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Clamping with QX

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Manufacturing defects are expensive and removing these errors prior to equipment leaving the production floor is an achievable result when utilizing the proper assembly equipment.  In the below case study, implementing proper tooling resulted in a significant reduction in warranty, service work, and recalls.

Customer

A global manufacturer of grain and sugar cane harvesters located within the Southeastern United States.

 

Challenge: Warranty, Service Work, and Recalls

During the manufacturing process; a sub assembly cell was responsible for proper tightening of fluid hose clamps.  The specified torque and angle of these hose clamps was not being achieved by current in plant tooling.  This failure was a direct result of joint conditioning and relaxation associated with the hose clamp tightening process.  In order to confirm clamps were properly tightened a manual QC measure was put into place in order to catch the issue prior to units leaving for in field use.   However, manual processes are reliant on operator execution and improperly tightened units continued to leave the production floor incorrect.  This issue was exaggerated once units reached final destinations for use within the field, as inadequate torqued hose clamps, were continuing to loosen causing costly warranty, recall, and infield technician repairs.

Air Power’s Solution

In partnership with the customer, Air Power implemented an Ingersoll Rand QX Precision fastening System. The hand held, battery operated, transducerized tooling solution provided an accurate final torque, while providing the operators with tightening status feedback, actual torque values, and 1,200 rundowns of tightening data for review.  A proper torque strategy was developed allowing the hose clamp to be properly torqued, relaxed (conditioned), then final torqued; all within a single trigger pull delivered by the operator.  The need for a manual QC measure was removed as the torque data was verified, tracked, and retained by the manufacturing facility for spot check and validation.

 

Ingersoll Rand QX Series Right Angle Wrench

Result

Currently, thirteen (13) right angle tools are being utilized within this facility allowing production to reach new heights of process control.  Proper tightening of the hose clamps, torque data retention, and date/time stamping have reduced warranty, service work, and those costly infield technician repairs.  The Air Power solution ensures that product leaving the production floor is assembled correctly, the first time.

 

 

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Clamping with QX

Sames Kremlin 2019 Spray Guns

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Sames Kremlin provides industrial solutions for productivity, quality improvement, material & cost savings. Sames Kremlin products support the industrial process from assembly, protection against the environment to finish by beautifying manufactured products. Their products pursue key objectives for users: Performance, Productivity and sustainability. With 90 years of innovation, Sames Kremlin has a variety of engineered solutions for a variety of finishing processes. Here is the official 2019 Product Offerings:

Xcite Light – Airmix Manual Spray Gun

 

Sames Kremlin Xcite Light Spray Gun

The Xcite™ Light Airmix® manual spray gun focuses on lightness, simplicity and maneuverability. For maximum benefits, this spray gun is available in two versions: 60 bar and 120 bar (870 psi & 1740 psi).

SAMES KREMLIN created Airmix® technology in 1975. Airmix® is an intermediate spray technology that combines the finish quality of Airspray with the productivity of Airless and is the industrial standard for Air-Assisted Airless today. The Xcite™ Light Airmix® manual

spray gun benefits:

  • Lightweight: 30% weight reduction without compromising the perfect gun balance
  • Compact design for easy access to recessed areas and complex shaped parts
  • Effortless trigger pull reduces muscle strain and carpal tunnel injuries
  • Ready to spray concept: No fan adjustment; the fan width is pre-determined by the size of the tip installed on the gun

 

Airmix® spraying technology is the best compromise between productivity and finish quality with the highest transfer efficiency up to 86%.

 

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Xcite Light Airmix Manual Spray Gun

 

FPro WBE Airspray – Manual Conventional Spray Gun

Sames Kremlin FPro WBE Airspray

 

Perfectly balanced, the FPro WBE spray gun provides a superior finish for all painters and is designed for spraying water-based porcelain and ceramics. SAMES KREMLIN offers the largest range of spray guns and accessories for all FPro applications in the high finishing markets.

The new design of the FPro P WBE has been made to spray very abrasive products (porcelain & ceramics), keeping the high spray performances of the original FPro versions while reducing maintenance costs: the heat-treated nozzle lasts longer, the special needle design, featuring a polyurethane (PU) needle tip creates a soft contact on the nozzle reducing wear.

This 2 part needle concept allows the replacement of needle tip only and not the complete needle assembly.

 

 

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FPro WBE Airspray Manual Conventional Spray Gun

 

 

ASB – Airless Automatic Spray Gun and Base Plate

 

Sames Kremlin ASB – Airless Automatic Spray Gun and Base Plate

 

 

The ASB automatic spray gun offers superior atomization whatever the line speed thanks to perfect balance between high pressure and high flow rate. It offers precise application – coating applied directly on the target – due to fast response time.

Developed for high production rates, ASB guns provided superior atomization at medium to high flow rate and low overspray for minimal paint wastage.  The ASB guns are the lightest automatic airless guns on base plate, decreasing bearing wear of painting machines due to lightweight gun. Their compact design allows easy access to recessed part areas. They can be fitted with a choice of 184 tips: Skill super fine finishing Airless tips, flat for fine finishing, and reversible Tip top for protective coatings. The simplicity and the quality of the material used guarantees low maintenance costs. They are well suited for applying harsh coatings (acid catalyst, UV coating), water-based, high viscosity and abrasive materials.

