Tag: plant engineering

The Pinewood Derby and The Golden Mousetrap

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

My youngest son and I are in the process of making our last “official” Pinewood Derby Car. I say “official” because it’s the last one he’ll be racing as a Cub Scout…he’s crossing over into Boy Scouts in March. Between the four cars he’s made thus far, the five his older brother made, and the three that I’ve made (we incorporated a “Big Kids” race in addition to the formal Scout’s race a few years ago), the Bowman Garage has yet to generate a win. Or a place, for that matter. They have all finished, and not everyone can say that.

Regardless, we’ve kept trying, and I’m hoping for a winner this year. Maybe more so than my son – he’s having a ball just cutting, sanding, and painting, as usual. I’d love to see him win, but watching the joy he gets just from participating makes me about as proud as I think I could get anyway.

Here at EXAIR, we just got the exciting news that some new products are in competition for Design News’ “Golden Mousetrap” Award. Another is in the running for a Plant Engineering “Product of the Year.” We’ve had several that made it into Plant Service’s “Battle Royal,” a not-as-prestigious but still-very-fun online voting competition. And, going into the company’s 30th year in business, we’re proud to announce that we’ve achieved 99.9% on-time shipments for the 17th (SEVENTEENTH) consecutive year.

Now, the kinds of pride I take in being part of a winning Pinewood Derby Car “team” and being part of a successful manufacturing team are different, for sure, but I’m trying to enjoy them both to their fullest.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Chances Are

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Last night, at out Cub Scout Pack Meeting, it was my duty…and pleasure…to hand out the awards that our Scouts had earned by selling Boy Scout Popcorn this fall. Everyone who sold something got a nice little patch. Those who sold certain amounts were rewarded with gift cards. Those Scouts who gained admission to the $600 Club received their Zyclones, which I described with some help from David Letterman in a previous post.

Based on the amount of gift cards that were distributed last night, we verified that it is indeed in an organization’s best interests to incentivize their sales force. This year, we decided to offer an additional incentive at the Pack level: we raffle off a tent. For every $100 in popcorn that a Scout sold, his name went in the hat once. Odds were, a member of the $600 Club would win the tent, being as his name was on six tickets in the hat, and that’s exactly what happened. I’ve never had so much fun helping a boy take down and fold up a tent before.

“You can’t win if you don’t play” – that’s what the lottery folks say, and if you buy an extra ticket, you double your chances. Of course, an individual’s chance of winning the lottery is infinitesimal, and buying two tickets still places your chances somewhere between slim and none. Riley’s extra 5 chances in the tent giveaway, however, were significant in a pool of just under 50.

At EXAIR, we like to “throw our name in the hat,” if you will, in pursuit of the premier honor for new products in the manufacturing market, Plant Engineering’s Product of the Year Awards. Thumb through our catalog – you’ll see numerous nods to POY Finalists, and our fair share of POY Awards. And we’re proud to add two new products to that list for 2011: The brand new Atto Super Air Nozzles, and our Atomizing Spray Nozzles, introduced earlier this year, have both been named as 2011 Product of the Year Finalists!

If you use compressed air – or want to – for cleaning, drying, blow off, cooling, conveying, static elimination, liquid spraying, or vacuuming…give us a call. Not only do we have a product to suit your application, chances are, we have one of the best.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
Phone: (800)903-9247
email: russbowman@exair.com
Twitter: EXAIR_RB

EXAIR 110 Gallon Chip Trapper Wins Another Award!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Environmental Protection has announced the EXAIR 110 Gallon Chip Trapper as a New Product of the Year winner in the Waste category.  This is the THIRD award for the Chip Trapper.  The Chip Trapper was also a Golden Mousetrap Best New Products Awards Finalist, along with Plant Engineering’s Product of the Year.

The Chip Trapper is used to recover liquids and filter out unwanted chips, swarf, shavings, and debris.  You can then pump the filtered liquid back into your machine for further use or into a waste container through the use of the reversible valves. This enables you to use your coolants and liquids longer by keeping them cleaner, and do your part to keep things greener.

Due to the success of the 55 gallon Chip Trapper, EXAIR has produced a 30 gallon and 110 gallon version to complete a whole family of Chip Trapper products. If you would like to read more about the Chip Trapper or any of the other EXAIR products feel free to follow the links or contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF