Wouldn't it be nice if you could get those small but important packaged
drives projects completed precisely to specification, hassle-free and
within a few days of placing the order. Well, you can thanks to a service
that Eurotherm Drives offers from its manufacturing site down in
Littlehampton. Les Hunt explains how it works
Even the simplest configuration of drive and switchgear, housed in a
suitable enclosure, takes a bit of time and effort to build. Quite apart
from getting the design right, there are parts to select and order -
probably from several suppliers - and each item may require its own
separate paperwork and be subject to different terms and conditions
relating to purchase and delivery. In short, it can present logistical
and technical problems quite out of proportion to the end result! Given
that in-house engineering departments are nowadays a rarity, most of
these small projects have to be farmed out to the local friendly system
builder, adding yet more delays and additional costs.
It was while he was attending a management course, that Eurotherm Drives'
Alan Slater first had the idea that a manufacturer could undertake this
relatively simple level of system building on a fast track basis, running
it alongside the bigger system engineered projects that companies like
Eurotherm usually undertake at their manufacturing sites.
A simple enclosed drive, for example, will need a housing of some
description, some additional switchgear - an isolator, emergency stop
switch or contactor - plus a display and possibly a speed control device,
depending on the end-user's requirements. Mr Slater reasoned that
customer-specified variants of this enclosed drive product could be
produced quickly, accurately and in volume, if they were defined uniquely
within the manufacturing system. A form of coding system would be needed
to determine whether or not the enclosed drive had a meter on the door or
mounted within the enclosure, whether it had an emergency stop or not, or
if the customer required some form of local or remote drive control. The
unique code would precisely define the end-product, removing any risk of
errors arising from misinterpretations of the original description. Thus
was born Eurotherm's 'Fast Pack' service.
The essential element of Fast Pack is that it removes the need to design
from scratch a whole range of simple motor control solutions that will
satisfy many day-to-day industrial applications. Using its catalogue of
unique Fast Pack codes, Eurotherm can build any product variant
accurately and precisely to specification without a project engineer once
having to intervene in the process. The product code, which can be
specified by the customer or a sales engineer, identifies each element
from a library of pre-designed options; and as these options are, for all
intents and purposes, 'standard', the designs are proven and the parts
(from a variety of vendors) available and purchased in volume. Mr Slater
defines a Fast Pack product as being any project that is capable of being
put into production within an hour of receipt of the order.
Apart from the many Fast Pack orders it completes on behalf of individual
clients, Eurotherm also distributes both ac and dc Fast Pack enclosed
drives through the RS catalogue. The Fast Pack range covers ac drives
from 0.37 to 355kW and dc drives from 0.1 to 1,200kW. Lower power Fast
Packs are available on a two-to-three day lead, and even the largest
powers only require a few more days from order to delivery.
Enter 544