Tag: manufacturing

15 Years – Comfort Crisis or Continued Challenge?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

According to the Department of Labor, the average tenure for an employee in manufacturing is currently at 4.9 years. This number has consistently declined since 2014 as seen in the image below. This is not new information. I still remember when I was interviewing at EXAIR, the next tenure Application Engineer had been here for 12 years. That was in 2010. That made me believe that EXAIR treats its employees well and that people are happy to stay. I was drawn to this because I came from a family where my parents both worked for the same Steel Mill for over 35 years. Seeing a company that had an average tenure in the department I was going to join, sitting at 15 years, was at the top of my list.

1 – Median Employee Tenure Within Industries

At the same time, I was leaving a job I had been in for 5 years and was still learning consistently, just the economy was dropping out, and the industry was struggling. Would I be happy working in an office with this crew? I wasn’t afraid of being a young person and not knowing anything, I was confident I could learn. Well, flash forward through several years of constant learning, and now I am the most experienced Application Engineer. We have had some retirements and then lots of promotions leading up to this point. The one constant has been that I have always had new products, processes, or aspects of EXAIR and the compressed air industry to learn.

I mentioned the comfort crisis in the title because a lot of people I talk to ask me if I stay at EXAIR because I am comfortable. In all honesty, there has been a constant source of growth since I started. Whether it be our continuous product expansions forcing me to learn new materials. Obtaining my MBA from NKU to better understand the business side of EXAIR over the technical side of our products. Taking on different roles or contributing to new processes. Even up to the latest partnership with BETE Fog Nozzles, nowhere in the 15 years has there been a full month of pure comfort.

No one knows where the future will take us. All I can say is that I have been very blessed to make it this far and the future is looking even more exciting than the past. So tune in and stay with me, no matter where you go, let’s see where this ride goes.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Median Employee Tenure Within Industries – US Bureau of Labor Statistics – Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.t05.htm

Finding the Right Intelligent Compressed Air Product

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

I had the pleasure of talking with a customer who had purchased a Model 6063 1-1/2″ Stainless Steel Line Vac the other day. They were building chemical processing machinery, and needed to move vapor into a condenser for reclamation of the fluid. The Line Vac was doing exactly what they needed it to do, and with a supply pressure regulated down to 12psig, at that. Their question was, how do they quantify the flow rate?

Because the Line Vac generates a moderate level of vacuum head with a moderate vacuum flow, they’re ideal for drawing in bulk solid material and conveying it from one place to another. They’ll do the same with airborne dust, vapors, and gases, but…

Because they’re made for conveying bulk solids, our published performance data for the Line Vacs doesn’t address total developed airflow. However, because our Air Amplifiers are made for moving air (and anything that might be suspended in the air or already airborne), we DO publish airflow performance data for them. And it provides a GREAT segue for situations like this, when the only thing that can do a better job than one EXAIR product is another EXAIR product!

…Air Amplifiers, while similar in function to the Line Vacs, generate a high vacuum flow with a low vacuum head. This makes them the better choice for moving air & airborne dust, vapors, gases, etc.

In this case, the machine designer replaced the 1-1/2″ Stainless Steel Line Vac with a Model 6040 3/4″ Stainless Steel Adjustable Air Amplifier. It’s got a 1-1/2″ OD inlet plenum, so it was a ‘drop-in’ replacement for the 1-1/2″ Line Vac, which was plumbed in with a 1-1/2″ ID hose. When they regulated the supply pressure to 25psig, they were able to replicate the vapor carryover to the condenser at the specified rate, and even cut the already low compressed air consumption from 9.3 SCFM @12psig (for the Line Vac) to 3.7 SCFM @25psig (for the Air Amplifier).

As an EXAIR Application Engineer and a Certified Compressed Air Systems Specialist, I’m here to make sure you get the most out of your compressed air system. If that involves using a product other than the EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product that you may have initially selected, I’m not going to be shy about telling you that. But, there’s a good chance that the more ideal solution is going to be another EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Product. If you want to talk about compressed air…so do I! Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month.

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about cerebral palsy (CP), celebrating those who live with it, and advocating for better support and research. As someone personally touched by CP, I find this month incredibly meaningful. My son, Lincoln, was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy at age one, and our journey has been one of challenges, triumphs, and a deepened appreciation for the strength found in our community. This month, marked by the vibrant color green and the #GoGreen4CP movement, encourages us all to learn more about CP—a neurological condition affecting movement and muscle tone—and to push for inclusivity in education, healthcare, and beyond.

For me, the #GoGreen4CP movement is more than just a campaign; it’s a reflection of our daily life. Lincoln’s form of CP is the most severe form of spastic CP and affects all four limbs, the trunk, and the face, making mobility a hurdle, but his determination shines through every step he takes with his walker or pedal on his adaptive bike. I’ve written about this before in my work here at EXAIR, where I’m fortunate to have a platform that allows me to share personal stories like ours. CP affects over 1 million people in the U.S., with around 10,000 new diagnoses each year, often due to brain development issues or injuries before, during, or shortly after birth. This month, I’m reminded of how far we’ve come—thanks to therapy and support—and how much more we need, like increased research funding, which groups like the Cerebral Palsy Foundation tirelessly advocate for.

