Volvo optimizes their compressed air system with CEJN eSafe

Expensive lacquer damage on their vehicles caused by heavy-handed couplings made Volvo Tuve in Gothenburg open to other options. After testing the CEJN eSafe with soft-line cover, the truck manufacturing giant realised that not only could the product solve this problem, but it could also improve ergonomics, economy and safety. By 2015 the whole manufacturing plant will be “Cejnified” when it comes to compressed air.

Tuve, the Volvo manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, is a large site with 1500 employees and has an impressive assembly line. Every day 175 brand new Volvo trucks exit the large gates at the end of the hall. Bengt Birgersson and Benny Reinhardt, who are responsible for the compressed air improvements, take us on a tour around the factory to show the ongoing compressed air transition into CEJN.

TRUCK DAMAGE AND ENERGY AWARENESS. The factory in Tuve was struggling with lacquer damage on their trucks caused by the large and uncovered couplings they used at the assembly line. Bengt Birgersson, technician at Tuve, saw the material damages and the customer refunds it caused. At the same time Benny Reinhardt, maintenance technician, had the task on his desk to optimize the compressed air system in order to minimize air consumption. “As we had already used CEJN at some work stations with good experience, we agreed to try the new eSafe,” explains Bengt. After testing eSafe with soft-line covers, they saw reduced damage and increased energy savings. Bengt and Benny were convinced that a transition to CEJN was the right path to take.

"The cost of compressed air has been reduced with CEJN eSafe"

VOLVO OPTIMIZES WITH CEJN. Even if lacquer damage was the starting point when choosing eSafe, the shift is now part of a larger operation. “There is definitely a strong trend towards energy savings and the energy board at Volvo has new energy saving demands,” says Benny, who is a member of the board himself. He continues, “as we immediately saw savings with eSafe due to less pressure on the compressors, we have continued the optimization process with hoses and reels from CEJN.” As Volvo is already seeing positive changes, new measuring tools will be installed in order to track consumption and optimize even further. The goal of Tuve is to have all compressed air products changed into CEJN by 2015 and the process is now part of an reconstruction operation of the entire site called Tuve Transformation.

"We are going to use CEJN all over"

WORDS FROM THE FLOOR. It is clear that Volvo is saving money by changing to CEJN products and working with compressed air optimization. But there is another aspect equally important. “Our staff is very satisfied with eSafe and says that it has facilitated and made the many tool changes safer, as there is no recoil effect. The product is also smaller and easy to disconnect,” says Bengt. “It feels good to have improved the environment when it comes to ergonomics and safety for our staff.”