by admin, June 1, 2021 | [June 21 UPDATE: Applications are now open.] We first described our pursuit of a varnish “badge” certification in a 2019 interview with volunteer members of ICML’s Test Development Committee. That committee’s work has finally yielded not just one, but two certifications that ICML will make available this season: the Varnish and Deposit Identification and Measurement (VIM) certification, and the Varnish and Deposit Prevention and Removal (VPR) certification.

Both certifications are designed to verify that practitioners in the fields of lubrication management, reliability engineering, and lube oil analysis (as applied to lubrication condition monitoring and maintenance) are qualified to understand how various modes of lubricant degradation and types of contamination relate to the formation of lube-derived deposits. Beyond that, the VIM and VPR emphasize different areas of expertise:

• VIM seeks to verify that candidates can recommend suitable oil analysis tests and mitigation efforts related to the deposit tendencies of various in-service fluids (depending on applications) and to monitor and adjust as necessary.
• Meanwhile, VPR seeks to verify that candidates understand proactive methods and technologies that can be employed to reduce the degree of degradation, and that they can sufficiently evaluate combinations of technologies to prevent and remove varnish–including the proper steps to set up and implement an effective varnish removal system.

Because these certifications are so specialized, their exams are considerably shorter than other ICML exams: only 25 questions each, to be completed within a 45-minute session. Every candidate must hold at least MLA I or MLT I certification or have a one-year minimum of relevant experience with industrial lubricants.

ICML anticipates that VIM and VPR practitioners will be those involved with all aspects of managing or advising a lubricant program with responsibility for recommending, selling, or installing appropriate deposit control equipment or other mitigation strategies. Job titles related to these functions would likely include Reliability Engineer, Operations Manager, Maintenance Manager, Root Cause Analysis Specialist, Filtration Specialist, Lube Distributor, Lube Sales, Laboratory Technician, Research Technologies, Data Analyst, etc.

We have just a few steps to finalize before we can start accepting applications for these exams. Please fill out and submit the short form here to be added to our notification list, and we will email you directly when the application portal is open for VIM and VPR. [June 21 UPDATE: Applications are now open.]