Tag: business

Postcard from India

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

Indien-flagga1

As the title of the blog indicates, I will be in full swing on my visit to India this week and next. I have a unique opportunity in the work I do for EXAIR that not too many folks can say they have had. That is to travel the world to meet our partners in industry. This time, India is the destination and I could not be more excited.

I have my Rupees in one hand and a passport in the other. I have just landed in India and will begin running with our local distributors to bring some character to our company. This includes many technical discussions on various applications as well as building the relationships. I can say without doubt, building the relationships is by far the most rewarding part. Many folks from other cultures value the relationship above all else. In fact, you could say that just about everyone does.

I’ve heard it said before that blogs, e-mails, tweets, Facebook and all the other forms of social media are the way of the future, but I would still say that a good old-fashioned meeting face to face, where you are not limited to 140 characters and where the person on the other side can see your facial expressions and gestures are invaluable in bringing us all together as a community.

यह दुनिया के साथ साझा करने के लिए आप कई आशीर्वाद और भी अधिक मित्रों को ला सकते हैं.

Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

EXAIR Can Customize for Your Application

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Once again this week, I had a customer call in with a special request on one of our products.  The customer had purchased a 6030 Adjustable Air Amplifier to cool plastic components after they were formed in a previous process.  These components are made continuously and the only way to test the cooling capabilities was during a production run.  If there was any error in the system, a whole batch of product was rejected, so the customer needed to be able to fine tune the process easily.  The space was very confined, so the customer had taken the 3/4″ outlet and connected a 3/4″ hose with hose clamps in order to direct the air to the proper area.  From the 3/4″ hose, they had necked down the line to 3/8″ hose to fit into their process.  By necking down the outlet of the air amplifier, the customer was limiting the output of the 6030, but it was enough air to get there job done.  Now that he had successfully used the 6030, the customer wanted to rollout the idea to other product lines and create a more robust system than hose clamps and homemade reducers.  Fortunately, for this customer and many others, EXAIR has the skill and flexibility to manufacture custom solutions.

air amp

The customer wanted to roll the project out into 25 production lines, and create a more robust system.  The first idea that came to mind was using a threaded Line Vac to replace the Air Amplifier.  This would be a stock item that would produce a similar amount of air flow as the air amplifier through a 3/8″ hose.  Obviously, the Air Amplifier would produce more airflow in free air, but since we are restricting that flow with a 3/8″ hose, the Line Vac and the Air Amplifier would produce similar air flow in this application.  Unfortunately, the customer didn’t have the ability to test the process with the Line Vac, because of his production schedule and the risk of losing a batch of product during the testing.  Because of these requirements, the customer asked us to produce (25) Special Air Amplifiers with threaded outlets to replace his 6030 that he was currently using.  The Adjustable Air Amplifier would give the customer the ability to adjust the air flow by changing the air gap in the Air Amplifier to his exact specification.  This adjustability means he can set the Air Amplifier to meet his current requirements, and adjust if the conditions change on his production line.  Also, the system would now be threaded so he could install hard pipe to make a permanent and robust system throughout the facility.

Special Air Amplifier

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
davewoerner@exair.com
@EXAIR_DW

Vacuum Generators: Porous Vs. Non-Porous

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

I had customer call this week who was using an E-Vac model 800008H, an 8 SCFM Porous Vacuum Generator, to pull a vacuum on four vacuum cups.  He was trying to lift a part with the four vacuum cups placed on a clean metal portion of the part.  Unfortunately he was having a little trouble.  He had to lift the product very slowly because the part could easily be dislodged, if the part was bumped or came to an abrupt stop.

In-LineE-VacFamily
EXAIR’s family of In-Line E-Vac vacuum generators

The problem is a relatively simple one.  The customer choose a porous vacuum generator when he would be better served with a non-porous unit.  The vacuum cups are attaching to a non-porous surface, sheet metal, in a relatively clean environment.  The difference between porous and non-porous units is that  porous units has more vacuum flow available at a low vacuum level, where the non-porous vacuum generators have a higher level of vacuum, but less vacuum flow.  Because of the high vacuum flow, a porous unit is much better for lifting porous materials like cardboard, some particle boards, and fabrics.  The higher vacuum flow of porous vacuum generators helps maintain the vacuum when pulling upon materials which let a constant flow of air through. In the customer’s case, he was lifting a clean sheet of metal, a non-porous material, and needed a higher vacuum level as opposed to a higher vacuum flow. A higher vacuum level [more inches of mercury (Hg) of vacuum] would pull harder upon the metal and hold it tighter.

Let’s look at the customer’s example more closely.  An EXAIR model 800008, porous E Vac, will generate a maximum of 21 inches of mercury (“Hg).  A model 810008, non-porous E Vac, will generate 27  inches of mercury (“Hg).  Let say he was using a 900758 3 1/4” diameter round vacuum cup. If you look at the Vacuum Lift Chart, you see that the 900758 can lift 42.8 lbs. at 21 “HG, but it can lift 55.0 pounds at 27 “HG of mercury.  So in this application the customer can increase their lifting capacity by 28.5% by switching from a non-porous vacuum generator to a porous vacuum generator.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
davewoerner@exair.com
@EXAIR_DW

Try It; You’ll Like It

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

old-couch

In my continuing adventures of marriage, my wife and I are looking for a new couch.  We both had previous couches from our individual apartments that aren’t going to make the move with us to the new place.  My couch was purchased on clearance from a warehouse store, and didn’t make it six months before I had to reconstruct the 1X4, staple and glue construction.  The couch is less than comfortable to sit on properly, and it’s color, brown, does not fit into the décor of the living room or any room.  You get the picture.  I spent a tiny amount of money and it held up to a tiny amount of use.  I knew the couch wouldn’t hold up for very long when I bought it, but I definitely got what I paid for, and I will not make that choice again.  For one, I want a couch that is very comfortable.  Second, I don’t want to spend another perfect football Sunday shopping for a couch…(writer realizes his wife reads this)… not that it wasn’t a lovely day!

In her shopping, my wife found a company online that manufactures and designs couches inside the USA and allows you to try out the couch for 365 days before deciding, if you want to keep it.  It is amazing how much better I feel about spending a good amount of money on something I haven’t had a chance to see or feel, when I know I can send it back in a couple of weeks, if it doesn’t work out.  They even have designers that will help you pick out fabric and colors to match your room.

Obviously, this is EXAIR’s model inside the US and Canada.  We have a 30 day unconditional guarantee for you to try out our products.  We do this because we have such faith in our products that once you test the product, you will want to keep our products.  We also do this because we don’t want you to feel hoodwinked after a purchase and feel any buyer’s remorse.  If the product doesn’t live up to your standards, we would rather take it back than leave you with any bad feelings about EXAIR.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
davewoerner@exair.com
@EXAIR_DW