4 Lims

A Commercial Gas Partner

For anyone who’s ever purchased anything from Praxair knows that compliance comes at a cost. Gas delivery cabinets or even just a plain vanilla cylinder cabinet can put a solid dent in the ROI of any production operation. So I recently made it a top priority to seek out a vendor of brand-name gas storage equipment and gas delivery equipment. After a few days, I was fortunate enough to stumble on the blog of a wonderful equipment company, the contents of which made it clear to me that they were in the business of helping their customers and not the OEMs that press their vendors for margin.

I got in touch with them for pricing on cylinder cabinets that we would be wanting for our newest production line. Not only were they able to give me a number of options that were amenable and to my specification, they were also able to offer me the option of purchasing refurbished storage equipment directly through them (instead of one of their brokers) at a fraction of the price that I would have paid for new and at a discount to what I would have paid a broker. This was a hopeful start.

When I sent my knowledgeable account rep (he could have been an engineer – seriously) a more complete list of the sort of equipment we used and the kind of equipment we might be wanting for gas delivery in the future – gas panels, manifolds, etc – he made sure to spend some time considering creative ways to streamline production through the choice of equipment. After a couple of days, I received a number of different options: automatic gas cabinets (new or refurbished, my choice) with on-board computers and integrated gas panels that could make production more efficient at a higher cost; or more basic storage systems that integrate with manual flow equipment – ideal for those with a fetish for industrial age welding, etc.

I am only taking the time to write about this because I know how irritating it can be to find the right gas equipment at the right price; whole departments of even small manufacturing firms are devoted to this for a reason. In the past, I had little idea as to just how large the secondary market was for much of the pricey equipment we employ in our operations – apparently because the company I found has a solid lock on it and I hadn’t yet discovered them. For anyone that’s in the market for anything having to do with industrial gas – storage, delivery, maintenance – buying or selling – I highly recommend giving these guys a call.