Sustainability, OriginAir and SmartLink

Last week, we hosted Mike Bacidore editor in chief of Plant Services magazine, in Rock Hill and Charlotte for a series of tours and interviews. Plant Services provides comprehensive information to maintenance repair and operations (MRO) professionals in all facility sectors of manufacturing on topics concerning the physical assets of manufacturing facilities and ways to minimize costs and increase productivity. Here are some of the things we shared:

Sustainability

With 140 years in business, we know that success is built upon social and environmental responsibility — not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because it is critical for developing and growing in a profitable way. During Bacidore’s visit, he spoke with John Brookshire, president of Atlas Copco Compressors, to discuss Atlas Copco’s growth over the past five years in Charlotte and Houston. Brookshire provided insight into the similarities between the U.S. and Chinese market regarding the increased demand for sustainable manufacturing and how Atlas Copco is recruiting young talent to be the next generation of service technicians.

OriginAir

At the Atlas Copco OriginAir facility in Charlotte, Bacidore learned how OriginAir produces refurbished compressors, elements and valves for the certified market. OriginAir purchases used compressors from customers who no longer need them, then repairs or replaces individual parts or completely refurbishes the machines. The machines are then tested and certified with an 18-month warranty.

The facility opened in 2011 and now has 60 machines in some stage of the refurbishment process. The group hopes to keep expanding as certified used machines become a viable option for some plant operations.

SmartLink

This week, Atlas Copco released a new compressor monitoring program, SmartLink, which will increase connectivity between Atlas Copco and its customers with advanced, 24/7 data monitoring. When integrated with the Elektronikon controller, SmartLink gives customers and Atlas Copco service technicians access to a web-based monitoring dashboard that monitors compressor performance changes in real time. This allows a service technician to address a maintenance issue before it results in downtime, ultimately saving customers money. 

SmartLink will be integrated into air production installations worldwide and the program will come standard on most oil-injected rotary screw compressors throughout 2013.

Visit www.plantservices.com to read more about the SmartLink program and to watch more videos from Mike Bacidore’s recent visit to Charlotte. As always, contact us if you have questions about any of Atlas Copco’s products or services.