 

 

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ASB – Airless Automatic Spray Gun and Base Plate

Paint Kitchen Automation Cleans up Inefficient Mess for Equipment Finisher

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Graco E-Flo DC Pump

Graco E-Flo DC Pump

 

This case study demonstrates how the Graco Intelligent Paint Kitchen can improve the painting process by decreasing production downtime, lowering production costs and increasing process efficiency.

Customer

Heavy-duty lift truck equipment finisher.

Challenge

 

The maintenance manager at a heavy-duty lift truck equipment finisher was left with someone else’s mess. The paint room supervisor had designed a paint kitchen for a 24-hour operation, only to leave when production changed to five days a week. With no one taking ownership of the paint room, inefficiency took over.

• Friday afternoons, the paint room attendant shut down the paint circulation, air compressor and pneumatic agitators.
• Monday mornings, they lost at least six carriers of parts and more than an hour of production time, because material had settled in the paint lines over the weekend.

Circulating the paint on the weekends meant running a 500-horse power (HP) air compressor. The energy cost savings seemed to outweigh the cost of lost parts.

 

Solution

 

The maintenance manager consulted his local distributor, who wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. The equipment they had was sound; it just didn’t provide the flexibility they needed. Their Graco account representative offered an out-of-the-box solution. The Intelligent Paint Kitchen (IPK), powered by the E-Flo DC 4-Ball Piston Pump, could allow them to reduce downtime, save on energy costs, and remotely monitor the paint room. Some of their existing equipment could even be repurposed in the new set up.

Results

 

The Graco Intelligent Paint Kitchen system automated the paint room and made their production schedule more flexible. Electric equipment avoided air compressor costs, and allowed them to keep the paint circulating during non-production times. With presets and remote monitoring controlling the paint room, efficiency is the new norm.

• Friday afternoons, the paint room attendant sets equipment on sleep mode.
• Monday mornings, production starts smoothly without loss of parts, downtime or rework.

With the help of remote monitoring, the maintenance manager now spends less time with production supervision. Their newfound efficiency allows them to
take on and scale back production as needed without overextending their resources.

 

 

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Paint Kitchen Automation Cleans Up Inefficient Mess For Equipment Finisher

 

 

Air Power Partnered with Graco on this case.

Graco Logo

Click Here to learn more about what Graco offers.

Echa un vistazo a lo que se está cocinando en México

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As the summer heat is beginning to increase so is our Monterrey, MX team.  These past few months have been full of exciting product launches, customer trade shows, and strategic partnership meetings.  Our facility, located just outside of Monterrey, in Apodaca, consists of eight (8) employees’ within a 308 sq. meter (3,315 sq. ft.) branch location.  This branch functions as a complete team offering: account management, technical service, field repair, bench repair, system startup and integration, training, and localized equipment stock.

Air Power Mexico Team

Contact APMX

John Deere Paint Summit

Our team was honored to attend the John Deere Paint Summit as a strategic supplier for Deere within Mexico and the United States.  This global summit included members from China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and the United States.  It was a privilege for Air Power to be in attendance but more importantly a complement to be asked to be a part of the presentations.  In partnership with Graco and St. Clair Systems, Air Power discussed the importance of paint kitchen visibility and viscosity control as it pertains to plural component finishing operations.

APMX Presentation

 

FABTECH Monterrey

Following the Global Summit, there was no time to waste in preparation for Fabtech, Monterrey.  Held in Monterrey, MX on May 7th-9th; this event featured over 1,000 participants and more than 50 industrial vendors.  This offered for an engaging and technology advancing manufacture fair.  Air Power in partnership with Heraeus and Nitto Systems meet over 100 clients interested in further improving their current finishing operations.

APMX at Heraus Event

 

Gema OptiFlex Pro Series Launch

Mexico City was the next stop as excitement continues to build over the launch of GEMA’s new OptiFlex Pro Series of powder coating equipment.  This launch event highlighted the units unsurpassed Power, Quality, and Control Features.

Gema OptiFlex Pro Series Launch

 

  • Power – Powerboost Technology of 110KV
  • Quality – Precise Chare Control (PCC) and redesigned powder pump
  • Control – Bluetooth Capabilities with the GEMA E-APP

 

The below video, presented by GEMA, highlights the advantages of the new OptiFlex Pro.

 

 

Graco New Product Launch

Most recently, the team joined Graco in San Diego, CA, for the New Product of 2019 Launch.  This event focused on new technology and product that Graco is implementing within the 2019 calendar year.  Including highlights of:

  • Intelligent Paint Kitchen for Pneumatic Pumps
  • New Pro XP Gun Models
  • Radial Piston Agitators
  • Sealed 4-Ball Lower Plus
  • Active Surge Suppressors
  • Pro-Dispense
  • ProControl 1KE

This completes the New Product Launch 2019 for Graco and Air Power had representation within the Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Diego event locations.

