Inpro/Seal announced that they have just completed their semi-annual sales/training conference. Held at their Rock Island headquarters, August 5-6, 2008, the extensive sessions were attended by the firm's twenty three bearing protection specialists from around the world.
Chaired by David C. Orlowski, CEO and inventor of the bearing isolator and Jim Lapaczonek Sales Manager, the conference was designed to bring Inpro/Seal regional managers up-to-date in every aspect of the firm's products and applications and help further their ongoing commitment to provide world class customer support.
THE BEARING ISOLATOR SUCCESS In his quest to find a permanent means to protect bearings while enhancing and extending the service life of rotating equipment, Orlowski developed the worlds first bearing isolator. It was patented in 1977 (#4,022,479), the same year he founded Inpro/Seal and coined the word bearing isolator. Today, the company manufactures about 50,000 bearing isolators per month and anticipates shortly that will increase to 100,000 units.
A non-contacting labyrinth seal, for the first time, the product gave process plants the choice of permanent bearing protection and eliminated the need for continual maintenance. Comprised of a unitized rotor and stator that do not contact each other, it does not consume energy and never wears out. It's closest competitor, contacting seals carry an unpredictable service life with a 100% failure rate.
A PRODUCT FOR THE TIMES According to Orlowski, "At first, the bearing isolator was so misunderstood by the industrial community, it was considered to be a novelty. Today, times have changed, as plants know that the maintenance, repair and operations of equipment used on the plant floor are vital areas that can be controlled and improved with our products."
Realizing that bearing isolators fall into a "Best Maintenance Practice" category, most of the Fortune 500 companies in the process industries and over half of the world's industrial companies use authentic Inpro/Seal products in critical maintenance roles. Inpro/Seal bearing isolators have gone on to be enthusiastically accepted by thousands of end users and have become a standard component in process pumps and electric motors around the world.
AN IMPORTANT CONFERENCE Orlowski continued, "When I developed the first bearing isolator back in 1977 it was new and innovative......it still is today. Though we have received over 40 related patents, most are modifications or enhancements of the original. The basic product remains the same. With these innovations, it is important we meet with our regional managers to further their skill and knowledge as these are the people that maintain global end user and distributor contact".
INPRO/SEAL REGIONAL MANAGERS A typical Inpro/Seal regional manager is a highly trained professional that knows tribology, rotating equipment, bearing protection and sealing technologies inside and out. Direct employees, through in-person contact and an established distributor network they manage: distributor relations, sales, end user contact, training and the implementation of corporate policy. With their special skills, technical knowledge, process and application know how, they are able to handle an end users needs with the fastest response time in the industry.
THE LEARNING PROCESS NEVER STOPS According to Jim Lapaczonek, "Inpro/Seal regional managers and distributors are located in every major city in North America. Add to that solid representation throughout South America, the Pacific Rim and Europe and you can see why the education process never stops. Aside from our regional manager sessions, there are four formal workshops for our distributors at our facility and numerous regional workshops during the year. In addition, distributor personnel travel with the regional managers where they receive one-on-one training".
ACTIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Orlowski concluded, "The growth of our company is fueled by a very active R&E program. The regional managers are critical to passing on new product information and applications to our important end users. Long ago I learned that our best customer is an informed customer, which is why continually communicate with our regional managers. We not only invest in our products, we also invest in our people. Examples of the information they carried back to the field last with them last week include:
o Air Mizer(TM)-PS - shaft seal for use where dry particulates, powders and bulk solids are handled, processed, packaged and stored. o M-32 - in oil mist applications, this is the only known method to permanently solve housekeeping issues and keep stray mist from entering the environment). o PMR - makes it impossible to contaminate bearings on paper machine rolls. o CSR - conveyor/idler bearing protection, with non-sparking design for mining applications. o VBXX-MT(TM) - used on machine tools to protect from coolant, chips, humidity and heat. o Free Bearing Isolator Program - available to select plants based on performance. o Sneak Peek - attendees also got a "sneak peek" at products in development, including a bearing isolator for wind turbine applications and a "Water Mizer" shaft seal that uses water instead of air to affect the seal.
HIGHLY INTERACTIVE SESSIONS A very important aspect of the intensive two day sessions were workshops, round table discussions where they regional managers, department heads and top management were able to share thoughts, ideas and successes related to products and applications. Highly interactive, these sessions were designed to highlight the tools and resources used by others in similar positions.
Randy Chase, an expert on motivation, presented fresh sales ideas, marketing tactics and proven customer support strategies designed to help attain larger market shares and further the firm's world class customer support.
UNIQUE AND AUTHENTIC As a marketing, success driven organization, Inpro/Seal continues to invest heavily in an "educate and inform" philosophy. Rather than attack the competition, the firm relies on its bearing isolator to stand on its own though its unique and irrefutable attributes unique to the Authentic Inpro/Seal brand that make it the recognized standard of excellence.
This includes: zero energy consumption; no extra cost same day shipping option; an R&E program back by a 24/7 laboratory; ongoing investments in the future; industry leading warranty; only bearing isolator with a vapor blocking ring; documented 20 year life expectancy; widest product range; largest data bank of its kind; latest and the best non-contacting labyrinth sealing technology.
INPRO/SEAL INVITATIONAL On August 4, just prior the conference, the Inpro/Seal Invitational Golf Tournament was held at the Pinnacle Country Club in nearby Milan. For those interested in the sport, Pinnacle features 6,592 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 71. The course rating is 71.1 and it has a slope rating of 119 on Bent grass. An annual event, the tournament drew some 100 golfers.
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.
Of the 4,000,000+ bearing isolators delivered, almost all of them continue to be 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.
SIGNOFF For more information on authentic Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators, including "Introduction To Bearing Isolators", "Are Lip Seals Obsolete?" "Cost Justification Worksheet" a performance based free bearing isolator program or the name of the nearest trained distributor contact: Jason Putnam 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
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