News & Projects
PROJECT: Not Just a Supplier of Air Compressors!
A leading Vauxhall mainline agent in Hampshire, which supplies new and used cars along with extensive vehicle servicing and repairs facilities including car body shops for full resprays contacted ACL Engineering Ltd.
This was due to a failure of their existing duty compressor which the existing service provider had failed to attend site to repair after 3 days of being notified!
A new body shop manager, with a back log of vehicles, was obviously concerned. Having dealt with ACL before in a previous company, decided to contact us, an engineer visited on the same day, identified the fault and within 24 hours the compressor was up and running again. This failure identified a lack of a standby air compressor/system.
As the existing machine was some 15+ years old, a new machine/system was requested to be quoted for by ACL with the existing unit becoming a standby machine. At the same time, the customer was also looking to expand their body shop facility with an additional vehicle booth and other facilities.
Whilst waiting for capital approval, ACL continued to maintain the existing plant via a service plan and carried out a compressed air energy audit to determine the existing compressed air usage.
Eventually, in the following January, the project started to progress, with a view to installing the new compressed air plant into a different building for the new requirement. However, the plans changed by March – due to various reasons and it was deemed that the new plant would have to be sited in the original plant location with the existing equipment.
Unfortunately, it was found that the existing compressor building, which was of a wooden construction, over 20 years old and had undergone various “modifications” over time, was in very poor condition due to rotten wood, a leaking roof & the access doors were missing.
Initially, the view was that it was beyond economical repair & that a completely new enclosure would be needed – either wooden, brick, GRP or metal. This hadn’t been allowed for in any budget and provisional costs were high, to say the least.
Fortunately, ACL Engineering were able to call upon their own specialist contacts, who reviewed the existing building and concluded that with some major repairs and a new roof, the main body of the building could be used/retained at a far lower cost than a new enclosure.
Knowing that the repair cost for the building could now be met within the budget for the entire project, the customer decided to go ahead with ACL Engineering for the supply of a new compressed air system.
In May, an order was received for a new, energy saving Atlas Copco VSD+ air compressor c/w integral air dryer, air receiver, filters, condensate system, AIRnet pipe work, all building repair work including a galvanised hot air discharge ductwork
This equipment was installed in July and ACL were able to maintain a compressed air supply whilst all building repair works were carried out and new/existing equipment was installed.
The customer is now benefiting from a compressor which is saving around 50% electrical energy over his previous, existing 15kw fixed speed compressor but also has the peace of mind that they now have a 100% standby facility.
No downtime in the event of a failure and no back log in the body shop!!
The customer is now looking at even more peace of mind and reduced operating costs by taking out the manufacturer-backed, 7 year Guardian Fixed Price Service & Warranty Plan.
To discuss how we can help improve your air systems, call 01923 913639 or email infoacl@aclengineering.co.uk
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