It’s cooking down in Mexico and we are excited of what is next to come.  If you are familiar with Air Power and have locations within Mexico; please give us a call today. We would appreciate the opportunity to further discuss best practices, equipment standardization, and our system integration capabilities and advantages offered as a result of our unsurpassed coverage area between the United States and Mexico.

 

 

Air Power Tech Tip: Dedicating Your Manual Powder Hose

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Dedicating Your Powder Hose

 

Dedicating your powder hose specific to your color and special type of powder can save you time in color changes and prevent costly rejects. It can speed up your paint process, eliminate powder contamination and reduce clean up time. If you are frequently changing your powder color throughout the day, this is a great way to quickly and easily eliminate pain points and improve your application process.

Cartridge Filters Explained: Powder and Dust Cartridge Filters

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Cartridge Filters Explained

 

Cartridge Filters for powder booths, blast booths, dust collection and smoke eaters is essential to a clean operation. Learn details about cartridge filters and properly selecting replacements.

Here We Grow Again: New SC Location

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Upstate South Carolina Air Power Branch

 

New South Carolina BranchAir Power Manufacturing Solutions is excited to announce our new Piedmont, SC location. Air Power has quickly outgrown the existing Greenville, South Carolina branch, and as such, we are excited to re-locate into a much larger facility within Piedmont, South Carolina.  This 12,000 square foot facility will boast a 600 square foot training facility, Service and Repair Center, added Warehouse for additional inventory, spacious offices, and conference room.

Air Power continually reflects on how we can better serve the manufacturing community. As our mission states, we aim “To build lasting relationships by supporting the manufacturing community with quality products and highly engineered solutions to effectively Assemble, Move, and Coat the products that shape our world”. This larger branch and training facility is a result of Air Power’s dedication to meeting our customer’s needs.

The 600 square foot, “Center of Excellence” will showcase Air Power’s offering, highlighting the products and solutions we provide to Assemble, Move, and Coat within the surrounding manufacturing community. This training, demonstration, solution confirmation, and runoff facility, will be available for customers to utilize in order to test, confirm, and provide peace of mind that the solution offered by Air Power is correct for the application.  In addition, this space will be utilized by Air Power account managers and sales staff as continued education of new technology, process improvements, and industry practices.

The much larger warehouse space will allow Air Power to stock more parts and equipment than currently able within the existing branch location. This will allow us to get parts and equipment to our customers faster in an effort to prevent costly production downtime.

Included office space, conference rooms, and lobby will allow our branch support staff the ability to conduct all necessary branch activities, meetings, and duties as necessary for the continued growth of the region.

Lastly, the larger facility will include a Service and Repair Center, offering both in-house (bench repair) and a Factory Trained and Authorized Field service Technician to service upstate South Carolina and the surrounding area.

 

This larger, more robust, and innovated facility will be a hub for all the services Air Power has to offer to the manufacturing community.

 

Branch_COnstruction

Front of New Branch

Warehouse Construction

Gema OptiFlex Pro: Power. Quality. Control.

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Introducing the NEW Gema OptiFlex Pro:

POWER. QUALITY. CONTROL.

 

The NEW Gema OptiFlex Pro is here. Air Power’s Travis Stirewalt shows off the OptiFlex Pro features and upgrades including the gun, control unit and the E-App.

 

Power: Maximum coating performance

The newly developed PowerBoost technology of the OptiFlex Pro series offers with the 110 kV the highest powder charging capacity in the powder coating industry while complying with safety regulations. The operator benefits from an outstanding coating performance.

Quality: Best application results

With OptiFlex Pro you coat extremely efficiently and with consistently high quality. The PCC (Precise Charge Control) mode regulates the spray current even in the lowest ampere ranges (0-10 μA) with the highest accuracy. This prevents overcharging of even the most demanding powders such as metallic powder and ensures the highest quality in thick film and multi-layer applications and recess areas.

Control: Master the application!

The new features of OptiFlex Pro also give you a technological edge. The Electrostatic App (E-App) with the integrated line management functions and service features make the coating process transparent and better controllable.

So You Want to Powder Coat?

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What You Need To Know Before You Begin Your Journey

 

 

Have you thought about opening up your own powder coating operation or adding powder coating to your manufacturing mix? This video with powder experts Eddie Rhodes and Travis Stirewalt will walk you through very important things to think about as you take that next step.

 

Air Power Live Tech Tips: Gema Powder Coating

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Air Power Live Tech Tips

We’ve put together some helpful how-tos to help you powder coat like a PRO! Check out these informational tech tips:

 

Powder Coating Gun Corona Field Explained

 

 

Proper positioning of a powder coating gun while powder coating your parts helps the proper powder cloud optimize proper transfer efficiency and even coating of the powder coating finish. Learn about the corona field and how utilizing proper powder coating cloud positioning can help achieve not only a better finish, but save you money on costly rejects and over use of powder.

 

Gema OptiStar Controls

 

Gema OptiStar controls and presets are easily explained for optimum powder coating performance.

 

Checking Wear Parts on a Gema OptiFlex 2 Powder Unit

 

Maintaining easy to replace Gema OptiFlex gun, hose and pump wear parts from a preventive maintenance perspective yields high transfer efficiency, powder savings and a reduction in part rejects.