Corporate Buyers Guide

Compressed air is finding increasing use for process control and material handling. To prepare the air for the intended use, after coolers often come with a compressor, but additional cooling and air dryers may have to be added to reduce the level of heat and moisture.

In many facilities the compressed air tap is on the wall, just like an electrical outlet. It is convenient, but depending on the application, may need additional drying or removal of oil.

Compressed air is expensive. The cost of an air compressor is not the purchase price, but the operating cost. For many compressor applications, the 1^st year operating cost exceeds the purchasing price of the compressor. Add to this the operating costs of the after cooler plus air dryer and you have an expensive utility which often exceeds the water bill. Unlike the water bill, the compressed air cost is not that visible.

Determining the exact amount of compressed air needed ( pressure and cfm ) may not be easy, but is a worthwhile exercise.

Shrink sleeves and banders used to be primarily a security addition in the packaging of products. But recently the shrink sleeve has become the source of decoration and product recognition. The sleeve covers the whole container including some rather complicated shapes and have taken the place of labels.

The secret of success has to be in the sleeve material and the manner in which images and written material are printed on the sleeve so that it all looks normal after the shrinking is completed.

As a machine guy, I admire the ingenuity of some of the designs. The design layout on the sleeve must be guided by software to adjust for different amount of shrinking onto a container.