Quincy Compressor adds new level of reliability and customization ...

Quincy Compressor adds new level
of reliability and customization
with Siemens.
Out of thin air.
Life depends on it. Countless
businesses do too.
Air is a utility as vital to the
industrial production process
as electricity, gas, and water.
Compressed air can give a
single factory worker the
strength to do everything from
tightening a bolt to moving a
two-thousand-pound product
fresh off the assembly line.
“We all take air for granted
until it’s not there,” said
Steve Centers, the manager
of electrical engineering at
Quincy Compressor’s Bay
Minette, Alabama plant, a
major producer of commercialgrade
air compressors. “The
same thing is true of a lot of
manufacturing companies.
You’d be amazed how many
everyday items are made with
compressed air.”
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Brand name ice cream, latex gloves, contact lenses, laundry detergent
containers, automotive parts and hundreds of things are all produced with air
from Quincy’s rotary screw air compressors. Even NASA, oil rigs, equipment
makers, foundries, printing companies, and missile makers count on the
reliability and quality that’s become synonymous with Quincy.
“A furniture maker called our service department the other day to order a
replacement part for the compressor he bought from us in 1964. That level
of quality will put you right out of business,” Centers joked, referring to the
impressive longevity of Quincy’s compressors. Word-of-mouth referrals from
satisfied customers have driven the company’s growth for more than 80 years.
Quincy is constantly enhancing its line of compressors, but the firm is in the
midst of an unprecedented technological leap. The company has integrated
Siemens automation and control solutions into many of its models to take a
legendary commitment to reliability and speedy customization even higher.
“Downtime is not an option, so we’ve got to have the reliability of Siemens
control solutions in our machines,” Centers explained.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Quincy compressors often sit in the back room of a factory, where it may
be months before a routine maintenance check is done. It’s the ultimate
compliment for an equipment manufacturer.
“The fact that our machines often operate 24/7 out of sight and out
of mind speaks volumes about our quality and reliability, but even a Quincy
compressor needs a little maintenance once in a while,” said Centers,

Quincy Compressor adds
new level of reliability and
customization with
Siemens.
who has nearly 30 years of experience in the air
compressor industry. “Many factories are so lean today
they’ve got one person performing maintenance. Our
equipment must be able to give them a heads up so
they can schedule service and prevent problems.”
Quincy’s QSI, the Cadillac of air compressors, now
features the Siemens TP177B HMI [Human Machine
Interface], a virtual instrument panel that offers
flexibility on demand and a real-time window into the
compressor operation. As customer applications grow
in size and sophistication, the HMI, featuring Siemens
WinCC Flexible software, will enable the QSI compressor
to deliver more functionality and intelligence.
A built-in web interface allows the compressor to
automatically publish trending and operational data
directly from the onboard Siemens S7-200 series PLC
[Programmable Logic Controller] that’s running and
monitoring the Quincy compressor at every phase.
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If an air filter is clogged or pressure gets too high, for
example, the PLC will automatically alert maintenance
via email delivered to a laptop or cell phone. Quick-read
status updates can also be set up for daily or weekly
deliveries and stored on a server, helping Quincy
customers to monitor operations and avoid air compressor-related
plant shutdowns. With the PLC on board,
Quincy compressors can be tweaked on the fly and offer
plug-and-play integration with a customer’s SCADA
system.
Currently email is delivered using a Siemens 243IT
Ethernet module. But two powerful software upgrades
from WinCC Flexible called Siemens Smart Services
and Smart Access will soon offer a portal to detailed
email reports and remote access to a compressor from
anywhere.

