Tag: optimize

Pictionary Is Not What Should Come To Mind When Looking At Facility Drawings

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Does anyone else remember the episode of Friends where they were playing Pictionary and no one could guess what Monica was drawing? No, well, honestly, that’s the scene I thought of when looking at some system drawings for compressed air setups. If you need a refresher, see the YouTube clip below.

1 – Pictionary | Friends

When trying to ensure you have a sustainable compressed air system within a facility, it is critical to ensure the layout is documented. This can be a very tedious task on existing systems that have been in place for years without any documentation, it doesn’t mean the idea should be lost. This can save considerable time and effort when looking at issues and or expansion of existing usage. The other point this can help greatly with is documenting and fixing leaks on your way to an optimized compressed air system.

Along that same line, I’ve seen numerous reports over the past decade that all point to improperly maintained filter drains in compressed air systems that account for a large percentage of the 30% total system leakage that facilities can see. So I want to educate on the different types of P&ID symbols used for regulators and filters on compressed air systems so that our readers can better their preventive maintenance plans and install checkpoints at each one of these on a routine schedule.

If you are evaluating your compressed air system and trying to come up with a preventive maintenance plan, then each one of these symbols should be on a preventative check routine in order to ensure they are not a contributing factor to compressed air waste within your facility.

If you want to discuss other ways to optimize your compressed air system or other P&ID symbols used for pneumatic system components, reach out to any of the team here, and we will help you with your current situation.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS
National Business Development Manager

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Friends, Pictionary|Friends – Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP2bX0ctoFs – published – 10/1/2023

Video Blog: Optimize your Compressed air use by Turning it Off

Published on by Jordan T Shouse1 Comment

On October 24, 2023, I presented a live webinar covering the methods and advantages of turning the compressed air off when it’s not in use or unneeded.

Compressed air is often referred to as one of the major utilities in most manufacturing facilities due to the cost to generate it. A major benefit to utilizing compressed air is the speed at which it can be shut off and re-energized for use – in fact, this can be done instantaneously. Shutting down the supply of compressed air to an application while it is not needed can drastically reduce the compressed air consumption of the process over time. This is an easy tactic that can produce significant savings for your process and your facility, even if you have high efficiency pneumatic equipment installed, this can still garner notable savings.

Here is the playback for that webinar!

If you would like to discuss  any of EXAIR’s safe, quiet & efficient compressed air products, I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call or shoot me an email!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Continuing Education… It NEVER Ends

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

In case you don’t follow me on Twitter / X or know me personally, you may not know my educational background. Well, I received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Cincinnati in 2006. Then a few years ago I went back to school at Northern Kentucky University to achieve a Master of Business Administration. The path I took to get there was drastically different from my undergrad and experiences through life are great teachers to what is important.

You see, when I left UC, I was at a point where I had struggled and came out triumphant, started working in the metal cutting industry and the amount of experience I was gaining was like a fire hose constantly. I was attending training, shadowing, and constantly researching or reading. Then, that started to slow, and I started to give the training and write the documentation that others were reading. The draw to learn new skills was still strong, so I continually signed up for more training or would research different aspects of the equipment I was working on to learn more about what they are capable of and the best ways to use them.

Once I transitioned to EXAIR I had an entirely new set of skills to hone, and an extensive product offering which led to weeks of training and reading. Slowly but surely I was able to gain an understanding of our product offering as well as continually conduct testing on products or processes in order to ensure I have a strong understanding of our products how they work, and what is possible to achieve with them. I then got the wild idea to learn more and push my limits, so I started my MBA and really stretched the limits of my ability to consume material and apply the knowledge. This was all a path to improve myself and my ability to serve EXAIR as well as our customers. The truth is, my mindset for online learning this go around was drastically different, and I looked forward to the challenge and structure then being able to apply some of the concepts in my day-to-day life.

The point is that we should never stop learning. When I was younger I didn’t see any value in learning more past my undergrad. Then, I learned you have to continue to learn, and so I continue to do so. Even today, after my MBA I still look for articles, classes, and events to gain more knowledge. This is also why I am glad that EXAIR hosts a wealth of knowledge available to our customers, and we also continually release new content.

The next installment of some knowledge from our team is happening at the end of the month, the EXAIR Webinar. Our own Jordan Shouse will be discussing ways to save compressed air by simply turning it off. Register today to save your seat and then show up for the live event on October 24, 2023 @ 2 PM ET.

You Have To Start Somewhere.

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

The school year is in full swing here in Cincinnati and all three of my daughters have different extracurricular activities they partake in. This fall, that equates to divide and conquer for my wife and me 4 nights of the week for practices then the weekends are also separate and conquer, but mainly on Saturday. This eats away at times we would typically use at home to get some walking in or even just generally getting stuff done. This schedule combined with working earlier has caused me to lose almost all workout desire. That is until I got to the first practice my oldest had which just happens to be held on my alma mater’s campus and is right next to Nippert Stadium.

When we arrived I noticed most parents were just hunkered down in their cars and watching movies or doom scrolling social media. I try to avoid doing that for 90 minutes straight if I can and so far I have. I started hitting the stairs at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium with my 35-pound ruck on my back. While my goal is to be able to complete the standard they have for their 9/11 memorial event I also want to get back into the shape I was in when I did back-to-back GORUCK events and could crank out burpees without crying on the outside. After going up one column of stairs from the field to the concourse level I go across and down the next set until I have done every column of stairs that go from the concourse to the area directly. For their event, I have to complete two laps which will equate to the number of steps within one of the towers.

So to train, I started with seeing how many sets I could do without feeling like I was going to not be able to reach the top and walk to the car. Surprisingly, I was able to get about half of the stadium done. Then I still had another hour to kill, so I hydrated a bit and rucked on over to the track/soccer field where I could walk the track and watch co-ed intramural flag football games while I did laps. Finally, I threw in some ruck PT exercises as a cool down and ended back at the building her practice was in. When I got to work the next day I felt like I got beat with a sack of oranges from my waist down. Then, on Thursday the thought crossed my mind as I hadn’t slept much the night before to just relax, then I had a buddy ask if he could come do stairs with me, and so we did it again Thursday night.

So from now until the end of the school year, I will more than likely be rucking on or around UC’s campus and Nippert Stadium to ensure I get back into a reasonable condition without having to lose more time with my family. This isn’t always easy and doesn’t come without pain. That pain though comes with added energy and increases in my mental position as well, so I am open to more things.

The same thing can be said about an industrial compressed air system. If you just trudge through every day and don’t look at any part of your facility, it is going to cause some pain when you first start to look at it. The first step is to acknowledge that something needs to change, and you have to have that finished goal of more capacity and capability available. The best place to start on your compressed air system is at the start with mapping out the system and getting a base measurement of where you are at for consumption.. This is the first step in our 6 steps of compressed air optimization, and we can help with every step along the way, You just have to reach out to us, your accountability partner for efficient compressed air.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF