Humor is good for the soul and a great release from the pressures of the past work week. So what good is all this to our customers…OUTSANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE. Playing together as a company fosters teamwork and that is what enables us to provide a quality product, on time, and at a competitive price.

This has been a particularly warm summer and the demand for our Cabinet Cooler systems has been intense. Customers are in a bind and need a solution quickly. As a team, from the manufacturing folks who have to work in the sweltering heat, to the order entry folks that need to expedite the paper work, we have maintained 99.8% on time deliveries.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com
http://twitter.com/exair_jp

My customer approached me with an interest in the EXAIR Digital Flow Meter to monitor various sections of their facility for compressed air usage. At times their system pressure would drop precariously low for some machines. It was their thinking that by monitoring compressed air demand by sector they could decide the size of compressor they needed to add and where to direct that air.

They installed model 9092 1″ Digital Flow Meter to each spur feeding the various sections of the plant. The monitored results were quite unexpected! It was thought the machining sectors were the ones drawing the most load. As it turned out it was the packaging area. Upon investigation they found blow guns with their triggers taped open for a constant blow off as the operator packed parts. Ten work stations alone were using over 200 SCFM of compressed air!

The blow guns were replaced with air saving Super Nozzles activated by a foot pedal. 

 Model 9040    

 Model 1101

The air savings enabled them to shut down a 50HP air compressor. So instead of a capital expenditure for a new compressor, they realize an operational savings.

If you would like to see how much you can save with EXAIR’s engineered nozzles feel free to call 1-800-903-9247 and ask to speak with one of our application engineers.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

Many moons ago when I was in college, one of my classes was business ethics. This was a night class so there were a significant number of students with full-time day jobs. When discussing businesses responsibility to the community came up it became very heated between the ideological day students and the those with business jobs.

The businessmen held to the premise that it was their job to provide product and make a profit. The day students contended that businesses were citizens of the community and should be held to the same accountability as any citizen.

Four decades have passed and  by customer demand, we have finally entered the era of social responsibility by corporations. Surprisingly many have found it to be a positive to their bottom line. Going “Green” reduces overhead costs and supporting community projects creates brand loyalty. 

 I am proud to be employed by a company that takes seriously the impact they have on others and the environment. We have reduced our consumption of resources, increased our recycling efforts and incorporated practices and standards into our product development, manufacturing and fulfillment processes that are beneficial to the environment.

Our owner also contributes to various charities, one of them is St. Jude’s . For a couple of years in a row they were giving away a ”dream home” in our area. He bought each of his employees a ticket. The odds should have been in our favor but none of us won. It was for a good cause and it was good for employee morale. The saying goes that happy employees produce positive results.

Life’s good. How is yours?

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

Largely eradicated as pests in the developed world in the early 1940s, bedbugs have been resurgent since about 1995. The cause of this resurgence is still uncertain, but it is thought to be related to increased international travel, the use of new pest-control methods that do not affect bedbugs, and increasing pesticide resistance. The resurgence led the United States Environmental Protection Agency to hold a National Bed Bug Summit in 2009.

My customer, who produces made to order mattresses, mats, and pillows had a unique problem. He thought locating his plant along a picturesque trout stream was a great idea because of its ambiance and an occasional wetting of a line during lunch time. Little did he realize that the daily hatch of mayflies that trout fishermen revel in would be his disdain in his manufacturing operations.

When mayflies land, they stay pretty much put. They do not fly away when disturbed as other insects do. Attempts to shoo them away before the product is packed in plastic over-wrap, is ineffective. Mayflies are totally harmless and only live a few hours. In practicality there is no real harm if they get wrapped up in the packaging. But, with all eyes on bedding these days, the observance of just one may fly causes his entire production lot to be quarantined.

Using two 54″ long EXAIR air knifes mounted opposing each other, the product was passed between them just before being inserted into the plastic wrap. The force of the high velocity air stream effectively blew off any critters.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

I recently read an article from a marketing consultant that claimed there is a paradox between what you promise and what you can deliver. He claims that If you promise very little, you don’t get a chance to deliver because I’ll ignore you. And if you promise too much, you don’t get a chance to deliver, because I won’t believe you.

I really do not see a paradox but a metric to measure your ability to serve your market. If you promise only what you can deliver and it is not good enough for your customer, then your services are not robust enough to serve that market. You need to improve to meet the challenge.

