By Diane Silcock
AIR quality in food and beverage manufacturing is paramount. Utilising Rand-Air oil-free air compressors, which are Class Zero certified, is essential to avoid oil contamination.
Jeopardising food safety would be catastrophic for any organisation in this industry, leading to production downtime, lost revenue and irreversible brand reputation damage.
Rand-Air (part of the global Atlas Copco group), the industry leader in specialty industrial rental equipment, has been providing their expertise in the Food & Beverage (F&B) space for over 50 years and fully understands the challenges faced by companies in the industry.
Besides air compressors, Rand-Air also rents specialised generators, steam boilers, chillers and pumps to various industries.
Rand-Air oil-free air compressors: Certified air purity
Daryn Jack, Rand-Air’s business development manager, has extensive experience in the compressor industry having been with Atlas Copco for 10 years prior to transferring to Rand-Air. He says, “The benefit of Rand-Air being part of the Atlas Copco group is that we have an extensive range of the most up-to-date equipment geared towards efficiency and energy/fuel savings. Our oil-free electric and diesel driven air compressors are ISO 8573-1 Class Zero certified, the international standard for air purity.”
Ensuring compliance through Rand-Air oil-free air compressors
Rand-Air’s certifications and accreditations include ISO 22000 (food safety), and ISO 22001 (contaminant-free systems). This means that F&B customers utilising their oil-free compressors, are assured of complete peace of mind concerning their production processes and end-products.
Jack says F&B manufacturers should be cautious when opting for air compressors that do not meet these standards. He also debunks the term ‘technically oil-free’ saying: “There is no such thing. A compressor is either 100% oil-free or oil-injected. With oil-injected compressors, air is passed through filters to remove oil particles. This is too risky as traces of oil can remain in the system causing contamination of the end-product.
“Rand-Air oil-free compressors are 100% oil free and Class Zero certified, which is the highest standard for air purity and trusted globally for sensitive applications in industries where even the smallest trace of oil is unacceptable.”
He adds that with stricter industry regulations coming into force, companies will be required to upgrade to certified oil-free compressors.
Tailored solutions with Rand-Air oil-free air compressors
As a solutions provider, Rand-Air is customer-focused, offering technical support and industry expertise. “It’s most important to view the customer’s property, to walk the plant with face-to-face engagement,” says Jack. “This is critical to understanding what the customer currently has on site, what their need is, and where our equipment is going to be utilised so that we can tailor an optimal solution.”
With many companies not having contingency plans in place or backup compressors, Rand-Air is fully geared toward unplanned emergencies when the customer experiences a breakdown. “We have a rule of thumb that our technicians have to be onsite within four hours with a machine or to repair one of our machines. We have over 40 technicians countrywide who are certified to service and maintain our rental equipment 24/7.”
Rand-Air oil-free air compressors: Reliability and maintenance
Rand-Air takes full responsibility for its rented equipment to ensure it runs optimally at all times. Planned maintenance schedules are in place and compressors are remotely monitored in real-time using advanced technology, thereby allowing for early warning fault detection.
Jack concludes, “Technology offers a massive advantage to companies renting our equipment, as it enables us and the customer to continually monitor machine operation, thereby optimising plant operations and reducing downtime.”
