PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2021

COMPRESSORS PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 03/21 www.petpla.net 41 to our clients during these challeng- ing times, we are filling the gap of trade-shows by organising numerous webinars dedicated to our products and services, as well as on-line customer conferences. PETplanet: Last year you launched the Vito Next on the market. Can you say a little bit about the development phase and the reasons for developing an improved generation of Vito com- pressors? Sandeep Gadkary: The develop- ment phase was crucial for Vito Next, not only because it took many months of design and prototype testing, but because it was also driven by care- ful and continuous listening to market requests, represented by the so-called “Voice of Customers”. Rather than engaging in months of linear product development, we focused on the ration- ale of how we can create value for our customers. We “stepped out of the box” to test our hypotheses and immedi- ately collected evidence from customer feedback. This process was reiterated using customers’ input to make further small adjustments until we had devel- oped a product they actually want. That task involved most of our company’s functions and departments: marketing, sales, R&D, the technical department, project management, operation & logis- tics, quality and purchasing. Keeping our product offering aligned with clients’ requirements was the real focus behind this development. One targeted challenge was to supply a fully connected compressor option not only for new units, but even for the existing population, through an hardware and software package tool (called “SiadMI4U”). SiadMI4U is a simple, connected device, which allows our clients to have an always-con- nected compressor package and also allows Siad MI to offer different levels of service, from remote monitoring to the full intelligent asset management of our customers. Another opportunity is key markets localisation, starting with China for markets in the Far East. PETplanet: Can you outline the specific improvements which have been made as a result of customer feedback? Sandeep Gadkary: As I mentioned before, the starting point was the Voice of Customers, whose main needs and drivers are price, performance, timely delivery and a fully satisfactory usage experience during the whole product life. Improving compression efficiency, performance and product usage experi- ence, anyway, is a continuous pursuit. In parallel to product upgrade, we continued improving our productivity through increasing the efficiency of our internal processes for PET compressors production, run simultaneously and with same procedures and quality standards both in Italy and in China. PETplanet: What other improve- ments does the Vito Next have to offer compared to the previous model? Sandeep Gadkary: Together with the optimised performances of Vito Next, we developed different options for variable speed drives (VSDs), high efficiency motors, heat recovery sys- tems, reduced package vibrations, “zero noise” solution, and, as I mentioned, the SiadMI4U tool, valid for the whole Siad MI product range, which results in an always-digitally connected compressor package. Ultimately, the efficiency and extended lifetime achievement are the distinguishing features of Vito Next: a very low energy-intensive compressor built to last and for increased uptime and availability. PETplanet: Specifically, through which features could energy savings be achieved? Sandeep Gadkary: The first energy saving is provided by the improved efficiency of the compressor itself, thanks to an optimised fluido-dynamic design of our Vito Next compressors. Then, there are other features in the package, which contribute to the whole system efficiency: the first of these is from the energy recovery with usable heat of the compressor’s cooling water at around 80°C; another source is from the installation of high efficiency motors, which can result in a 2-3% reduction of the whole energy required compared with the use of standard motors; last, but not least, is the installation of a VSD into the compression package, to follow variable compressed air capacity requirements, which could then provide additional savings of up to 20% com- pared with the traditional “intermittent full load/no load” running system. PETplanet: How does the compres- sor react to the varying demand of an SBM machine with regard to the energy supply? Sandeep Gadkary: VSD is indeed the real feature for this task on Vito Next. As mentioned before, its instal- lation represents the most efficient way to factually “copy” the variable compressed air capacity requirements with a proportionally variable compres- sor running speed, and consequently a proportionally variable power usage, in a much less power-consuming way than the traditional “intermittent full load/ no load” system when a compressor always runs at nominal speed. PETplanet: In addition to the large item “energy”, it is parts prone to wear such as those in contact with the cyl- inders that are charged as operating costs. Have these also been taken into account in the improvements? Sandeep Gadkary: Of course com- pressor energy costs represents a major portion of the operating costs, or the so-called “Operating Expenses” (OPEX), and OPEX represents the largest portion of a compressor’s Total Cost of Owner- ship (TCO) during its whole expected life. So, we focused on energy efficiency and component life time during the development of the improved generation of Vito compressors. Listening to cus- tomer feedback we made a major shift in value creation and generated a cylin- der proprietary solution resulting in an unparalleled extension of the duration of the wear parts and compressor service life. We have successfully delivered top- notch performance and customer-proven solutions in the field of maintenance and operating costs reduction. I would like also to underline that, considering all the components to be taken into account to evaluate TCO during a typical timeframe of 15 or 20 years, reciprocating compression tech- nology is more energy efficient and remains the best option vs. other tech- nologies, for high-pressure, oil-free air compression. Compressor room at a water bottling plant in North of Italy (courtesy of Acqua Sant’Anna S.p.A., Italy)