Informed Buyers, Increased Awareness and Preference, Vigorous R&D Program, End User Converts,Industry Leading Support, Life Cycle Aspects Drive Inpro/Seal To Record Bearing Isolator Results
ROCK ISLAND, IL, January 16, 2006 - Inpro/Seal Company, the Rock Island, IL, based manufacturer of bearing isolators reports record sales for calendar year 2005. In addition, the company reports that advance orders, shipments and projections are far ahead of last year.
Dynamics
Though a number of factors come into play, the firm attributes much of this extraordinary success to: an installed product/installation base fast approaching two million; direct customer feedback; a vigorous R & D program; an engineering data bank of over 58,000 designs that assures same day delivery at no extra charge; and an "educate and inform" marketing approach that has lead to a dramatic increase in acceptance for for the Inpro/Seal brand.
Product Enhancements From A Very Active R & D Program
Their R & D program, conducted from the worlds largest campus devoted to bearing isolation technology, continues to develop new products and enhancements to existing products that increase plant productivity with measurable bottom line results. To illustrate how active their R & D is, these are a few examples announced during 2005:
o MGS Motor Grounding Seal - a revolutionary new product that stops the damaging effects caused by destructive residual shaft currents on AC motors. Specifically developed for VFD controlled motor applications, the MGS prevents pitting, fluting, fusion craters and eliminates catastrophic motor failure while permanently protecting bearings from contamination.
o Articulating Powder Seal - Inpro/Seal now offers two sealing solutions the Air Mizer(TM)-PS and the Articulating Air Mizer(TM)- PS(TM) that provide a positive seal in applications were dry particulates, powders and bulk solids are handled, processed, packaged and stored.
o Oil Mist - significant enhancements and improvements were made to their tried and proven oil mist bearing isolator, renaming it the OM 32 Oil Mist Bearing Isolator Series. The OM 32 is the only known method that solves housekeeping issues to contain and keep stray most from entering the environment.
o VBXX-MT(TM) Series Bearing Isolators - offers machine tool users protection from coolant, chips, humidity and heat, that can cause spindle malfunction and expensive, unscheduled downtime. The highest performance is assured with a reverse interface that avoids direct impingement of coolant and chips.
o Plus -the only product that protects rolling element bearings on paper machines from the wet end to the dry end; IEEE-841 motors that use bearing isolators as part of their specification and the standard for bearing protection; ad hoc designs for gear boxes, axial shaft movement and one of a kind projects and more.
Important To Educate And Inform
According to David C. Orlowski, President and founder of Inpro/Seal Company and considered by many as the "father" of bearing isolation technology, "More and more lip seal users at the plant maintenance level (and above) have learned that there are misconceptions when it comes to sealing devices and that contact seals are not the only option when it comes to protecting bearings."
Orlowski continued, "Over the last couple of years, we have conducted extensive research into the use of bearing protection on a market-by-market, application by application basis and found that people wanted to know more about bearing isolators. As a direct result, in 2005 we published a brochure entitled Introduction To Bearing Isolators...... A Short Lesson In Bearing Isolation which has become the most successful literature we have ever developed."
Maintenance People Are Fast Becoming Converts To Bearing Isolators
Orlowski went on to say that, "When lip seals were first introduced over 70 years ago, they were the only kind of sealing device available. Convenient and inexpensive, they went on to capture a 99% market share. Today, lip seal manufacturers state that at best, they have a median, average life cycle of 1,844 hours or 77 days of operation, though some may survive up to 3,000 hours. This means that, in the real world, lip seals are not meant for heavy duty, industrial applications where rotating equipment is designed to run, uninterrupted for five years. Once end users find out that bearing isolators provide levels of protection unavailable in any kind of bearing protection device with bottom line implications, they get fed up with the 70 year old technology they had been using and quickly become an Inpro/Seal convert. Another in-demand brochure, Are Lip Seals Obsolete?, provides more in-depth information.
Energy Aspects
Orlowski concluded, "When engaged with a rotating shaft, each contact seal, (lip seal and face seal) consumes, on average, 147 watts of power while operating. To show how significant this is, a plant with 600 operating pumps, can run up annual costs in excess of $117,000 for energy to drive the lip seals. Add to that the costs associated with downtime and you can again see why more and more end users are switching to Inpro/Seal bearing isolators."
More On Motors
Since the Federal mandate for the use of premium efficiency motors (EPAct) was put into effect, more and more end users have opted for a significantly more reliable IEEE-841 Motor, developed by the Institute of Electrical Engineers. The IEEE-841 standard was written to establish additional guidelines to improve motor reliability, efficiency and performance. A very important feature of these motors is bearing protection. Realizing that the most economical motor is one that runs reliably and the avoidance of a single motor failure more than pays for the entire motor, the IEEE-841 Motor has become an industry standard.
