This is where outstanding product quality, customer support, and standing behind what you sell is able to stand out.   Here at EXAIR we will not only have a real person answer the phone when you call, but if you have any questions you will talk to an actual Application Engineer, not a sales person.  This is why we don’t just slap something in your hand and move on to the next customer.  We will ask questions and help to work through your application to figure out what is going to have the best fit.  If we don’t feel that we have a viable solution then we’ll tell you exactly that.  We may even refer you to a company that we have heard can help.

Then after we figure out what will fit we’ll let you get the product in-house for 30 days and “Put it through the wringer”.  If the product doesn’t work to your liking all you have to do is call back and let us know.  It truly is that simple.

What better way to find out first hand as to whether the quality or the ability of a product is going to suit your needs?

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Most of my reading about current events is done online.  Today, however, I had the opportunity to read the paper as I was waiting for an appointment.  I found my way to the business section and was please to find a number of good articles addressing US manufacturing.

These articles were in response to Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address by President Obama, during which he discussed improving employment possibilities through creating more manufacturing jobs.  Regardless of the private sector in which your company operates, a national call for an increase in domestic manufacturing is, and should be, a topic of much regard.

I found these articles to be of particular interest considering EXAIR’s position as a manufacturer in the marketplace.  I’ve included links to the three articles on the front page of the business section below.

What Industry Needs

Manufacturing Creates Value for Employees and Communities

Manufacturing Must Be a National Priority

If you have a moment to read through them, please do.  And please share your thoughts.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
leeevans@exair.com
@EXAIR_LE

Just as the new year provides an opportunity for us to examine and evaluate our current personal situations – physical, financial, relational, just to name a few of the “usual suspects” – it’s also a popular time for organizations to take stock as well. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the President of the United States traditionally delivers the State of the Union address soon after the beginning of the year, nor do I find it curious that the lead article on www.sustainableplant.com yesterday was “Ten Areas to Examine on an Annual Energy Audit.”

I assume this won’t come as a surprise, but “Air System” made the list. This point is of particularly keen interest to us at EXAIR, since many of our products are used to specifically address the issue of compressed air optimization. This is normally the place where I’d go through the Six Steps to Optimization, but our Brian Farno did such a good job with this a few weeks ago, so I’ll go deeper “into the vault” with this gem of a video, and let Professor Penurious tackle the subject, as only he can. As an added bonus, I hope this also serves as a reminder for the sports fans and Seasonal Affective Disorder sufferers among us (I plead guilty on both counts) that the basketball Madness in March is just over six weeks away…

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Come to find out, the size of pipe they were using for the main header was too small to carry the volume of air the compressor could produce and needed throughout the shop. Their thinking was that the smaller pipe would reduce air consumption. In the end it does not work out that way. With the smaller pipe there is more resistance to flow which has to be overcome by increasing pressure at the compressor which is what they eventually did. Problem is, high pressure air is more expensive to produce and deliver than low pressure air. For a system operating at around 100 PSIG, a rule of thumb is that every 2 PSIG increase in operating pressure requires an additional 1% in operating energy costs.

The moral of the story is there’s no such thing as too large a compressed air line. To control consumption, focus should be centered on the point of use by using engineered nozzles designed to more efficiently use compressed air.

If you would like assistance with your application, give us a call at 1-800-903-9247

Joe Panfalone

Application Engineer

Phone (513) 671-3322

Fax (513) 671-3363

Web: www.exair.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/exair_jp

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Fortunately, here in Cincinnati we normally start warming up around April.  That means first track day of the season, unless it suddenly decides to start dumping snow in April now.  If it does then I guess all the propaganda is true and global warming is real.

What brought this on is he handful of calls I have received this week about sizing the appropriate Cabinet Cooler System for electronic enclosures.  This isn’t a seasonal product for us like book bags or Easter baskets are for retail stores.  We sell these year round to customers across the globe.   It doesn’t have to be Summer to be getting a heat failure in a cabinet.  The application yesterday was for a new cabinet that was located outside of a heat treating furnace and was already overheating just do to the ambient temperature being around 150°F.  This is exactly why we developed our High Temperature Cabinet Cooler Systems.

They can withstand ambient environments up to 200° F and will still be able to maintain a safe working temperature for your electronics inside the enclosure.  So if you are still operating with the panel doors open on your machine because it’s hot inside and snowing outside the plant, give us a call, email, tweet, fax, or even request a live chat on our site.  With a little bit of information we’ll calculate how much cooling you need and tell you just how we are going to keep that panel cool.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

At EXAIR we pride ourselves in being a manufacturer.  In addition to the manufacturing process, obstacles and rewards, we also have a dedicated marketing staff.  Our marketing department has spent many late nights at the office to design and develop catalog information, product specific literature, and the excellent artwork we refer to on a daily basis.

