Month: April 2011

Wise Words

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

I have a routine in the morning as almost everyone does.  Part of that routine is picking a book from my bookshelf and thumbing through the pages while I have breakfast with my son.  I’m always looking for something motivational or inspiring to send out to my family and friends.  I find it helpful to have a positive thought to revert to throughout the day and I enjoy sharing that with others.

Given this habit, I’m always on the lookout for wise words wherever I am and one of the first things I saw when I started at EXAIR was a quote next to an engineer’s desk.  It reads:  “You must have long-term goals to keep from being frustrated by short-term failures.”  Wise words indeed.

Failure is inevitable with any undertaking, but can be a great thing sometimes.  Knowledge and growth are byproducts of failure when handled the right way, and that’s how we handle things at EXAIR. 

At EXAIR, we strive to do the best and be the best which must include long-term goals.  Part of a long-term goal is a plan to provide structure and a clear definition of the right direction to take.  If you have questions about the right direction to take with your project, contact an application engineer.  We’ll help you plan it out. 

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
leeevans@exair.com
@EXAIR_LE

Nostalgic About Longevity

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Calling all geologists, rock-hounds, and science buffs:  I just got word that the GeoFair will be held at the Cincinnati Gardens in a few weeks.  Scouts (Cub, Boy, Girl, etc.) get in free if they wear their uniforms.  Webelos (4th/5th Grade Cub Scouts) can even earn their Geology Pin there.  As a Webelos Den Leader, this catches my interest, and rightly so.  What really excites me about it, though, is this will be my second time there.  You see, back in the 1970’s, my Webelos Den Leader took us to this event.  On a Saturday in May.  At the Cincinnati Gardens.  Now, I’m not that old – it was the LATE 1970’s, mind you – but that’s an impressive run, don’t you think?

I’m not going to hazard a guess as to why the GeoFair has stuck around at the same time of year, in the same building, for so long.  To the best of my recollection (and this is from a 10-year old boy from The Sticks’ perspective), it was a huge, well-produced event.  Perhaps the dedication and faithfulness of geologists and rock-hounds cannot be underestimated.  One might suspect it’s a combination of the two.

Not only did this get me nostalgic, thinking about sharing this experience with my Scouts, it also made me think about longevity.  And its causes.  My doctor tells me to eat right, move around a little more, don’t start smoking, etc., and, barring genetic predisposition or tragedy, I should live a good, long life.  As long as my wife and I continue to share, respect, and listen (I mean really listen, guys – not just nod & think about what we’re going to say next), then we should be very happy together for the rest of our good, long lives.

In business, it’s all about cultivating the kind of loyalty that’s demonstrated by the folks who continue to make the GeoFair a successful annual event.  Products and services are purchased every day.  Thing is, except in very rare cases, someone else makes or does the same thing as you, and they’re vying for the same allegiance from customers as you.  So what can set you apart?

Innovation.  Make something new.  Then make it better.  Think “better mousetrap.”  For example, look through EXAIR’s catalog, and you’ll find numerous “Product of the Year” nods, and a nomination for last year’s “Golden Mousetrap” award for the Chip Trapper.

Customer Service.  Again, products and services are purchased every day.  If you want to sell, you have to develop the relationship.  Make yourself the one they think of when a need for your product or service arises.  When you call EXAIR, a real live Customer Service Specialist picks up the phone, ready to serve you in real time.  If you have detailed questions, you’ll be quickly transferred to a real live Application Engineer, ready to serve you in real time.  As long as we’re open, you’ll never get anyone’s voice mail unless you specifically ask for it.

Availability.  If products are sold every day, they need to be available every day.  “If I wanted it tomorrow, I’d have called tomorrow!”  Sound familiar?  No problems here.  If it’s in our catalog, we’ll ship it the same day with an order by 3pm EST.  Specials and custom orders can be done fairly quickly as well.

This list isn’t all-inclusive, but these are some of the biggies that work for EXAIR and set us apart.  Our company’s President is fond of saying “claims are easy; proof is hard.”  Accept that challenge every day.  It’s a great place to start.

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

Forging Process Could Use a Little Help From Super Air Nozzles

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

Take a look at the following video submitted by a potential new customer who operates a steel forge. In the video, you will see a trimming operation of a three-pound part that is somewhat intensive in terms of manual manipulation of the work piece.


The customer contacted me because he was looking for a way to speed up the operation to increase productivity. His thought was that if he could eliminate the amount of time the operator spent moving the trimmed part and the scrap out of the die area that he could easily achieve his goal.

After viewing the video submitted by the customer a few times to get a good feel for where things in the process needed to go after the trimming die comes down, I was able to come up with a fairly simple part ejection plan. The plan would consist of (2) model 1112 (3/4 NPT Super Air Nozzles) situated around the die at specific locations. The first one would be placed below the die area where the trimmed part falls after trimming (notice the manual pushing paddle set up on the die in the video). The nozzle would cycle on for a fraction of a second. Just long enough for the part to clear the die and move onto the chip conveyor located in the background.

Immediately after the die comes back up into its top-most resting position, the second air nozzle would be positioned to the left side of the die to blow off the trimmed scrap ring into a waiting scrap bin for re-processing. Both air nozzles would be controlled by solenoid valves which would receive input from the die press to know when to cycle on and off. A localized air storage tank, close to the air nozzles would also help keep the blowing performance at its proper working pressure during each cycle. The air tank would act as a capacitor to dump the energy needed for the split second need for each stamping cycle. The air storage tank keeps the nozzles at pressure and prevents the application from using the existing building pipe network from acting as the reservoir. A much more effective method for intermittent compressed air need as would be the case in this application.

Many people wonder why we would have such large air nozzles in our product line up. Blowing around a 3 pound hunk of metal in a real production environment is one really good reason. It makes for a simple, non-contact blowing operation that is easy to set up and simple to use.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Quick Response Codes

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QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. You may have seen these 2-dimensional codes around town on billboards, lampposts, in magazines, or on product packaging. Similar to bar code technology, QR Codes are made up of a pattern of black modules which can be scanned and decoded with your camera phone using QR Code reading applications.

Many organizations, as well as individuals, are using QR Codes to advertise products, offer discounts, or to provide additional information and more. EXAIR has put a QR code on our business cards to better support out customer’s quest for information. Check it out.

With  the recent passing of my wife, the design of a head stone is one of the many decisions and choices I am faced with.  Technology has really raised the level of what can put on a tombstone. With computerized lasers, they can etch detailed pictures of the person or an activity that they were passionate about. Being of a technical mindset, I created a QR code of my wife’s biography to be etched on her headstone. The biography is a work in progress but that’s the beauty of the technology, once the code is created the content that it directs you to can be modified.

We at EXAIR are continually probing for new ways of  being there for our customers. “How can we help you” seems so  trite and overused, so we demonstrate it by our actions.  How many companies that you deal with offer you:

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