Tag: change

Getting Back To It – One-Step At A Time

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I’ve blogged in the past about how one of my favorite things to do is to get out of my comfort zone and over the past year, that has been a struggle for me physically. I’ve slacked off on my rucking and event participation and continued to grow my knowledge level. That’s started to weigh on me over the past few months, so I began to change it. In all honesty, I was okay with being meh. That’s not okay, and I started changing it, how you might ask? It all started with my friends and my daughters.

Not a shabby pace for 35-pound ruck and second ruck back at it.

Rather than trying to do a 180 and completely disrupt my relaxed style, I took the approach of 5mm changes over time. That’s right, I am in the US and I just used the metric system as my primary measurement. So what does this look like, well first it started with less sitting and more standing. Even when at work, I try to stand most of the day at my desk, I’m grateful I have the means to do so through a standing desk. Then, rather than just hanging out while my kids are at their practices, I’ve taken that time to start rucking or at the very least walking/volunteering and working. These are different movements that I didn’t have over the past several months, and it’s honestly been 5mm changes and I can already feel the improvements in my sleep, and my energy throughout the day. The best part is, I can really relate this to being a great approach to an industrial compressed air system as well.

Over time a system can age, efficiencies lower, leaks start to form, equipment wears down or gets built up on it and starts to require more maintenance. Just like my personal journey, we can easily get these back on track by making small 5mm changes in our daily operations. We don’t have to completely gut and revamp a compressed air system or just throw more compressors at the system to fix it. We can follow the Six Steps to Compressed Air Optimization and work towards a renewed system.

Processes lead to continuous improvement.

The first point is to get a baseline, find out where you are, and then go from there. This is easily done with Digital Flowmeters w/ Wireless Capabilities. Then, rather than trying to change an entire facility, focus on one spot, one line, or even one machine. Then start to evaluate that specific point for leaks, and open blowoffs. Fixing just this one machine by reducing leaks, and replacing open blowoffs can begin to shift the efficiency within the system and drive the desire to do more. This return will also generally give the system the ability to handle expansion to other new lines as well.

Keep in mind, it doesn’t have to be a drastic change or complete teardown and rebuild. It should start with a baseline and then perform small changes from there, so the data can be collected and return can be measured to justify the means. We outline this process and do everything we can to offer items needed for each step of the process to ensure you have one single contact along the process, an EXAIR Application Engineer.

If you want to discuss further how we can help you keep ticking away at these 5mm changes within your system, please contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Wet-Dry Vacuum Converts Without Tools in 15 Seconds or Less!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

In a recent video, I showcased our newest Industrial Housekeeping product, the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac. Throughout my years in metalworking as well as homeownership, I have honestly never used a wet-dry vacuum that is this easy to change operating modes from wet to dry or vice versa. So just how easy is it?

EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac Mode Change Instructions

When writing out instructions on how to do this it takes a total of five steps for either direction. These five steps can easily be completed in less than 15 seconds and best of all, it is tool-free.

When changing over other wet/dry vacuums, whether it is a traditional electric vacuum like you may have at home or another pneumatic industrial vacuum on the market, the switchover process is cumbersome. There are typically fasteners or retainers that are necessary to hold the filters in place, filters can be poor quality and get damaged easily.  Small parts needed to hold filters in place like springs or retainer nuts can easily be lost, hard to manipulate and take additional time changing from liquid to dry modes or vice-versa. With the EasySwitch, the only fastener is a rubber latch that is attached to the filter hatch cover. This means operators can’t lose parts because they are all attached to the EasySwitch Lid. To convert from a dry vacuum to a wet vacuum the steps are simple.

  1. Turn off the compressed air and unlatch the rubber handle. This makes it possible to complete step two.
  2. Lift the filter hatch lid and let it rest on the hinge stop. This is all designed to be robust enough to easily support the weight of the EasySwitch unit as well as the air hose attached to it.
  3. Lift the filter, whether it is the HEPA rated filter or the standard filter, up and out of the lid.
  4. Close the filter hatch lid onto the edge gasket that stays firmly in place.
  5.  Latch the rubber handle/latch back into place and start processing liquid as needed.

