Month: October 2011

I Love Reading and Talking to Customers About Energy Efficiency and Solving Production Problems

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

If you were not aware, we at EXAIR are quite avid at posting to our Facebook page and Tweeting on a variety of topics that cover the full spectrum from why LED light bulbs cost so much to compressed air safety to new product releases and so on. Our team has really embraced the social media scene and run with it. I have recently been making in-roads to boost my Twitter follower status @EXAIR_NR (shameless plug)  and just like anything else, when you give it the attention it needs, it will flourish.

Why do I mention all of this social media stuff anyway? I love reading about how new wind farms are up and running now which can provide power to thousands of homes.  I also like reading about new ways to harness the sun with things like solar shingles and solar tower projects that produce steam by focusing the energy of the sun through mirrors onto a central collection point or a similar scheme where a large chimney is built to create a draft in a confined space in order to cause airflow to move over fan blades attached to generators. I realize that no technology is perfect and all of these ideas have their detractors. (I’m a casual observer). But the point is that if we continue to search for new ways to create and harness energy and keep refining the many technologies available, we will eventually arrive at a collection of many ideas and sources of energy that will sustain us for the foreseeable future.

At EXAIR part of my job is to discuss with customers how they, too, can improve on their existing technologies to use their compressed air energy in a more effective and energy sustaining way. Whether that be to replace an open copper tube with an engineered nozzle, or to replace a drilled pipe with a Super Air Knife, we have the same mindset. We also like to take a multi-point approach to compressed air savings with the use of tools such as the Ultrasonic Leak Detector so that customers can find the leaks at pipe joints, old filters, regulators and valves that just sap energy from their compressed air system leaving that much less energy for useful production. Another, final point about the multi-point approach to overall cost savings would be through implementing our compressed air solutions to achieve significant boosts in productivity by having one of our products installed to improve a process and take away a production headache that was a once prominent problem.

Energy savings and problem solving are the names of the game. EXAIR has a large selection of tools to help customers solve those problems and we also have an experienced staff with a lot of diversity who can help you apply the products so you can achieve the most effective result.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Why Small Businesses Outperform Their Big Brothers

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For decades small businesses have been disadvantaged  by the symbiotic, parasitic relationship between politicians, big business and big banks. Money talks and can buy the favor politicians. Swimming upstream against a constant deluge of disadvantages, small businesses have had to think outside of the box, constantly reinvent themselves, and maximize on their limited resources.

Labor, materials, distribution, regulation and taxes are the cost components of doing business. There is not much that can be done about regulations and taxes because small businesses don’t have the clout. The mis-named Small Business Administration is of no help. When the SBA was created in 1953 the big business lobby got their political friends to define small business as any business with under 500 employees, which is 99.94% of all businesses in America (only 17,000 of 28 million are larger than 500 employees). So even with the SBA, true small businesses are on the outside looking in.

Material costs are predicated on volume and small businesses do not have the buying power of their big brothers. Using third-party procurement companies, or buying into a franchise are of some relief but not for all businesses.

Distribution and labor are the two components that small businesses have an edge. For large businesses, getting the product out to market can be 50% or more of the cost of the product. The birth of the internet has given small businesses the ability to go to market at minimal costs. Today there is somewhat less need for store fronts, outside salesmen, or commodity brokers. A good website and a qualified staff is mostly all that is required. And there in lies the secret as to why small businesses outperform their big brothers…a qualified engaged staff.

Brick and mortar companies have been slow in engaging internet commerce. Understandably because they are staffed with specialists and a lot of them. If someone in the organization comes up with a cutting edge idea, unless it is within their area of discipline, there is little chance for it to get to and accepted by  the proper channels. A small business on the other hand with less than 50 employees, the lines of demarcation are not so defined. With a smaller group, there is a stronger interdependence and communications to incubate innovation.

EXAIR is a small business with an engaged staff. Whether you are in machining or marketing, everyone is well aware of the tempo of the business. We fully embrace the internet with a comprehensive website with online buying and online chat with one of our engineers. You can find us on Facebook as well as Twitter. Those in search of a compressed air solution can easily find us and get an immediate answer.

Need help? Call and ask for one of our engineers 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

Super Air Knife Replaces Blower Driven Knife

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

This past week I spoke with a customer who had a blower driven air knife.  They had a slot cast extruder line that was making something similar to a plastic cling wrap.  The process had a blower driven knife which was used to blow the product after it was extruded onto a chilled roll in order to cool the product and convey it to the next point in the process.  The blower driven knife did not have laminar flow and was constantly needing adjustment.  To top all things the blower would pick up particulate from the ambient environment and send it onto the part also.

The customer replaced the blower system and the blower driven knife all with a single Super Air Knife.  The Super Air Knife never needs adjustment and has a laminar flow which permits even pushing of the wrap onto the chilled roller.  The other part of this application that helped the customer is the fact that they no longer have particulate that was getting sucked up by the blower and being blown onto the product and causing defects.  The Super Air Knife is also a smaller footprint than the blower driven knife was so they are able to get closer to their application and have an even more precise air flow going onto the product.

If you have an application where space and laminar flow are the issue feel free to give us a call.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Another Point of View

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

I came upon a quote from Richard Feynman a few days ago that was inspiring and lead to a great deal of thought.  As I thought more about Mr. Feynman, I felt a deep appreciation for his enthusiasm and continued approach to physics and mathematics.  One of the things that was recurrent among the interviews of Feynman, is that he was always interested in examining problems from a different point of view.

One of the most notable discussions on the subject was highlighted in an interviewed titled “Take the World from Another Point of View”.

At some point in this interview, Feynman recalls an exercise he used to do at the dinner table with his father where they would look at ordinary human activities as though they were Martians landing on Earth.  For example, we see it as a necessary part of life to sleep, but if we were of a mindset that didn’t need or know what sleep is, this would seem quite strange.  This way of thinking – using an unobstructed and inquisitive point of view for what is usually considered as universal – led to many of the solutions Feynman is credited with developing.

I like to use this way of thinking when working with applications that use EXAIR products.  Recently I worked with a gentleman in Kansas who is a Six Sigma Black Belt and had a desire to integrate EXAIR products into his machines.  He was quite knowledgeable about many areas of manufacturing and in particular, efficiency.  As we discussed the use of our product lines and dove more in depth into operation and compatibility in different environments, he made it a point to stress to me how eye opening our products can be to him and his clients.  The biggest paradigm shift using our products in this company has been with our Cold Guns and providing cooling without oil.

In the manufacturing facilities using his machines, this gentleman saw the repeated use and disposal of coolant.  After finding our product and realizing the cost savings of cooling the bits of CNC milling and drilling heads with the Cold Gun as compared to traditional oil based coolant, he was surprised to have never thought of the idea before.  It was a similar scenario to what Feynman described in his interview – given a different point of view, will the solution be the same?  In this scenario, as in many others, the views have changed.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
leeevans@exair.com
@exair_le