Executive Summary

When a leading India-based power equipment rental company had a demand for compressed air in the construction & mining industry, it reached out to ELGi. The company has procured hundreds of exceptional air compressors to date, which has helped grow its rental customer base across industries.

Overview of the Industry

Construction & Mining activities are the backbone of all industries and contribute significantly to a country’s economy. However, they are prone to fluctuations due to the frequent rise and dip in demand, geopolitics and recently the pandemic. That said, sustained efforts by countries and their economic boosters ensure a steady need for machinery. According to ICRA,1 the Mining and Construction Equipment industry was estimated to grow by 15-20% in 2021.

Though the projected growth applies primarily to manufacturers, indirect demand can accelerate the growth of auxiliary equipment providers too.

The Construction and Mining industry is labour intensive, equipment-driven, and requires dependable machinery that performs in demanding environments. Due to heavy capital investment, changing nature, demand for machinery, dynamic market conditions, and high need for proactive maintenance, corporations prefer hiring or leasing equipment over owning them.

About the Company

Our customer is the leading provider of power and cooling equipment in India, has 35+ years of experience and 500+ employees. The company provides high-end generators, transformers, air conditioners, chillers, compressors, load banks, fuel tanks, etc on rent. They offer turnkey solutions for short and long-term customer needs, catering to different sectors, including construction, mining, oil & gas, and food & beverage.

Based in 450 locations, the company has 350+ customers across India, catering to the needs of critical infrastructure development in the country. They focus on maintaining leadership in the energy equipment rental space. They achieve this by continuously upgrading their equipment and providing the latest, cutting-edge, ready-to-install equipment – while ensuring high reliability.

Our client’s equipment plays a critical role in the operations and overall productivity of their customers, placing a high demand for perfect rented or leased equipment. To achieve this aim, they procure only the best-in-market equipment for their customers. Providing quality after-sales service is equally critical to maintaining their market reputation while catering to the robust customer demand.

Customer Challenge

The company’s construction & mining customers use heavy machinery and frequently operate in remote locations in adverse conditions. The labour-intensive nature of the industry requires the best equipment and operations safety while ensuring high productivity.

Core processes like running ventilation systems, powering critical on-site pneumatic tools, lifting and handling operations, site cleaning and digging, and heavy-duty blasting require a steady flow of compressed air. Operations come to a standstill when these conditions are not met. Thus, it is imperative to provide 100% reliable air compressors as an operations and safety requirement.

Business Solution

The customer initially approached ELGi to procure two air compressors (ELGi PG600-230 and PG450-150) in 2018. As the demand for compressed air increased, the company procured hundreds of air compressors from ELGi over the next three years.

This exponential increase was also because ELGi provided immediate fulfilment and on-time service. ELGi air compressors helped the team meet demands at customer facilities while ensuring technical and industrial compliance at application sites.

After the initial satisfaction with the ELGi’s equipment and service quality, the company acquired the complete range of ELGi portable air compressors (both diesel and electric models) from 300 CFM to 1100 CFM free air delivery capacities. ELGi has also supplied two oil-free ELGi OF 275 screw air compressors for deployment at two customer sites in the food & beverages and oil & gas segments.

Business Benefits

The swift support provided by ELGi for new equipment procurement and on-site maintenance at end-consumer sites across India, satisfied our client’s expectations. Here are some benefits of choosing ELGi:

Increased Customer Demand: The authentic performance of ELGi air compressors at end-consumer sites has led to more orders for air compressor rentals.

Better Customer Satisfaction and Equipment reliability: With rented air compressors, the client ensures higher uptime and reduction in downtime for its customers.

Business Growth: Due to its successful venture into the air compressor rental business in the construction and mining sectors, the client is presently exploring opportunities in the oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, general engineering, and food and beverage industries. Our client also aims to offer oil-free air compressors to its customers.

Conclusion

“The rental industry is very promising and will boom once the pandemic is over. I’m confident that with ELGi’s technologically superior compressed air systems, along with our strong relationship with the ELGi team, we will be able to cater to the needs of our customers across various segments in the next few years. My mind is at peace as ELGi’s service team proactively takes care of our products at customer sites. I don’t worry about the service or downtime at all. By partnering with ELGi, I have taken the best decision at the right time,” said a representative of the client.

ELGi believes that ensuring a customer’s success determines ours and strives to provide superior equipment in the market. From procurement to after-sales service, ELGi takes pride in partnering with customers to ensure maximum productivity and reliability.

Like any other machine, air compressors need regular maintenance and periodic replacement of parts that get strained with continuous use. By changing the worn-out components in time, you can ensure optimal functioning and better durability of your unit while also saving time and money on unnecessary repairs. 

While these spare parts are often available in the market, and in many instances even come at attractive price-points, it is critical to procure your air compressor’s components only from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).  