Quincy Compressor adds new
level of reliability and
customization with Siemens.
“Emailed status reports cover
more than 20 parameters with
date stamped readings on
compressor conditions ranging
from hours of operation to
air and fluid temperatures,”
explained Centers. “It’s a reliable
snapshot of the compressor
operation for plant managers
and maintenance specialists
who are often too strapped
for time to proactively monitor
machines and do preventative
checkups. Now our machines
will tell them when they need
attention.”
Quincy compressors are quieter,
smaller, and more durable than
the devices built just a few years
ago, making them a perfect
fit for a coveted spot at the
heart of the factory floor. And
while some manufacturers may
stick with tradition and house
their compressors out of sight,
new advances ensure Quincy’s
newest machines will now
be top of mind when it really
counts.
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www.sea.siemens.com
Customized Efficiency
“This is next generation stuff and thanks to Siemens we’re able to
take customization to a whole new level by offering a high level
of control affordably and effectively. That’s sweet,” said Eric Blaha,
one of the crack engineers on Centers’ team using Siemens’ Step 7
programming platform to develop new innovations at Quincy.
“Today a customer may not think they need to see their compressor
on their desktop or network machines together, but sure enough
they’ll call for those capabilities someday soon and that key
functionality will already be programmed in.”
“By moving away from do-it-yourself, proprietary control and into
the PLC world with Siemens, Quincy has opened the door to exciting
possibilities for our customers,” explained Centers, who holds a
host of patents for the development of homemade, embedded
control systems that ran many of Quincy’s compressor products for
more than 15 years. “Embedded control parts become obsolete on
a regular basis, so we were constantly trying to find replacement
parts. We would often find ourselves all alone in supporting our
own control solution, and now we’ve got Siemens behind us.”
That’s very important to the control engineering group responsible
for giving Quincy an edge in a competitive market. On top of
day-to-day duties, tracking the latest breakthroughs that might add
value and user-friendly advancements to a Quincy compressor could
be a daunting challenge – without help.
“Without the support of Siemens, it would be a stretch for us to get
everything done,” said Centers, referring to overall Siemens
assistance and the local aide provided by Siemens’ senior sales
engineer Bryan Swearingen. “Bryan is well versed in what we’re
building here, so he’s able to keep us informed of new Siemens
products that may help us fulfill our vision of customized efficiency
at Quincy. He brought the Siemens PLC and HMI to our attention,
for example, and they’re having a tremendous impact on our
product line and our customers’ ability to do what they need to do
in an evolving business world.”

Quincy Compressor adds new level of
reliability and customization with Siemens.
Keep it Simple
“The Siemens S7-200 series PLC is a real
workhorse, and it’s enabling Quincy’s
workhorse air compressors to meet growing
customer demand for smart efficiencies,”
said Bryan Swearingen, who personally
ensures Quincy’s control system parts
inventory is always stocked on the assembly
floor. “As Quincy’s machines become more
innovative and deliver more capabilities,
Siemens controllers and touch screens
keep them simple to operate, monitor, and
maintain.”
Trending screens offer up easy to read
graphs and charts fed by data gathered
from the PLC over a period of time. If a
manufacturer discovers it needs to expand
compressor capacity, the solution is simple.
The Siemens PLC on board the overworked
compressor can be linked with as many
as 16 additional PLC-controlled Quincy
compressors on a single network.
“Our customers can build on their wise
investment in Quincy compressors and
easily network in additional machines as
their business and production grows,”
explained Centers, noting that Quincy
backs its line of user-friendly, rotary screw
compressors with one of the best warranties
in the business. ”Siemens plays a huge
role in our ability to keep it simple for our
customers who use our compressors and
our engineers who design them.”
“Siemens WinCC Flexible offers a much
more streamlined HMI development. It’s
simpler and let’s me develop in stages,”
explained Blaha, whose desk looks more
like a high-tech experiment as he works
on integrating a series of Siemens touch
screens into Quincy’s product line. “I
couldn’t do a lot of what I want to do with
the product without Siemens. And to top
it off, I can meet my deadline and get the
product out the door on schedule. The
possibilities are limitless.”
“Quincy has built a real differentiator with
customization and Siemens has enabled us
to further that edge,” said Paul Moffat, a
Quincy engineer who played a key role in
the company’s homemade control systems
and now sees huge benefits with Siemens.
“The Siemens PLCs and HMIs give us some
real off-the-shelf flexibility and reliability
that’s readily available worldwide.”
Quincy uses its own technology in the
production of its compressors. Air lines
dangle from the rafters high above feeding
everything from wrenches to skids. At
first glance, assembly tech Charles Bell
looks like Superman, as he pushes a 1500
pound compressor to the paint shop for a
signature coat of Quincy blue. Look closer
and you’ll see that big machine is floating
on a cushion of Quincy air. “I’m just guiding
the compressor and letting the air do all the
work. Think of all the Wheaties I’d have to
eat to do this on my own,” laughed Bell.
“Thanks to our partnership with Siemens,
Quincy compressors are top quality devices
and a top choice. We’ll eventually get
some service calls on the machines we’re
producing now, but the year will probably
be 2050,” said Centers. “Quincy compressors
and the control platform that runs them
offer unmatched reliability, and that’s no
hot air.”
It’s the simple truth about a market leader
born out of thin air.
Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
3333 Old Milton Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30005
1-800-964-4114
info.sea@siemens.com
www.sea.siemens.com
©2008 Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Siemens is a registered trademark of Siemens AG.
Product names mentioned may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
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