Month: May 2011

Penny Wise and Pound…Wiser

Published on by Russ Bowman2 Comments

I’ve always been keenly interested in optimization. Once, I averaged over 30 miles per gallon in a 1986 Chevy Cavalier by drafting semis across the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That was ill advised and dangerous, so I’ll write that off to youthful indiscretion, and just say don’t try this at home. Or anywhere, for that matter. Brian Farno has some much better tips to increase your mileage in a recent blog post.

As a submarine sailor, I learned quickly to optimize space. This was a lesson born of necessity, as the storage space given for personal effects is quite limited, even on a Trident submarine. I try to apply these as much as I can to my current situation, but I’m a pack-rat by nature. Still, I shudder to think how much worse my garage & basement could look, were it not for some simple tips & tricks that I picked up on the boat: Look up (what can you hang from the ceiling?), look down (what will fit under that table?), look around (are you really ever going to use that again?).  That last one can be the hardest – and the most effective, just so you know.

I clip coupons to optimize my grocery money. This is tricky, because you have to only clip coupons for the things you’d buy anyway. You can quickly turn a $200 grocery bill into $100, but if you’d only shopped for what you wanted in the first place, the coupons could have turned a $125 bill into $90.

Maybe this frugality is what fascinates me so much about the opportunities to make product recommendations on a daily basis here at EXAIR. We get a lot of questions about custom length air knives – it seems that not all applications run in 6” increments, like our stock air knives. We can certainly make any length you need, and it’ll work fine. Will it cost more? Sure – any time you’re only making one particular-sized part when you’re set up to make production runs of same-sized parts, it adds to the cost. We can also, however, custom cut a shim for the larger stock air knife, and now, the return on investment from cutting your compressed air consumption from, say 30” of air knife flow to 26”, can be realized in a matter of days, not months.

If you like to explore optimization like I do (and again, not by drafting 18-wheelers), give me a call, and let’s talk about your application.

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

I’ll Help You as Best I Can or I’ll Eat a Bug

Published on by Kirk EdwardsLeave a comment

Lets just say you are building windshields for one of the major car manufacturers – tons of ’em. In fact “hypothetically” they are your biggest customer and you want to treat them well and keep them happy, you want to keep them as your customer. And you have been able to keep them happy and provide great deliveries, cost reductions, and quality product for many years – Right On windshield manufacturer!

But one day, you woke up in the middle of the night from your cell phone ringing. You answered in a daze but were quickly jolted into reality once you realized it was your biggest customer complaining about quality of your product. In fact, you learn as your customer speaks, during the lamination process of manufacturing the windshield you laminated a bug right on to the glass. And now your huge automotive customer is angry because they found the defect and you didn’t. But to make matters worse they didn’t find it quickly, they found it on a completed car!

They want to know what you’re going to do about it and how fast is it going to get done – for all they know you’re still turning out bug sandwiched windshields. You need a system fast, a system easy to install and a system that will be effective in solving your dilemma. Fortunately for you, in this “hypothetical” situation, EXAIR can deliver just what the doctor ordered. We can supply 72″ Super Air Knives to cover the entire width of your windshield. The plumbing can also be installed by EXAIR so the installation is as fast as possible. AND, even though it is 3:00 pm on Tuesday, we can get it out the door today…What’s that you say, you need a total of four – we can get four out the door tomorrow and ship them overnight.

WHEW! That’s quite a “fictional” situation. It is situations like this where we have opportunities to be alarmingly helpful and solidify our status as the leader in our niche market. Sometimes it not only pays to be the most knowledgable in our industry but just able to get the job done quickly. And we didn’t just get the “hypothetical” purchase order in this situation, we sensed a relieved and satisfied customer who may just spread the word about their experience at EXAIR.

