Pneumatic valves have come a long way since the development of the compressor more than a century ago and it can be a real challenge to ensure you’re taking full advantage of the latest development for your organization. Here are three ways to adopt the latest advances in pneumatic valve technology…

1. Choose components that adhere to ISO valve standards
   ISO International Standards ensure that products are safe, reliable and of good quality, helping to deliver increased customer satisfaction through consistent quality. ISO standards can also be used strategically by businesses to help reduce costs through improved systems and processes, minimize waste and increase productivity.
2. Opt for intelligent and simple wiring solutions
   Utilizing collective wiring solutions provides and elegant mechanism to consolidate solenoid wiring into a single “collective” connection on the valve manifold. This method significantly reduces costs and complexity, as the valve can be moved out of the control cabinet to the point-of-use application located near the pneumatic process, eliminating long tubing runs and delayed responses in operation.
3. Incorporate cloud-connected innovations
   Incorporating a fieldbus solutions to control pneumatic valves could be the first step towards implementing intelligent, cloud-connected industry 4.0 innovations on the assembly line. These solutions create an automated industrial network, specifically designed for communications between programmable logic controls (PLCs) via a communications system such as Ethernet.

Read the full blog post here.

With the onset of Industry 4.0, factory and production environments are adopting industrial networks to become more connected and intelligent. Adding intelligence to machines gives the opportunity to implement a predictive maintenance strategy – the ability to foresee issues and plan rather than to react to maintenance needs.

Read the full blog post here.

Parker’s Global Series Compact Combo can be configured as a 2 or 3-piece modular mounted particulate filter, regulator and mist style lubricator, built as one configurable part number. The Global Series compact combo provides accurate pressure regulation, high moisture removal efficiency, and proportional oil delivery over a wide range of air flows. This fully featured Global Series compact combo can be easily configured to meet all of your air preparation needs.

We are very proud to announce that Sidener Engineering is now a full-line Parker Hannifin Pneumatic distributor! The new authorization allows us to offer a wide variety of advanced pneumatic solutions from one of the world’s leading manufacturers. Parker manufactures cylinders, actuators, valves and air-preparation products for industrial applications and offers a large selection of dryers, filters, lubricators, regulators and combination units. Contact us today for assistance with your application.

Parker Pneumatic Products:

• Parker Pneumatic Cylinders & Actuators
• Air Preparation (FRL) and Dryers
• Network Connectivity (Fieldbus)
• Body Ported Valves (Inline)
• Base Mounted Valves

Exotic Automation & Supply’s Engineered Systems Department specializes in designing solutions for hydraulic machinery, pneumatic equipment and electromechanical systems. Whether you are building a new machine and need a custom design to ensure your machine is running at the right pressure & speed or an existing machine failure has caused you to look into repair options, our friendly, knowledgeable engineers are happy to assist!

Parker Transair^® Condition Monitoring helps you keep your system healthy and operating efficiently. It consists of a wide range of sensors that provide consistent and accurate readings for pressure, temperature, humidity, power, and flow.

Click here to learn more about the system architecture and how this solution can reduce your energy costs and increase your productivity and up-time.

Parker Hannifin’s Virtual Engineer is an innovative design tool for linear motion applications in automation. Save engineering time with three easy steps:

• Enter application details using the intuitive interface
• Size and select products that meet the demands of your application
• Get a quote, share your project, and download files easily

Try Virtual Engineer Now

Selecting the proper hose for a hydraulic assembly is critical to ensure that it meets the requirements for that specific application. One of the first steps in selecting the proper hose is to identify the types of reinforcement that is needed. The reinforcement is the strength of all hydraulic hoses; it determines the working pressure of the hose. Within the hydraulic hose industry, you will commonly see three types of reinforcement:

1. Braided: a braid of synthetic textile, wire or other material, applied by high speed vertical or horizontal braiders.
2. Spiral: a spiral wrap that is made from natural fibers, synthetic materials or wire.
3. Helical: a helical coil monofilament reinforcement that keeps the hose from collapsing in on itself when used in suction line applications.

Learn more here.

Versatile and easy-to-install, GORE^® 100% ePTFE sealing cord is a cost-effective solution for large steel flanges in general-use applications. Joint Sealant, the first form-in-place gasket, was invented by Gore more than 40 years ago. It is a time-tested sealing solution for steel flanges with large diameters, rectangular or irregular shapes, and rough or pitted surfaces.

Motion Control Parts Supplier Brings Jobs to Lyon Township

By Diane Gale Andreassi

Construction of a $13 million building in Lyon Township began October 15 and is expected to bring more than 200 employees.

Exotic Automation and Supply is expected to move from Farmington Hills to the 136,000-square-foot Lyon Township facility by October 2019, according to Thomas Marino, who owns the company with his wife, Lynne, some of her family members and their son, Tommy, Exotic’s retail and service manager.

Growing staff

Currently Exotic has 133 employees and is expected to grow to 200 within two years, Marino said.

“We will have everything from warehousing, production, engineering, design and management,” he said. “There will be a lot of highly skilled people.”

BRIVAR Construction in Brighton is building the facility, but it hasn’t been an easy process.

“This has been the most complicated development project that we have done in recent years, because we combined 19 parcels, removed 11 blighted homes, including asbestos abatement, and we purchased wetland credits from the MDEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) to mitigate .67 acres of wetland,” said Jay Howie, BRIVAR business development director. “We needed to abandon an Oakland County road and had the entire property rezoned. We also got a special land use and zoning variance. We received a lot of assistance from the Oakland County Economic Development Department and the Road Commission of Oakland County.”

About 35,000 square feet is designated for office space. The remaining will be used for manufacturing and to warehouse parts for Exotic divisions in Michigan and Indiana.

The company builds hydraulics, pneumatics, automation and control parts for the auto industry and the U.S. military for its nuclear Trident missile. It supplies to International Harvester and Roush Industries, as well as other automotive companies.

Exotic also produces rubber and plastic parts for military providers, such as General Dynamics.

The new facility was also constructed to support growth of Exotic’s new automotive division supplying parts for General Motors’s autonomous vehicles.

Exotic also goes under the moniker of ParkerStore for motion control producers. Another part of the business is the Hose Doctor, which provides five heavy-duty trucks that repair and manufacture hoses on the spot. The company was started as Exotic Rubber and Plastics in 1963 by Marino’s parents, Charles and Audrey, to manufacture a part for a 1963 Ford Falcon.

“The other part of what we do is custom plastic products that are used on industrial machinery and or products used in automotive plants and a host of other military, vehicle or equipment manufacturers,” said Marino, who lived in Lyon Township for 25 years before recently moving to Salem.

Other considerations

The company considered building in Livonia, Wixom and parts of Indiana before deciding on Lyon Township.

The Lyon Township board of trustees recently strengthened the lure to the township with a 12-year, 50 percent tax abatement. The tax break, “and the talent pool in the area” made it the best choice, Marino said.

“We wanted to remain close to our customer base, which is southeast Michigan,” Marino said. “We wanted something that wasn’t inconvenient to our other branches across Michigan and the I-96 corridor is great to go to our northern and western branches.”

Exotic is a perfect fit for Lyon Township, according to John Dolan, township supervisor.

“We’re excited to have them,” Dolan said. “It will be a big boost for our business economy and industrial corridor from Grand River to Napier. Any employees or work-related business we can bring to the township is wonderful.”

Lyon Township Treasurer Patty Carcone said, “We’re excited and fortunate to have a company like Exotic come to our community. Those are the kind of businesses you want to bring. They’re good-paying jobs and they’ll be a good corporate citizen to our community.”