Are your valves performing as well as other valves? Here's how to tell.

"There's an App for That"

TLD Software Compares Valve Performance

Valve performance can make a significant difference in your application. How do you compare and measure it? 

The sales engineers at FPE Automation all have a useful application in their arsenal of evaluation tools, to do just that. It's called TLD. 

Today at FPE Automation, Sunset Hills, MO: Steve Carrera,
Cody Schmelzle and Kurt Vaeth work in the pneumatic
lab using the MAC TLD app.

With TLD, you can read scope traces and plot valve performance. It gives you application-critical data. Even milliseconds can count, in big ways. Are there other valves on the market that are faster than yours? Let the data determine the results, so you can have peace of mind that this particular aspect of your operations is as optimized as possible. 

You can learn more about TLD software here. If you would like an on-site test, reach out to FPE Automation to schedule. 

An independent energy audit recommends MAC Pulse Valves and FPE Automation's Art Gesell wins Distributor of the Month

Congratulations to FPE Automation's Art Gesell - MAC Valves Distributor of the Month award winner! 

This story begins with an independent contractor who was hired to do an energy audit for a large, local plant. The contractor was familiar with MAC pulse valves, and their reputation for energy savings and efficiency. 

Art Gesell has been working with engineers at this particular plant, a large manufacturer of glass bottles, for quite some time on other projects. 

As part of the energy audit, the contractor asked Art to present MAC pulse valve technology. Art did a demo using the MAC pulse valve animation and pulse valve demo case for the group. They were impressed with the technology.

"The contractor was familiar with MAC pulse valves, and their reputation for energy savings and efficiency."

The contractor works often with the local energy company in Illinois on energy-saving projects. If a certain amount of energy can be saved, the energy utility will reimburse the cost of the components. That had a big impact on the ROI of the project to the customer. 

After initiating a plan with the customer, Art and FPE Automation's Scott Massie (FPE MAC Valve Specialist) installed the first nine PV03 valves. After they ran for a few months, the customer was so impressed with the cleaning pulse, lack of maintenance issues, and no leakage, that they decided to change over the entire batch house, where the extremely fine glass powder is very tough on diaphragms and filters.

The next step was to come in and audit this area of the plant. Justin Yochem (MAC Project Engineer) joined Art and Scott on the audit. They are replacing 74 additional valves in the batch house. Later, the group was then informed that there are another 83 pulse valves in the mold shop and machine repair area that they would like to swap out. 

MAC pulse valves: efficiency and savings that speaks for itself. 

This month: Packaging machinery gets a reboot, and FPE Automation gets recognition.

Robotic Advances in the Packaging Machinery/OEM Vertical

By: Sandia Harrison

This month, FPE Automation is happy to announce more wins on PHD Incorporated's Top Performer Award list than ever before. FPE made the list a record-setting eleven times!

Packaging machinery manufacturers are a big part of this sudden surge in award-winning innovations. I interviewed my colleague, FPE Automation's Joe Judge, an instrumental member of the team behind these engineering advances in the packaging vertical. Here's what he had to say.

"PHD's robotic end-of-arm-tooling (EOAT) was used on high-speed industrial robots. We know that packaging machinery has evolved, and is evolving. Robotics solved some pain points and made the processes more efficient. These new innovations represent next-generation packaging equipment. The solution included both standard and custom products."

Packaging Equipment 

Engineering has to meet certain, strict criteria to be award-winning. This solution certainly did.

This manufacturer was creating robot cells, with two robots per cell. However, the initial gripping tooling wasn't performing well. 

FPE Automation presented PHD's EOAT as a solution. We were able to document that it would:

• Be more reliable
• Last longer
• Come with a warranty
• Feature easy-to-use sizing tools and other product advantages
• Be available without extensive lead times

According to Joe, there were slightly-lower cost options out there, but the customer ultimately selected PHD because the EOAT, which is such a critical part of the process, performed reliably, in addition to all of the above advantages. 

If OEM machinery is your business, we'd like to help you optimize, modernize, streamline and work more efficiently. There has never been a charge for an assessment. Feel free to reach out to us with your thoughts. We'll discuss your ideas and concepts with you and come up with a plan. 

As businesses struggle with labor shortages and supply chain constraints: What is the FPE Automation advantage?

Why trust FPE as your industrial automation partner? 

Don't automate to survive.
Automate to thrive.

Trust FPE Automation.
Here's why. 

Knowledge

Have you found that virtually everyone in our industry has a tendency to talk up their technical expertise? This is for a few reasons. First and foremost, automation demands it. Solutions need to be effective and precise. Accomplishing that takes a great deal of technical prowess. You can't afford to place your trust in a partner who will not come through for you. There is too much at stake.  

However, if you have ever started to dig deeper into some of the companies out there peddling solutions like these, sadly, you may have discovered thin market coverage & job vacancies, inexperienced employees, too-heavy reliance on partner support, and not enough in-house expertise. Industry is changing. Too often nowadays, there are too many questions... and too few answers. 

Not at FPE Automation. We have an entire team of expert engineers ready to assist you. Companies that can say the same are few and far between. 

We like to say we "live and work in the community we serve". The best part about this outstanding team? They're local to you, and have the ability to stop by and help.

Inventory

Supply chain headaches are nothing new, and today's manufacturing landscape is more difficult than ever to navigate. 

