9 Ways an Industrial Company Can Improve Operations By Choosing the Right Clean Air Solution

In our most recent white paper on choosing the right industrial air filtration solution for large-scale manufacturers, we explore the clean air challenge.

Airborne particulates create many problems in manufacturing. Coating quality, equipment reliability, and product performance are all compromised when air isn't clean. More importantly, dirty air puts worker health and safety at risk and impacts downstream operational costs in workplace management, insurance, worker compensation, and more.

Delivering filtered air to the workplace takes a dedicated enclosure, but for large industrial products, permanent versions of this solution introduce many inefficiencies. The alternative is bringing the enclosure to the product. Modular enclosures let manufacturers achieve effective industrial air filtration AND help improve operational performance.

Operational Areas That Benefit from Modular Enclosures

1 — Productivity

A controlled flow of clean air brings many benefits. It can reduce drying time, increase throughput, cut lead time, and lower quality costs. Efficiency rises as wasteful activities are eliminated and capital expenditure risk factors are reduced.

2 — Material Handling

Moving large products or assemblies into and out of dedicated clean air enclosures is expensive and causes significant disruption. Bringing equipment to the workpiece leads to better space and labor utilization while also reducing damage and rework.

3 — Workspace Organization

Bringing the enclosure to the product eliminates oversized rooms and chambers for dirty or dusty operations and avoids the wide aisles and cranes needed for safe movement. Floor space utilization and visibility are improved, both of which make the factory easier to manage.

4 — Capabilities

When processes need industrial air filtration, many manufacturers outsource rather than install dedicated capabilities. That increases lead time, add costs, and reduces control. However, by choosing a modular enclosure solution, these operations can be performed in-house. Costs are lower while quality and delivery performance improve.

5 — Downtime

Cleaning, housekeeping and maintenance are all essential yet non-productive as they don’t add value to the product. Effective modular or modular air management solutions reduce cleaning effort and improve machine performance by removing particulates from the air. With less downtime, OEE improves as well as increased capacity for new business.

6 — Employee Health & Safety

Meeting EHS regulations isn't optional, but it's possible to turn compliance into a competitive advantage. Effective and reliable industrial air filtration systems improve the working environment and can reduce, sometimes even remove, the need for PPE. When the workplace is more comfortable and safe, employee morale improves, productivity rises, both of which positively impact recruitment and retention.

7 — Maintenance

Airborne particulates settle on slides, pistons, and guides as well as sensors and electronics. That increases wear, lowers machine performance, and leads to breakdowns. Regular cleaning, oil changes, and filter replacement addresses these problems, but isn't prevention altogether better? Simply put, delivering consistently clean air to manufacturing operations will lower maintenance costs.

8 — Operating Costs

Heating and cooling factory air is expensive, and more so when clean rooms vent to the outside. A non-vented industrial air filtration solution can be a cost-effective alternative to conditioning make-up air. Additional benefits include better management of positive and negative pressurization and the flexibility to reconfigure a facility at short notice.

9 — Capital Expenditure

Dedicated clean rooms, spray booths, and other permanent air enclosures are expensive. Besides the walls, ceiling and floor of the enclosure, there's ducting, fans, and filtration systems to install, and that's before considering cranes and gantries for material handling. Ready-to-deploy air filtration solutions reduce the capital needed for installation and simplify permitting.

Industrial Air filtration is an Opportunity

Air quality is a challenge for many manufacturers, especially those who build large and complex products. Besides posing health and environmental challenges, airborne particulates can affect manufacturing equipment, product performance, and appearance.

Modular structures for industrial air filtration present a way around these problems. Rather than moving product into specialized rooms, the enclosure comes to the product to manage airflow using methods that improve working conditions and boost operational efficiency.

The end result is EHS compliance that is no longer just a necessary financial and operational effort, but also an opportunity to improve manufacturing operations overall while cutting costs.

To learn more about the 9 operational areas that can be improved by a modular air filtration solution, download our free white paper.

If you’re ready to evaluate the bottom-line benefits of your existing air filtration solution, we can help.