DRIVES &CONTROLS MARKET REPORT
In terms of improving drives technology, Lenze
manager Spear suggests that in some ways weshould
welcome the current recession for giving time to stop
and review and optimise existing designs.
Machine buildersare now moreopen to innovations,
whileend-usersarewaking up to the impact ofrunning
costsandlifetime costs, anddemanding suchdata from
their machine suppliers, headded.
Technologies in demand
Variablespeed drives (VSDs) are proving very popular
due to the safety factor concerns mentioned above,
reported Chrimes of Siemens.
Plug ‘n’ play drives, hesaid, are also proving a
popular choice for many at themoment. They are
quick and easy to install and so are proving a popular
option for companies that want a drive that isnottoo
complicated and won’t take up too much oftheir staff’s
valuable time.
“Companies are also becoming increasingly
concerned about the problems posed byharmonics
and we have seen an upsurge in people asking us to
advise them on correction equipment,” said Chrimes.
“Siemens offers aservice where we can go to asite
andinstall harmonic measuring equipmentfor aweek.
At the endof theweek, we will produce a report and
advice on what course of action to take andwhere
improvements can be made.”
According to Lomax, higher technology offerings
are now mostin demand, whereas more routine drives
are less popular. This, hesaid, means that thetotal
cost of ownership has become a significant factor,
especially when training is required.
An increasing number ofBoschRexroth drives aregoing
out with a PLC built inside them as acceptance of this
technologyis now going up andup,continuedtheBosch
Rexroth manager.
“People have had in mind that theyneed the
traditional PLC or motion controller, but it has taken
time for them to gettheir head around thefact that
you can put aPLCinthe drive and ... [it will] have more
thinking capability than the control system you
traditionally put on the lines.
“Machine diagnostics or productivity tools within
the drive mean it not only looks after itsown
diagnostics but can also look at theload profiles of
the machines and check what they did before.
“If it’s outside setparameters, itcan flag an error
and look at changes in the temperature ofthemotor
to enable intelligent monitoring.”
“In some
ways we
should welcome
thecurrent
recessionfor
givingtimetostop
and review and
optimise existing
designs, while
machine builders
are nowmore
open to innovation
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