While FPE Automation can't singlehandedly solve a global problem, we can tell you that we have been a stocking distributor since 1963. SCARA, 6-axis and Collaborative Robots are in stock and ready to ship at FPE Automation today. This alone sets us apart from the competition. 

Friendly, Helpful Staff

Even with recent growth and the addition of several new team members, FPE Automation is able to boast an incredible average of 11.4 years on the job. We have a whopping 25 individuals who have been employed at FPE for 10 or more years! Our team makes FPE Automation a great place to work. Our low turnover means you're not a stranger. Our people can get to know your people... and your business. 

Flexible programs designed for you

At FPE Automation, we recognize that a cookie-cutter approach to automation is usually a recipe for failure. No two companies are alike. We discovered long ago that a true partnership means leveraging your strengths, as well as ours. Take a look at our Handshake Solutions concept. Put simply, it places the options in your hands. 

Why is this a successful, growing area of our business? Simply put, it is what you require to get automation projects successfully off the ground. What is it? Our goal is for Handshake Solutions to be exactly what you need it to be, no more and no less. For the latest, catch what's trending at:  #fpehandshakesolutions

World-class products

It may go without saying, but this write-up wouldn't be complete without the highest accolades to the manufacturers that we call valued partners. All the expertise in the world won't matter if products are sub-standard and fail. FPE Automation is proud to have established award-winning, long-term partnerships with brands you trust.

Award-winning performance

Let's face it: in engineered applications, sales-y talk is cheap. Success is entirely based on measurable results. We know this. Our customers know it too, and so do our supplier partners. 

In our industry, awards are given only for real accomplishments. We have received virtually all of our industry's top awards, some of them multiple times. While a trophy or plaque might not be important, everything it symbolizes certainly is. 

Community

We're local in our roots. Our friends and family live, work, shop, and go to school in the area. FPE Automation understands the importance of giving back. We have ongoing programs to help foster engineering talent in our region. Our outreach is mainly focused on students. We also work with veterans, local villages and towns, and several non-for-profit organizations committed to education, Federal grants, funding, and jobs in the region. Follow #fpegivesback for more. 

AI and Robotics in Elk Grove Village: FPE Automation Opens New Automation Facility

Introducing FPE Automation's Newest Facility: Handshake Solutions

FPE Automation has opened a state-of-the-art automation facility in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Local since 1963, this is the company's third location in a village nationally known as a hub of innovation and technology.

FPE Automation is an industry leader in advanced industrial technology. Working with the region's local companies both large and small, they realized that businesses were facing hurdles entering into the new age of automation. On the other hand, if those same businesses did not take advantage of at least some of the recent advances in automation, they would have a difficult time remaining competitive and retaining workers. 

Also apparent were the vast differences in companies in terms of how much in-house expertise they had to implement the automation they needed. Some had impressive teams of world-class engineers on staff, ready to drop vision systems and robotics into production. Others, quite simply, didn't know where to start. Still others were so backlogged due to labor shortages, that they didn't have the bandwidth to handle such projects. 

On top of that, there are resources out there that companies should not miss out on. For example, IMEC and Cook County recently announced that Federal grants are available to reimburse businesses for automation expenses. 

It appeared that the only thing missing was a team to tie it all together. You can read the full story about FPE Automation's Handshake Solutions here.

FPE Automation Handshake Solutions is Launched

Originally housed at the corporate HQ in Elk Grove Village, Handshake Solutions quickly got off the ground with innovative projects building robot cells, marking/reading stations and more. Local businesses quickly discovered that the program, offered free of charge to FPE Automation customers, was just the thing they needed to fully leverage automation and all of the advantages that come with it. 

Soon, the Handshake Solutions team was out of physical space. 

FPE Automation Once Again Puts Hometown Elk Grove Village on the Map for Innovation & Technology 

In 2022, the new facility, located at 350 Kent Avenue, was opened. There, visitors can see working industrial automation demos like the ones pictured here. 

The Wrong Gripper Can Cause the Entire Application to Fail: Spotlight on PHD Precision Grippers

Spotlight on PHD Precision Grippers: 

This month, PHD Inc. recognized FPE Automation for their efforts in three separate applications. One was the manufacturing of large, heavy items. Another involved robot cells and pick and place. The part was small in this instance, the robots were picking up castings. The third was in the packaging machinery sector. 

"Even when everything else is engineered to perfection, the wrong gripper can cause the entire application to fail."

You may ask, what do these processes have in common? They're as different as they can be. The answer: each has a crucial need for precise gripping.

Precision gripping is an area where the experts at FPE Automation, using PHD's superior products can, quite literally, help you to "get a grip" :-)

We know, there are a lot of players in this market space. However, when accuracy and reliability are key, the list becomes very short. PHD Inc. is on that shortlist. They can deliver precision grippers for applications large and small.

Don't let slip-ups be the weak link in your engineering chain. Rely on PHD so that you can have confidence that your parts will be handled as you intended them to be. 

SCARA, 6-axis and Collaborative Robots Are In Stock and Ready to Ship at FPE Automation

Are long lead times getting in the way of your automation plans? 

Ideas can only become a reality when the items you order arrive at your door. With global supply chain delays, it's great to know that FPE Automation has robots in stock and ready to ship to you. • Collaborative Robots: In stock at FPE Automation. • SCARA Robots: In stock at FPE Automation and at the factory. Starting $7,895 with controller. • 6-axis Robots: In stock at FPE Automation and at the factory. Starting at $14,595 with controller. FPE Automation is offering peace of mind in more ways than one, during these uncertain times.