Ways to Achieve Cost Reduction With Pneumatic Systems

There are several ways on how manufacturers can decrease the consumption of energy, costs and maintenance of compressed air systems. Using some of the quality tools and proper coordination in the organization are the keys towards achieving efficiency. As such, here are some ways on how to achieve cost reduction with pneumatic systems.

Reduce Pressure

One of the effective ways that manufacturers can do to increase the efficiency of pneumatic systems and therefore reduce costs is by the reduction of pressure drop in the distribution system. Hence, even plant personnel can participate in this action. For instance, every ninety-degree turn in the compressed air distribution system of the plant has the ability to reduce pressure. Connectors like festo cylinders also have a lower impact on pressure loss should be also taken into consideration. Moreover, plant personnel who are responsible in the maintenance of the product can also walk the line of the compressed air and find for ways on how they can efficiently decrease 90-degrees bends. Aside from the reduction of the pressure in the distribution system maintenance personnel can also reduce pressure at the machine. This will be done by lowering the pressure from a particular bar to another on most machines. While it may not improve the performance of the system you can guarantee that it will reduce the consumption of energy.

Reduce leakage

The good thing about most of the plants of machines that we have today in manufacturing is that we can buy some tools like sound detection to find leaks. Leaks are one of the common inefficiencies of pneumatic systems. Hence, to achieve efficiency, it should be addressed first. Putting leak detection devices to prevent machines from leaking can definitely address the problem.

Build the baseline of the plant’s compressed air cost and usage

Another great method of increasing and maintaining the efficiency of pneumatic system is to establish a complete baseline of the usage and cost of the compressed air. Basically, most of the pneumatic systems are made up of function chains that run from the air preparation, air generation, distribution system and compressed air applications. As such, building a baseline for each component can certainly allow manufacturers to easily determine the air usage and cost. Consequently, necessary actions will be implemented once a problem has been determined.

Use air savings circuit

When it comes to handling materials, vacuum is an important component used to consume air. This is the reason why vacuum is usually made with the use of air flow through venture orifice. Hence, to make the use of vacuum more efficient, you should add an air saving circuit. This will make the circuit switch to switch off when the required vacuum is achieved. 

Put additional sensors

Another way to increase efficiency is through adding pressure, flow sensors and differential to the machine. Delivering the monitoring capability alerts operators to out of specified conditions like low airflow rate or high air pressure will do this. 

Organizational Coordination

Lastly, more than just providing the right tools and equipment to the machines, one of the effective ways to increase the efficiency of pneumatic machines is through the coordination of all involved department in maintaining the process. Some of the teams involved are the design, purchasing, production, sales, logistics, quality and maintenance.