ELE Times PDF 1 Nov 2016 | Page 57

Have You Got the Spotlight?
Power Electronics
converter, we assume that these tasks can be completed within
converters. In all this, we also have to consider that the power
twelve days, plus an additional three days for certification. At
supply is normally the very last component tackled in the design
labour costs of around CHF 750 per day, and including average
process. For their new products, companies are thus well advised
expenses for materials and the use of the test lab, the overall
to carefully evaluate whether they want to face the risks
savings are now reduced to CHF 20,000 – assuming that
associated with the internal development and production of
everything goes to plan!
DC / DC converters.
In reality, manufacturers must be prepared for some hiccups, especially with regard to the complex topic of EMC. It is therefore only prudent to include at least one redesign per converter, which translates to six additional working days plus waiting time for lab testing. At this point, the savings are reduced to a few thousand Swiss francs, while the launch of the diagnostic device is already delayed by about eight weeks!
Fig. 4: More and more developers opt for fully certified DC / DC converters such as those of the E series from RECOM as they often provide the cheaper option.
Summary
Manufacturers opting for ready-made DC / DC converters from
specialist suppliers benefit from shorter development times, free
Fig. 3: Testing at the EMC lab reveals whether the product meets the limits set by the certification standard. RECOM customers can have their
up internal resources, and avoid the risk of failing the EMC tests or certification procedures for their end products. Thanks to mass
products tested at the RECOM headquarters prior to the official
production, the prices of converter modules have also come
certification.
down over the past few years, so that internally designed
converters are hardly ever a viable option today, even for largevolume
Such delays must obviously also be taken into account as they tend to come at a price! If the product has a long service life and the manufacturer is well ahead of the competition, a delay of a few months might not be detrimental. Companies who must make up for lost terrain with an attractive new product, will,
products. Companies might also face the problem that their young engineers are not fully familiar with analogue technology, which is another good reason to trust the specialist manufacturers of ready-made modules. We predict that, in a few years, purchasing converter modules from
however, face an uphill battle. In our example, a delay of eight
specialist suppliers will be as common as it is now for operational
weeks corresponds to around three percent of the calculated
amplifiers and other logics components. Do-it-yourself will just no
service life. Based on a linear calculation, we are looking at a loss
longer be viable!
of revenue of just below CHF 1.5 million!
At this point, it becomes obvious that, for high-volume items,
* For readers who wish to know more, we recommend the
running the risk of a delayed market launch is not worth the
DC / DC Book of Knowledge by Steve Roberts, which can be
potential savings that can be made with discretely manufactured
downloaded from www. recom-power. com.
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ELE Times | 57 | November, 2016