VBXX-D, The Next Generation
When Inpro/Seal introduced their original VBX(TM) series fifteen years ago, it provided end users with a way to eliminate the root cause of premature equipment failure - contamination entering the bearing environment - while increasing productivity and reliability in the process. Since then, hundreds of thousands have been installed in plants around the world. Today, the VBXX-D the next generation in bearing isolators has taken hold offering the latest and best non-contacting labyrinth sealing technology to improve plant uptime and reliability with an ROI that more than doubles previous results with levels of bearing protection previously unavailable.
Industry Leading Internet Support
Inpro/Seal has also invested heavily into web sites dedicated to the education of bearing isolation technology with much downloadable information. When an end user visits www.inpro-seal.com or www.bearingisolators.com they will find a wealth of information related to both Inpro/Seal and bearing protection, including: specific applications, case histories, data sheets, facts and questions, specifications and more. Interactive spreadsheets include a Cost Justification Worksheet and Contact Seal Energy Consumption Calculator. Simply to complete, an end user merely fills in the blank to calculate ROI and benchmark repair costs.
About Inpro/Seal
Inpro/Seal Company is the originator and the world's number one manufacturer of bearing isolators, used to protect motor and pump bearings, machine tool spindles, turbines, fans, gear boxes, paper machine rolls and many other types of rotating equipment. Additional applications include the sealing, handling, processing, packing and storage of dry particulates, powders and bulk solids.
Nearly two million of Inpro/Seal's original bearing isolator designs are in operation in process plants worldwide, where end users continue to report significantly reduced operating costs with increased productivity and reliability. Protected bearings have proven to run 150,000 hours (17 years) or more, eliminating the need for costly maintenance and repair. Documented cases show that a plant can more than double the mean-time-between failure (MTBF) and reduce maintenance costs by at least half, with users reporting an extremely high ROI.
As the recognized global leader in bearing isolator technology, Inpro products are marketed to the aerospace, automotive, petroleum, refining, nuclear, power generation, metalworking, food processing, grain processing, chemical, water, wastewater treatment, metalworking, hydrocarbon processing, HVAC, pulp and paper, mining, mineral, ore processing and general industrial markets.
Signoff
For more information on Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators, including "Introduction To Bearing Isolators", "Are Lip Seals Obsolete?" or a complete CD interactive package, contact: Terri Hageman at: Inpro/Seal Company, P.O. Box 3940, Rock Island, Illinois 61204. Phone numbers are: (800) 447-0524 or (309) 787-4971. Fax number is: (309) 787-6114. Website: www.inpro-seal.com or www.bearingisolators.com
Inpro/Seal®, the Inpro/Seal logo and other Inpro/Seal marks are registered® names owned by Inpro/Seal. Air Mizer(TM)- PS; Air Mizer(TM)- PS; Articulating Air Mizer(TM)- PS; Motor Grounding Seal (MGS) (TM): OM 32(TM); STS(TM); VBX(TM); VBXX (TM); VBXX-D(TM); VBX-S(TM); VBX-H(TM); VBXX-D(TM) and other trademarks are the property of Inpro/Seal. For more information about Inpro/Seal and its products, visit the Company's web site at www.inpro-seal.com or its companion site www.bearingisolators.com
Search Engine Information
Inpro/Seal Reports Record Sales
R & D Leads To New Bearing Isolator Designs
Bearing Isolators Increase Plant Productivity
Educated Buyers Prefer Inpro/Seal
Eliminate Stray Emissions In Oil Mist
Dry Sealing System For Powders, Particulates
Protect Machine Tool Spindles From Coolant, Humidity
Only Product That Protects Paper Machine Bearings
Lip Seal Misconceptions Now Known
Contact Seals Not Only Sealing Option
New MGS Seal Prevents Shaft Current Damage
Lip Seals May Be Obsolete
Save Energy By Not Using Lip Seals
Bearing Protection Adds To Bottom Line
Lip Seals Consume Unnecessary Energy
Lip Seals: Shortest Life Of Any Sealing Device
Bearing Isolators Never Wear Out
More End Users Switch To Bearing Isolators
IEEE Motors With Bearing Isolators Now The Standard
Bearing Protected Motor Is Industry Standard
Web Sites Educate About Bearing Isolators
Downloadable Bearing Isolator Spreadsheets
Lip Seal Energy Consumption Calculator
New Shaft Grounding Seal Eliminates VFD Motor Failure
FROM: FOR:
The Mark Baker Company INPRO/SEAL Company
4124 Quebec Avenue N #307 P.O. Box 3940
Minneapolis, MN 55427 Rock Island, IL 61204
mbakadv@earthlink.net dco@inpro-seal.com
Mark Baker (763) 537-7540 David C. Orlowski (800) 447-0524
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