As for promising too much how can you do that if you only promise what you can do? If you can do it, let your customer know why you can and with examples of what you have done. If you both are confident that it can be done then it is a sale.

I had a mowing customer that needed her property line cleared of overgrowth. I wanted the job but not having a driver’s license I could not haul the refuse to the dump. I could have told her I could do the job but her knowing that I did not drive she would not have believed me and not given me the job.

I stuck to my mantra of say what you can do and do what you say you can do. Since what I could do was not good enough, I hired a friend with a pick up truck to haul the stuff away.

I asked for the job and told her how I would tackle it. She and I were both confident with the arrangement and I got the job.

Lucky for me I found a company to work for with similar work ethics. When you call in  for technical assistance, we application engineers drawing upon our experience, will share with you what will and will not work for your application. On those situations where it is questionable, we will tell you so. Then EXAIR will back it up with a an unconditional 30 day guarantee. If for any reason you are not satisfied with the results you can return it for full credit.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

In an earlier post [ LINK ] I demonstrated that most of what is called new is only recycled time proven axioms and GREEN is no different. “We used to call it waste not want not”

For a quarter century EXAIR has been producing compressed air products that conserve compressed air. We have been “Green” long before it became chic.  With products that amplify volume 25-40 times the usage of compressed air, our customers are able to manage their energy requirements reducing their carbon footprint.

Six Steps to Optimizing your Compressed Air System

1. Measure the air consumption to find sources that use a lot of compressed air.
   EXAIR’s Digital Flowmeter accurately measures compressed air usage and monitors waste. Trends can be monitored to find excessive air use. Detects leaks at compressed air fittings when the machinery is off. Regular monitoring can detect leaks that develop as the machinery ages.
2. Find and fix the leaks in your compressed air system
   EXAIR’s™ Ultrasonic Leak Detector can help you find costly leaks in your compressed air system. Leaks can account for 30% of total compressor output! In many cases, finding one small leak can quickly pay for the leak detector.
3. Upgrade your blow off, cooling and drying operations using engineered compressed air products.
   EXAIR’s™ award winning Super Air Nozzles, Super Air Knives and Super Air Amplifiers dramatically cut air consumption and noise. EXAIR’s Digital Sound Level Meter can find and isolate the source of the noisy blow offs.
4. Turn off the compressed air when it isn’t in use
   EXAIR’s™ EFC is an electronic flow control that minimizes compressed air use by turning off the compressed air when no part is present. For use on blow off, drying, cooling, conveying and static elimination operations.
5. Use intermediate storage of compressed air near the point of use.
   An EXAIR 60 Gallon Receiver Tank can be installed at the point of high demand so there is an extra supply of compressed air available for a short duration.
6. Control the air pressure at point of use to minimize air consumption.
   EXAIR Pressure Regulators permit easy selection of an operating pressure that will allow the air product to work properly without using excessive amounts of compressed air. Reducing the air pressure from 100 PSIG to 80 PSIG reduces energy use by almost 20%.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

I was contacted by a customer who was having problems with his ink jet printing. Throughout the day, as temperatures climb, the viscosity of the ink changes  requiring frequent adjustments. Then on the night shift the settings have to be reversed. The problem with this method is the need for adjustments are not known until defective product prints are observed. This then requires the operator to make adjustments and take defective product produced prior and during adjustments out of the line.

Using a model 4308 cabinet cooler to maintain a consistent temperature around the ink pot eliminated any need for adjustments due to ambient temperature changes. This saved on labor, eliminated defects, and increase productive up time.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

I had brick making customer with dirty compressed air getting into our product and fouling it up. A quick visit to their compressor room made it clear why dirt was in the compressed air. Keep in mind the compressor breathes in air from the area it is installed. The quality of air in the room will have an effect on the air being delivered throughout the system. They were storing bags of powdered colorants in the room along with the compressor and it was getting into their air system. They could not move the compressor because they really needed the floor space so they ran ductwork to the outside for fresh air. Problem solved.

Another issue with compressor room environments is temperature. When air is compressed it creates heat warming the air in the room. The compressor breathes in this warm air and heats it up even further. If the room is not fully vented it becomes an endless cycle. When this warm compressed air is sent through the system it cools within the distribution lines. This cooling process causes the humidity to condensate out causing water problems at the point of use.

