By Lisa Balschunat
For six years, CEO Michael Howard ran his industrial equipment monitoring sensor businesses out of his home. First it was in South Glens Falls, then Queensbury. Now he is able to move his business to space at 19 Exchange St. in Glens Falls where he plans to cultivate business roots for years to come.
His two companies, Erbessd Instruments Technologies Inc. and Vibro-Laser, make equipment that assists over 2,000 clients worldwide in monitoring vital equipment, machines and engines, for companies and educational institutions including Aircoil, Amazon, Google, Harvard University, Halifax Fan, McGill University, Pfizer and the U.S. Navy.
Erbessd Instruments also supplies several local manufacturers in Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties.
“It’s hard for me not to geek out when I talk about the business and our capabilities,” he said. “Also, to be grounded in downtown Glens Falls is great. There’s a lot happening here and we want to be a part of it.”
There is presently ample space in Erbessd’s new location for its technical labs, think tank space, creative offices, teleconference center, shipping and additional square footage to accommodate future growth. Erbessd leases the 2,500-square-foot building from Patten Property Development with a future option to buy.
Erbessd Instruments, with its patented, compact high-tech sensors, diagnoses equipment and machines remotely before they become a problem, malfunction or create catastrophic damage or loss.
The company offers vibration analysis and monitoring, equipment balancing, on line monitoring systems, wireless triaxial accelerometer that are cloud based and universally adaptable, as well as sort-bearing suspensions for balancers, dynamic balancing machines and laser alignment systems.
“Erbessd develops state-of-the-art innovative technologies,” Howard said. “We provide our clients with complete diagnostic services, or the high-tech equipment for companies to self-diagnose with our data support and analysis. Vibro-Laser provides laser precision measurements and alignments.”
The two companies operate together, but also provide services independently depending on a client’s preferences or requirements.
Additionally, the company supplies the custom-built turbocharger balancing machine and dynamic balancing machine and the soft bearing suspensions for a “build your own” balancer machine, numerous wireless accelerometers, thermographic cameras and the El Share Ace laser alignment system.
“We are all about machine health,” said Howard. “We are behind the scenes making sure a client’s equipment—on a military aircraft, for example—is running efficiently and effectively.”
Under the leadership of Howard, a retired U.S. Air Force operations specialist and former GE Turbine employee, the Erbessd team is encouraged to capitalize on their careers by thinking well outside of the box.
“I think making the most of each day is a way for our team to strive to expand on our technical knowledge and become innovators of new technology,” he said.
Erbessd and Vibro-Laser also has offices in Mexico City, Europe and Canada. It employs five people in Glens Falls, including three engineers. This summer the company also is mentoring a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) student intern from South Glens Falls High School.
For more details, demo software, updates and tools go to www.erbessd-instruments.com or call 518-874-2700.