threatened by AMBs, nor should bearing manufacturers feel threatened by lubricant manufacturers striving to extend bearing life.
If a new bearing design reduces lubricant consumption in a specific application, that is progress. If a high-performance lubricant extends bearing life and reduces replacement demand, that is progress as well. Both developments answer the same industrial demand: lower friction, longer asset life, reduced maintenance impact and more sustainable operation.
This reflects an important mindset shift. The market has long measured success in terms of consumption — liters of lubricant sold, kilograms of grease produced, replacement bearings manufactured or hours spent on maintenance.
Today, success is increasingly measured by different standards. Uptime, energy efficiency, safety, waste reduction and lifecycle costs are prime examples of KPIs that now drive maintenance and reliability decisions.
Within this environment, the role of suppliers changes as well. Manufacturers of components and lubricants are not simply selling replacement products. They are helping customers improve machine reliability. Condition monitoring providers are not simply selling sensors or data platforms. They help customers make better, well-informed decisions.
The supplier market is shifting from maximizing consumption to maximizing the value customers derive from their machine systems.
Sustainability is a Shared Responsibility
Sustainability in industrial maintenance cannot be delegated to one stakeholder. Machine builders, bearing manufacturers, lubricant suppliers, monitoring specialists and maintenance teams all influence the total environmental and operational impact of an installation, whether through component design, lubricant selection, lubrication practices, monitoring or maintenance decisions.
The most sustainable solution is rarely the one that simply uses the least product. It is the one that gives the best combined lifecycle result within the machine or process step it is used in. It is achieved by applying the right technology, in the right place, at the right time and for the right reason.
This requires cooperation across the full reliability chain, rather than competition between individual technologies or supplier categories.
The Reliability Trinity
Industrial reliability is most effective when three disciplines work together:
- Machine and component design
- Lubricants and professional lubrication practices
- Condition monitoring and data-driven decision-making
Historically, these areas were treated as separate domains — bearing suppliers focused on hardware, lubricant suppliers on products and intervals and maintenance teams on inspections and monitoring.
In practice, there is a systemic interdependence between these areas, and today the boundaries increasingly overlap. Bearing design influences lubrication requirements. Lubrication practices affect energy use, contamination risk and component life. Condition monitoring drives lubrication decisions and helps verify whether maintenance actions are delivering the intended result.
When these disciplines are aligned, maintenance becomes more consistent and effective. This is increasingly important as industries pursue higher sustainability targets while facing a shrinking maintenance workforce. Plants still require high uptime but often have fewer experienced technicians available for routine inspections, manual lubrication tasks and interpretation of early signs of failure. That makes professional lubrication management increasingly important.
Reliability is no longer created by a single component, lubricant or supplier. It is created by the interaction of design, lubrication, operating conditions and data monitoring.
From Low-value Consumption to High-value Performance
For all stakeholders in the reliability triangle, the shift toward more efficient bearing technologies and better monitoring should be welcomed. Yes, oil-free bearings, innovative bearing designs, condition monitoring and long-life lubricants will reduce consumption volumes in some areas, but that is not necessarily negative for suppliers.
A market that values performance over volume will push the focus away from low-cost, low-value consumables toward engineered solutions that create measurable value.
“Standard” products, procedures and solutions will still have a place in low-critical, non-demanding applications. Not every bearing, chain or gearbox will benefit from the most advanced lubricant. But where uptime, energy efficiency, food safety, sustainability, labor constraints or asset life matter, high-performance lubrication becomes more relevant, not less.
The same applies to lubrication systems and monitoring-supported lubrication management. Their purpose is not simply to add technology, but to make lubrication more accurate, consistent and effective.
In many plants, the biggest opportunity is not to add more lubricants or replacement components, but to improve lubrication practices and apply solutions that better match the application. This also means monitoring the impact of lubrication decisions across the full lifecycle of the machine.
Condition Monitoring as the Link Between Lubrication and System Reliability
Condition monitoring is the link between components and lubrication. By combining oil, grease, vibration, ultrasound and operating data, it provides a clearer picture of equipment condition and enables maintenance decisions to be based on actual operating conditions rather than fixed schedules.
It helps determine when relubrication is needed, when it should be avoided, whether contamination is developing and whether the root cause lies in the lubricant, the component or the operating conditions.
This allows maintenance teams to move from selecting a product and interval toward continuous monitoring, evaluation and optimization. Advanced bearing technologies and professional lubrication practices increasingly rely on the same objective: reducing uncertainty and preventing unnecessary interventions.
In some systems, such as AMB systems, condition monitoring is fundamental rather than supportive. Continuous monitoring and active control are required to stabilize the rotor and maintain operation. Position sensors constantly track shaft location to overcome the inherent instability of magnetic levitation.
Integrating Tribology into Reliability Management
Innovation is happening across the full tribology chain: lubricants and lubrication methods, components, condition monitoring, maintenance and reliability management.
These developments should not be seen as competing alternatives. They all provide a different part of the answer to the same industrial question: how can we reduce friction, energy losses, waste and maintenance risks?
For lubricants, innovation is not only about changing chemistry. It also involves application engineering, correct lubricant selection, product rationalization, cleanliness, training, monitoring and interval optimization. Standards such as ISO 55000, or more specifically for the lubricants industry, ICML 55, provide valuable tools and KPIs to optimize the processes involved.
The role of lubricant manufacturers is changing from supplying products to supporting performance. That does not mean the lubricants themselves become less important. It means they must be part of a broader solution.
In this environment, lubricant manufacturers that focus only on volume may indeed feel pressure. But those that focus on performance, reliability and technical support have an opportunity to become more relevant to customers, not less.
Some components may require less or even no conventional lubrication. Some lubricated components will require better lubrication. Many systems will require more monitoring, more precise maintenance decisions and stronger cooperation across the reliability chain.
For the lubricant industry, the opportunity is clear — the focus is shifting from supplying products to enabling performance. The question is no longer how much lubricant is consumed, but how effectively lubrication contributes to longer-lasting, cleaner, safer, more efficient and reliable operation.
The challenge is not to defend lubricant consumption (or to feel threatened by innovations that may reduce it), but to lead in providing value through lubricants and lubricant application.
Dennis Eijdenberg is technical manager at Interflon’s global HQ, where he supports technical knowledge, application know-how and product positioning across the company’s international operations.