Clean Air Solutions & Cost Savings

Vacuum-style abrasives are not new but understanding fully the benefit of using them can be foreign to manufacturers, beyond sweeping the shop less. Capturing dust as it is being created also means less "loading" on the abrasive face which extends the effectiveness of the abrasive and allows it to be used more completely. It is not unheard to use 3 or 4 times FEWER abrasives throughout a process and spend less time changing abrasives overall.

The buildup of dust on a work surface or even just a dust nib can cause rework and extend manufacturing timelines greatly. Chasing a swirl mark on your clearcoat or epoxy finish? There is a good chance it was caused by dust buildup. Dust can load on the disc or buildup on the work surface and will leave a witness mark throughout your work until the abrasive is changed and the work surface cleared of excessive buildup and reworked. Additionally, settling dust can be particularly difficult to manage. After a long day of sanding airborne dust can settle on painted, stained, or clear coated surfaces and will migrate throughout a facility through ductwork spreading the problem to unrelated areas throughout a facility.

When "time is money" clean air solutions are not often where manufacturers turn to start process improvement, but Clean Air Solutions should be near the top of the list. Utilizing vacuums in work cells where dust is being created is often most beneficial, most economical and requires less maintenance and interruption to other employees. Portable Raptor Vac® systems can go where ever the dust is being created, do not require ductwork throughout a facility and are easily maintained by an individual operator.
OSHA is working to eliminate dry sweeping as an option for clean-up. The act of sweeping can be the direct cause for creating suspended dust clouds in the air and developing the perfect storm for a potential dust explosion.

Developing a dust abatement plan for your facility will have benefits beyond the production floor. Containing dust promotes a healthy workplace and can prevent personal injury and lost production time. Secondarily clean air solutions will reduce dependence on other safety equipment like dust masks or respirators and their filters. Additionally, capturing dust before it can become airborne protects sensitive equipment from settling dust, which can cause a short in control panels requiring repairs and lost valuable production time.