Compressed air – the fourth utility, a resource so critical that businesses and manufacturers around the globe consider them just as important to their operations as water, electricity, and natural gas. That makes keeping compressors running a critical task, and for years, businesses around the Region have turned to CompressAir and its team of talented service technicians to make sure that job is done right.
One of those technicians is Mike Cleek, who first joined the CompressAir team back in 2007. He works out the of the company’s La Porte branch, putting over a decade of experience to use performing preventative maintenance, installing new pipes and equipment, and tackling emergency situations like compressor failure – a situation which can entirely shut down a manufacturer until repairs are complete.
“A lot of these manufacturing machines depend on air as part of their working process to make the product,” Cleek said. “Without air, they simply cannot make those products.”
Bottled juice and soda, jugs of milk, loaves of bread, and bags of lettuce – a typical shopping list is filled with items that often depend on compressors. For any business making these products, a compressor shutdown can mean hundreds of thousands of lost revenues, which gives techs like Cleek a chance to be heroes.
“When there’s a shutdown, that customer is counting on you to get their equipment back up and running,” Cleek said. “Every minute it’s off is lost production time on whatever it is they’re manufacturing. It’s great to see how happy and relieved they are once you get their compressor started again.”
His favorite part of the job, however, is when he gets the chance to install an entirely new system for a customer.
“Most people probably don’t realize that there’s a lot more than just the air compressor that goes into our jobs as technicians,” Cleek said. “We also install the compressed air piping that gets air to all the manufacturing machines that make the actual product. It’s great to see an old compressor room transform into a new one with fresh piping and equipment.”
Cleek said he’s proud to work at a family-owned business that emphasizes both customer satisfaction and employee well-being.
“It’s great here,” Cleek said. “They really treat us employees like family.”
To learn more about CompressAir, request a free quote, or browse its range of products, visit www.compressair.net.
