According to ABB, last year saw a clear increase in online sales of variable speed drives. "During 2007, drive sales through Internet and catalogue companies rose by 50%, albeit from a low base. This is a channel that is becoming increasingly important," says Steve Hughes, channel manager at ABB. According to Hughes, many of the online sales go to one-off projects - development applications, for instance.
"The Internet offers enormous choice and many companies with Internet shops offer excellent logistics with next-day delivery. This is a huge benefit for anybody working on a development project. Also, the anonymity of the Internet will be an added bonus if the project is in its early stages and you don't want to commit yourself to any particular manufacturer. With the addition of motors on some of our partners' sites, the product offering should now become even more useful to this group of users."
But when ordering from Internet and catalogue companies, the old saying 'buyer beware' applies. You really need to have done your homework to ensure the product you order is the one you need.
While it is easy enough to look at the motor nameplate and select an appropriately sized drive for the motor, you also need to select a drive with the features that you need. For instance, how are you planning to control the drive and how many I/Os will be needed? If you are planning to overspeed the motor, you also need to take care when sizing the drive.
Most installations are straightforward, but with any catalogue or Internet company, after-sales support will be very limited and you need to be confident of how to specify and install the product when shopping from these places.
If there are any doubts, a technical distributor is a better option. The members of ABB Drives Alliance, for instance, offer a full range of drives from ten locations around the country. Some of them also offer Internet sales, but as a complement rather than as a main sales channel. One of these is Gibbons Drive Systems in East Anglia. According to the company's managing director, Martin Gibbons, the website is the company's shop window.
"When shopping for products with technology content, people don't always know what they want, even if they are engineers. Not even experienced engineers are always aware of the differences between different motor frame sizes or IP ratings."
Customers without the relevant knowledge want somebody to talk to. In this case, the website is a useful reference point and Gibbons and his team can provide the personal assistance needed.
Allan Murray, managing director of another company in ABB Drives Alliance, EDC in Glasgow, agrees. His company does a lot of business through its website, but when it comes to drives, customers are often uncertain about the features and the installation process. They want advice. Many ring up and refer to items they have seen on the website and then make the purchase over the phone.
"Our typical online customer is a buyer of a one-off drive. Larger companies that buy many items, which would typically be the more experienced ones, get their buyers to ring up."
So while the Internet is a useful complement to drives buyers, the traditional sales channels will be around for a long time yet.