Speaking of EXAIR, February holds its own significance for us here at EXAR with Founders’ Day on February 21st each year. It’s a day to celebrate the vision of our company’s founders, who built a culture of innovation and community that I’m proud to be part of. This year, as we marked Founders’ Day just a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but connect it to the spirit of resilience my family and so many others honor in March. At EXAIR, we design engineered solutions to solve problems, much like the adaptive tools and therapies that help Lincoln navigate his world. The overlap of these two moments—Founders’ Day and CP Awareness Month—reminds me how a supportive workplace and a passionate community can intersect to make a real difference.

So, how can you get involved this March? Wear green to spark conversations, share stories on social media with #GoGreen4CP, or donate to organizations driving CP research and support like the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. For my family, it’s also a chance to thank those who’ve walked alongside us—therapists, nurses, friends, and even my EXAIR colleagues who’ve cheered Lincoln on. National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month isn’t just about awareness; it’s about action and connection. As Lincoln and our family continue this journey, I hope you’ll join us in shining a light on CP, not just this month, but every day.

Be kind and love one another!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Image courtesy of The Cerebral Palsy Foundation

What’s So Super About Super Ion Air Wipes?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Static charge can cause a number of problems across a range of industries:

  • Dust clinging to a product, or product clinging to itself, rollers, etc.
  • Tearing, jamming, or curling
  • Feeding of sheets in printers, slitters, or cutters
  • Nuisance shocks to operators handling statically charged materials
  • Poor print quality (voids, misalignments, etc.) and even shorted printer/print head life

EXAIR Static Eliminators have been a popular, easy, and efficient solution for all of these and more, for decades. Really, the first thing we’re going to consider when specifying the right Static Eliminator is the size and shape of the ionized airflow that’s going to be needed. For pipe, hose, tube, wire, cable, extruded or molded continuous strands…anything that needs static elimination on all sides, really…EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipes are certainly worth a look.

360° blow off AND fast, efficient static dissipation: the EXAIR Super Ion Air Wipe.
Gen4 Super Ion Air Wipe

Super Ion Air Wipes generate a uniform 360° ionized airflow to eliminate static on the surface of the above-mentioned materials. They come in two sizes: one with a 2″ inside diameter, and one with a 4″ inside diameter. The split clamp design means you don’t have to ‘thread’ the material through…you simply undo the latch on one side and fit it back around the material or part. Some of the more popular and successful applications include:

  • Removing static charge from a 1.75″ diameter continuous feed of tubing on a pultrusion line that has axial slits cut in it. The slitting created an INCREDIBLE amount of static charge, continuously as the tubing moved through the process, causing shavings to statically cling to the surface. This caused false rejects in the inspection process, which were eliminated by the use of a 4″ Super Ion Air Wipe.
  • A PVC pipe manufacturer encountered issues with the quality of text being applied on the outside wall of the pipe by an ink jet printer. On larger pipes, where the printing was applied on one side of the pipe only, they used Ion Air Jets to remove static from the immediate area of the printing. For their smaller pipes (1-1/2″ and smaller), they use 2″ Super Ion Air Wipes to remove the static from the entire perimetry of the pipe. Print quality ceased to be a problem.
  • A wire manufacturer uses an encoder to measure & calculate wire lengths, so they’d know how much wire was going onto a spindle. The encoder wheel’s fabric coating and the wire’s nylon coating caused a static charge high enough to generate enough voltage to damage the encoder – they actually saw SPARKS coming off the wheel. A 2″ Super Ion Air Wipe removed the static from the entire area around the encoder.
  • A bottled water plant applied tamper-proof seals to the top of the bottles once they were filled & capped. In addition to putting consumers at ease that their drink had not been tampered with, it also kept the top of the bottle (which most people’s lips touch) clean & germ-free. Static charge on the seal material caused improper application, sometimes not even covering the whole cap.
By passing the seal material through a 4″ Super Ion Air Wipe, they went from a 30% rejection rate (due to the improperly applied seal) to ZERO defects.

They’re also incredibly quiet (77dBA for the 2″; 81dBA for the 4″) and provide low-cost operation, consuming just 29.5 SCFM (2″) & 50.2 SCFM (4″) @80psig, considering they can eliminate a 5kV charge in one fifth of a second. Oh…they’re also in stock, available for same day shipment, and if you order before March 31st, we’ll even throw in a FREE AC Sensor with any Static Eliminator Product purchase.

So – what’s “super” about our Super Ion Air Wipes? I think the better question is, what’s NOT? If you have problems with static charge, EXAIR has solutions. Give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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