The moral of the story is this: I’m glad I can help a guy who is willing to lay all his cards on the table and let me know the magnitude and details of his problem. We have all found ourselves in similar situations at one time or another and should be more than willing to let other folks help us out. OR the moral may be this: I write my blogs on Tuesday and you may just end up in it, thanks for letting us help.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

Problem solvers……

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

I have to admit that I do not find watching sports the least bit interesting. If I’m watching TV, I usually have The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, HGTV or HD Theater tuned in to some show dedicated to home improvement, watching about how something is made or creating a rolling piece of art from some piece of junk that has been sitting out in the desert for 30 years.

Being the son of a carpenter and the designated gopher/helper since I was 8 years old, tends to shape your life in a different way than the sports dad who has their kid enrolled in a sport for every season of the year. Instead of spending my Saturdays on the grid iron or the baseball field, I was helping build walls, pouring footers, laying brick, setting doors, installing insulation.  You name it, we did it for either our own house or for a relative, friend or just someone in need of a little help. It might sound like a really odd way to grow up. It probably was, but I was engaged with the things my dad was teaching me at the time and which have proven to be a huge asset to me and my family now. Negotiating our way through problems (in construction there are always plenty of those) and deciding on the best course of action that did not cost an arm and a leg was the norm.

You might be wondering why I’m picking such an introduction. The point is the manner in which I was taught to think about the world around me and those mechanical / structural things affect what I’m concerned with on an average day. For example, when someone sends me an e-mail or calls me with and application problem, I’ve learned to dig into the situation and think about the problem as if it were my own. I ask myself, “How would I solve this problem if it were my responsibility?”. Even if the answer comes back that using EXAIR products really are not the best way to proceed, I will do my best to find a referral for the customer.

Of course we are in business to sell product. The important part, though, and that which keeps customers coming back is making that customer and helping them with their application the only focus. I have been with the company for 14 years and the job still does not get old. It is like the old adage states, “Do what you love and come to naturally and the rest will follow”.  Problem solving is our business. We have a lot of folks at EXAIR who come to that naturally.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

6 Steps to Help Save Gas, And 6 to Save Compressed Air

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

As I get older I notice myself wondering more and more when the alternative fuel race will actually have a plausible and sustainable solution to petrol.  Last year the prices peaked around here in Cincinnati, OH at more than $4.o0 a gallon. They said the prices would be dropping, well they did but they never went back to a “reasonable” price.   Now gas is hovering just under $4 a gallon and is supposed to hit well over in the coming months.   This is why I personally ride a motorcycle rain or shine.   When I can achieve 49.5-55 miles per gallon then I consider that a serious win.  There are several things you can check to make sure you are getting the most gas mileage out of your vehicle.

Step 1.  The easiest is to ensure you are running the correct tire pressure.  By making sure your tires are not under inflated you reduce the rolling friction of the vehicle to a minimum.

Step 2.  Keep the engine tuned up, make sure the spark plugs are good and the air filter is clean.   Also make sure to use Fuel Injector cleaner every 3,000 miles.

Step 3.  Reduce the weight in your vehicle.  All those tools you carry or all the clothes for charity you have been lugging around.   Drop them off where they need to go.   Also a good excuse to go on a diet.  I know my friends would laugh if I told them I was losing weight to increase my gas mileage.

Step 4. Use cruise control whenever possible.   This keeps the gas pedal a little steadier than your foot.

Step 5.  Use a reputable engine oil.   Do some research and see what people are experiencing.   Maybe switch to a synthetic blend or even a full synthetic.   I did this personally in my wife’s car and not only does the engine run a little smoother the gas mileage actually did increase slightly and stay consistent a little longer between oil changes.

Step 6.  This is the hardest one.   Keep the engine RPMs down by going 55 mph.  The car is going to burn less fuel because the engine is operating at lower RPMs.

These are just a few tricks you can do that will help to increase your mpg and help keep a little more money in the wallet.  Here at EXAIR we also have a six step process to help save you money.  The only trick is instead of on gas it’s on compressed air.  We’ve blogged about it before, and it’s posted on our website.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_BF