For a healthy compressed air system, your first line of defense is the compressor’s environment. Then a second line of defense is to install an EXAIR filter separators at the point of use. These will filter out dirt to 5 micron and separate out any condensate that has formed in your air lines.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair

In the eighties we were in tall cotton with a networked computer system running a point of sale program offered by Radio Shack, life couldn’t get better.

In the nineties we had cell phones as big as a brick, PC’s with color screens and not the monochrome green, automated reorder systems for parts, equipment service tracking, and some of us were dabbling in something called the world-wide web thinking it might actually be used someday by customers looking for us.

Entering the 21st century, everyone is carrying around laptops, I-pads, flip phones with built-in cameras and all are interconnected. Service techs and sales staff can access equipment, customer and part records with just a few mouse clicks. Trucks get tracked and dispatched with the use of global positioning, and the internet has become an integral part of our business and personal communications.

At dinner parties, when asked what I do for a living, a frequent riposte is ” so you work for an old school brick and mortar company” In actuality nothing can be further from the truth. I counter question them as to how high-tech is their customer service.

• Can their customers talk directly with technical staff by online chat, e-mail. phone, and FAX ? EXAIR customers can.
• Can their customers attain product information, prints, manuals, and pricing 24/7 ? EXAIR customers can. All this is posted on the internet.
• Does their company interact with their customers through social media? EXAIR interacts with customers through Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging.

By now the conversation has generated shuffling feet and lowered eyes because they have come to realize their company’s automated telephone system is akin to the “old school” electric calculator.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com

 We are in a global economy and with the internet anyone can set up a virtual company, copy your product, and sell them at a lower price. But…you’ll get what you pay for. EXAIR is the leader in compressed air nozzle technology. Any machine shop can reverse engineer them and sell them under their own brand. Making the stuff is one thing but providing the logistics to support the product and the customer is where we part ways.

To ensure that you are getting the “Genuine “ product, ask these questions:

What is the company’s core business.

Years ago I worked for a company that purchased a product line. While we were in the air tool business, we not in the hot melt glue dispenser business. You would think machining is machining, but that is not the way it worked out. There was so much confusion that it became a “Red Headed Step Child”. They were not able to provide informed support to the customer nor their distribution channels and eventually the product line was dropped.

EXAIR’s only business is compressed air products. All of our people from the president to the mail clerk have a compressed air mind-set. This enables us to perform our individual functions in a way that best serves the customer.

How long has the company been in business and is it a part of a conglomerate

We have all witnessed the ravages of  Wall street profiteers and the ill effects that they have had on once viable companies. We have seen corporate raiders siphon off liquid assets leaving behind an anorexic business incapable of growth and competitiveness.

Not all buyouts are as sinister but to a lesser degree the effects are the same. When a company is owned by a conglomerate all profits go to the mothership.  To reinvest some of those profits back into the company, it has to go through the R.O.I. process. If the parent company can invest those funds more profitably elsewhere, you lose.

Another company that I once worked for was owned by the empire of  Warren Buffet. We were one of many that he owned but the mantra for all of us was the same. When his henchmen would come in for a plant visit, they reminded us that our job was to make money for the boss (Warren Buffet). Sadly that directed the focus of our top management to an accounting game rather than the core values of the company.

EXAIR is privately owned by an owner that knows what makes a business viable and is willing to invest in it to better serve the industry. He is a “bean counter’s” nightmare because he does what is right for the business.

Is the company easy to do business with both before and after the sale?

• Customer service should be a prerequisite before doing business with any company. Anybody can hang out their shingle but can they support you and their product?
• Do they have associates knowledgeable on the product that can help you make an informed decision?
• Do they have a call line should you need help after the purchase or do get a recording and list of numbers to push for this or for that?

EXAIR has been in business assisting customers with their application and saving compressed air for 27 years. When you call you speak to a real person. We have a team of applications engineers that will provide you technical support via phone, Fax, email or online chat.

EXAIR has such confidence in its products that it provides a 30 day evaluation on whatever you order out. If you are not completely satisfied for any reason you can return the product for a full refund. Then it backs it up with a 5 year built to last warranty.

I would be happy to assist you in your next compressed air application.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com