That’s it, it takes less than 15 seconds in the video below (see it at 1:15) and I am pretty sure a speedcuber or cup stacker could do it even faster. Don’t believe me, want to test it out for yourself, we honor a 30-day guarantee on stock products. Get the EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac in your facility and put it through your own rigorous testing. If it doesn’t perform to your liking, let us know and we will arrange for sending it back. Converting the vacuum from dry to wet isn’t the only thing that is fast, we also ship same day on orders for stock products (hint: all EasySwitch vacuums are stock product) received by 3 PM ET that are shipping within the US. (2 PM ET for orders billing and shipping to Canada.)

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

Video Blog: EXAIR’s New EasySwitch Wet/Dry Vac Operation

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

EXAIR introduced our first Wet/Dry Vacuum in August. We have simplified the process of converting a vacuum from wet to dry (and dry to wet) materials. This can now be easily switched within 15 seconds due to its patent pending engineering and design. The video below is a quick rundown of just how easy it is to contain any industrial mess with the new compressed air powered vacuum from EXAIR.

If you would like to discuss the EasySwitch Vacuum options and kits available from stock, please contact us.

Brian Farno, Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Farewell from Professor Penurious

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Myself, Dan Preston (AKA: Professor Penurious) and My Amazing Wife
Myself, Dan Preston (AKA: Professor Penurious) and My Amazing Wife

Life rarely ever goes as any of us plans it.  It’s full of peaks and valleys, and, on occasion, plateaus of peace and serenity.  Sometimes life is spontaneous and fun! Other times, chaotic and painful.  Some things, like who you fall in love with and spend the rest of your life with can’t be planned out ahead of time.  Some things, like education, careers, and retirement, can be.  And sometimes, things beyond us change those plans completely.  Occasionally, it’s for the worse, but I am inclined to think that, for the most part, it’s for the better.  So it goes.

After serving for 10 years as the Engineering Manager for EXAIR corporation, I will be pursuing a new course in life.  It wasn’t one that I sought, but rather, it sought me.  Friday, July the 10th marked my retirement from engineering. Today, I started training for the full time ministry.

When I first came to EXAIR, there was no doubt in my mind that it was answered prayer.  I had worked for small companies and Fortune 500 companies alike before coming here, and there was no doubt in my mind where I wanted to settle down and spend the rest of my engineering life.  I wanted to work for a small, family owned business that genuinely cared for its employees, that actually manufactured durable goods here in Cincinnati, and that was close to home.  I was blessed to find all three.

The work here at EXAIR was always interesting.  Developing new products, redesigning existing ones, tracking down root causes of failure and cost accounting are just some of the things I did here as an engineer.  And although designing custom products was always my favorite part of the engineering side of this job, where else could I get paid to be Professor Penurious? Good times indeed.

But what I really learned while working for the smartest guy I’ve ever known, is how a successful organization is run, en masse.  From the outwardly perceivable things like manufacturing, procurement, marketing, sales, order entry, accounting, etc. to the unquantifiable, like how to treat employees, customers and vendors.  Like the rest of life, sometimes it goes according to plan, and sometimes you fly by the seat of your pants.  But if you’re always honest, diligent and sincere, you can rest easy at night knowing you’ve done the right thing.  These are skills I’m confident will serve me well in my new job, and I’d like to thank all of you, especially Bryan Peters, for helping me learn them.

I had no intention of leaving EXAIR one second before I turned 59 ½ (if the stock market was good to me…)  I quickly became good friends with everyone here and even during difficult times, I knew this was the job for me.  It’s not that I wanted to leave here, far from it!  But my path forward is clear and undeniable.  I will miss the interesting customers and helpful suppliers, but mostly, I’ll miss the wonderful people I worked alongside this last decade.  I can say sincerely and without hesitation that I love each and every one of you.

EXAIR has changed my life for the better.  I hope that in some way, I have done the same for EXAIR.  So it goes.  So I go.

Dan Preston
Engineering Manager (ret.)
EXAIR Corporation