Benefits you enjoy when you purchase only genuine parts:  

• Warranty – for repair, replacement or refund if the part fails to function optimally  
• High product quality  
• Longer lifespan  
• Higher productivity  
• More energy savings  
• High reliability  
• Ease of service and maintenance  

Let’s take a look at the parts that need to be replaced or replenished for the commonly used rotary screw air compressors:  

Dust filters and oil separators  

The air & oil filters and the oil separators are critical parts of air compressors as they prevent damage and performance loss caused by dirt in the internal system.  

Dust particles from inlet air can damage your air compressor’s rotors. This can reduce the quantity of compressed air delivered to associated tools, with continuous energy consumption.  

Dust also lowers the lifespan of the air compressor element and the oil separator. When it gets mixed with the oil that lubricates the rotary screw air compressor, the oil becomes impure and less effective.  

Additionally, dust harms the bearings and the bearing housing, negatively impacting the air compressor element and may even lead to element seizure. 

Therefore, it is essential to use only genuine air compressor filters and oil separators when it is time to replace the originally-fitted units. Such filters have strong dirt reduction capabilities. They are devised to endure high operating pressures and fluctuating temperatures while maintaining efficient performance with low power consumption.  

Airline filter cartridge   

If you replace your air compressor’s line filter cartridge with a counterfeit piece, it will reduce the filter’s efficiency and allow dirt particles to enter the air network. This will result in pressure drops and high energy consumption by the compressed air system.  

Using a non-genuine filter cartridge will also result in more frequent replacements or repairs, leading to a higher total lifecycle cost of the air compressor. Hence, always insist on buying genuine airline filters.  

Lubricating oil 

A key consumable in oil-based air compressors, is that the lubricating oil absorbs heat while also safeguarding the unit from dust accumulation and rusting.  

While some users have a notion that ‘any oil’ can be used for lubrication, the fact is that a poor quality oil reduces the durability of an air compressor. If oil greases the system components ineffectively, it can cause the formation of sediment in oil circuits and over the moving parts. Such developments increase the risk of oil oxidation and corrosion of metal parts in the compressed air system. 

Using genuine oil or lubricating fluid offered by your air compressor supplier can ensure effective lubrication, prevent equipment breakdown and derive better performance from your rotary screw air compressor.  

Authentic air compressor oil combines the finest quality of case oil with required amounts of additives that make the product suitable for lubricating an industrial compressed air system.  It is viscous at low temperatures and has high oxidation resistance. 

With a genuine lubricating oil, you will need to top-up less frequently, have lower disposal cost, require less maintenance and face lesser downtime incidents.  

Important points for you to take note: 

Besides procuring spare parts and consumable fluids from OEMs and recognised suppliers, it is also critical to have a proper service kit comprising the hand tools for safe replacement of parts, and for best results, you should get your compressed air system serviced only by experienced repair personnel.  

ELGi offers a range of industrial-grade air compressors for reliable functioning. We also provide bona fide spares that maximise the uptime of your air compressor system and reduce operating costs. With our Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC), you get the assurance of always getting compatible and long-lasting parts along with on-time service by professionals. To know more about our solutions, visit https://www.elgi.com/in/services-parts/ 

Issues such as oil carryover, air leaks, filter clogs, and inadequate lubrication are all warning signs of a gradually failing system. While all air compressor manufacturers recommend carrying out scheduled maintenance checks mandatorily, not recognizing the symptoms associated with certain issues can also lead to system failures.

So, does that mean that it is possible to identify the exact problem by simply observing the preliminary symptoms? In most cases, yes, it is.

For a customer, it is important that the functioning of a downstream equipment that relies on compressed air is not disturbed. Hence, efficient and smart troubleshooting is mandatory to save time and money. By closely observing the symptoms, we can anticipate the nature of the problem. Data must be collected, verified, and ascertained properly in order to arrive at a conclusion.

The most reported issues of an air compressor are:

1. Pressure not building up or not loading
2. High temperature and tripping
3. Not understanding alarming and warning signals in the controller
4. Tripping with high sump pressure
5. Oil leakages
6. Moisture condensation observed at utility point

Most of the problems can be identified through self-diagnosis of the following:

Oil levels and colour

As per industry reports, India is expected to become the world’s 3rd largest construction market by 2022. Furthermore, increasing the development of the National Highways and initiatives like “Smart City Mission” provide attractive opportunities and drives the growth of this sector.

Concrete batching plants have become an essential machinery and we can’t imagine any construction site without it. In the construction industry, producing high quality concrete in the right amount and delivering it on time is a challenging task. The right quality of concrete increases the reliability of any construction and this is being achieved with concrete batching plants.

Have we ever thought what is driving the concrete batching plants to deliver the right quality concrete on time? Yes, it’s compressed air!

Let us understand the concrete batching plant briefly before going into the usage of compressed air in its operation.