A survey of the compressed air installation at a major food manufacturer has led to significant cost savings
Annual savings of £86,000 on the running costs of the compressed air installation at the Carlisle plant of chilled ready meals producer Cavaghan & Gray are being made as a direct result of an air-leak survey carried out by ERIKS UK. Use of the latest ultrasonic leak detection technology made it possible for engineers from the ERIKS condition monitoring team to complete the comprehensive survey in just two days, without interrupting or even affecting the normal operations of the factory.
“Two aspects of our service were particularly appealing for Cavaghan & Gray,” said Mark Eagling of ERIKS. “The first was the ability of our detectors to find even the most unobtrusive of leaks quickly and easily. The second was the accurate and proven formula ERIKS has developed to relate data from the survey to the actual financial loss resulting from each individual leak.
“As well as unequivocally confirming the exceptional value delivered by the survey, the financial information provided by our formula also makes it easy to prioritise remedial work.”
While they were carrying out the survey, the ERIKS technicians were accompanied by a member of the Cavaghan & Gray maintenance staff. Not only did this ensure that no part of the compressed air installation was missed, it also meant that Cavaghan & Gray’s own terminology for machines and other plant could be used in the survey report, making it easy for the company to work with.
ERIKS' report included a photograph of every leak, together with comments on why the leak was occurring and detailed recommendations for remedial action, which in every case, was simple and inexpensive to carry out. Also included for each leak was information about its financial impact on the running costs of the compressed air system.
“With savings of £86,000 per year achieved, it might sound as if the compressed air installation in the factory was in poor condition,” said Eagling, “but the results are in fact fairly typical for a regularly maintained installation of this size.”