Many of our followers are aware of our market presence overseas, and part of that market presence comes from our participation in trade shows.  These wonderful marketing materials and our meticulously engineered products will be displayed this May 8-12, front and center, at the PLAST exhibition in Milan, Italy.

The trade show in Milan will be my first international venture for EXAIR and I’m excited to make the trip with my colleague and superior, Ivan Banks.

If you have any interest in contacting EXAIR at the PLAST 2012 exhibition, we will be at stand B 61 on pavilion 24.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
leeevans@exair.com
@EXAIR_LE

Maybe it’s a craving for blueberries. I really like blueberries, and they’re easy to come by in the summer, since a great many of them are grown just a few hours away, in Michigan. It’s hard, though, to find them in the winter, and, when you do, they’re almost always prohibitively expensive. That’s why I was so pleasantly surprised to find pint containers (yes; pints, not those pitiful little flat clamshell packs) of fresh blueberries, on sale, at the grocery store this week. I’m not sure why or how, but I’m stocking up now and asking questions later.

Just as the produce folks at my neighborhood grocery store are no respecters of seasons, neither are EXAIR’s customers. I had the pleasure of talking to a gentleman just the other day about a spot cooling application. We, of course, joked, “Why don’t you just take the part outside?” and it was funny for a moment…I am SO going back to Florida someday…but after I explained the operation of a Vortex Tube, he was anxious to try one out. By the way, he’s cooling brazed and welded joints on small metallic parts – if there’s a better suited year-round application for a Vortex Tube, I’m not sure what it is. And it worked so well, he called to place another order the same day he got his first Vortex Tube!

We’re getting our share of Static Eliminator applications, no doubt, as the dry air takes its toll. We’re even running a nice little promotion for a free AC Sensor with any Static Eliminator purchase, which seems akin to putting blueberries on sale in the middle of winter. Regardless of the time of year, it seems that showing appreciation for your customers never goes out of season.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

One of our customers manufactures these foam boards and was having a good deal of difficulty with static electricity within the process. The static electricity in this process was being generated between the Polystyrene board and the Teflon sheet used to create the smooth finish within the calibrator section of the extruding process.

Specifically, the static field was forming where the Teflon sheet peeled away from the material. Whenever you separate two insulating materials which are in contact with one another, an amount of static will form at this point. In this application, the resulting problem was that the conveyor drives did not have enough power to overcome the friction created by a meter wide foam board providing resistance to the flow of the material through the die. Also, operators received frequent static shocks from the material if they even came close to the side of the process.

In the video, you will see the actual extrusion process with the calibration die which has the white Teflon sheet.  The Super Ion Air Knife was not installed at the time the video was taken, but it gives a good perspective of what the customer has to deal with.

Sheets of fiberglass, polypropylene, ABS and other polymers are extruded into sheet form in a similar way. In the past we have solved other similar static issues when the process involves a “carrier” type of material to set the surface of the extruded material and subsequently removed by a peeling action.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

National Cash Register, Dayton Ohio, used to occupy several city blocks of 4 and 5 story buildings manufacturing the hundreds of parts that went into the mechanical cash registers. Computerization all but obsoleted them and the buildings have long since been razed.

The winds of change will always be with us. You either go with the flow or get blown away.

The current focus is on energy conservation. Compressed air, while a vital component of any manufacturing operation, is an energy consumer. As time goes on, more pressure will be put on reducing compressed air consumption. EXAIR’s core business is designing and manufacturing Intelligent Compressed Air^® products with conservation and efficiency benefits. Each and every year EXAIR has introduced new products that save our customers compressed air. Old school air nozzles and jets do not have a future in our changing economy, engineered air nozzles are the future.

If you would like to explore how your company can improve its sustainability by reducing compressed air consumption, give our engineers a call 1-800-903-9247

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: www.exair.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Our customer designed a machine that used a vision sensor to see the operators hand enter the entrainment area of the Super Air Amplifier.  The Amplifier was then ducted away from the work area to a large waste container.  This way the operator would simply pull the protective film off then, just like they would throw it into the trash, they would move their hand close to the suction side of the Super Air Amplifier and it would vacuum away the waste film.

The best part of this is that they were able to install a Super Air Amplifier at each work station and convey all the scrap trim to a single container which made for a cleaner work area, easier disposal of the film, less downtime, and a safer work environment for the operators.

If you have an application you would like to discuss please contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF