Drives and motors are an inherent part of automation technology. they need to be nurtured
The growth of servo drives and motors market could be primarily attributed to positive economic outlook and growing manufacturing industries in India, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and several other countries in Asia-Pacific region. Talking aespecially about servo motors, they are high performance electric motors and have characteristics such as controlling the movement of machines. The good part is that servo motors offer easy installation and little maintenance cost. Increasing electricity prices and stringent electricity utilisation standards are driving the demand for energy efficient motors globally.
In terms of motors, the increasing demand for energy efficient motors causes the shift from standard energy efficient electric motors to premium energy efficiency motors. This shift in trend is directly contributing to revenue growth of servo drives and motors manufacturers.
Shashwata Dutta, wholetime director, Power Build Ltd, says, “The energy efficiency of a geared motor is the result of various gearbox parameters starting from product design, selection of raw material, manufacturing technology, training of operational staff and quality control techniques.”
market differentiators
Asia Pacific represents the largest market for servo drives and motors. In 2014, Asia Pacific accounted for more than 40% revenue share in the global servo drives and motors market. The region is expected to be the fastest growing region due to significant growth in GDP of countries based in this region. In addition, positive growth prospects in GDP of these countries will help the region to remain market leader in servo drives and motors in coming few years.
Incidentally, servo systems can be used in CNC machining, factory automation, and robotics, among others. Their main advantage over traditional DC or AC motors is the addition of motor feedback. This feedback can be used to detect unwanted motion, or to ensure the accuracy of the commanded motion. The feedback is generally provided by an encoder. Servos, in constant speed changing use, have a better life cycle than typical AC wound motors. Servo motors can also act as a brake by shunting off generated electricity from the motor itself.
Motors and drives are the key market segments for the automation industry. The increased use of electric motors in the automation industry has resulted in the greater demand for electric motors, with manufacturers emphasising on energy efficient electric motors.
Khushru Vakharia, senior general manager, works, motors, Bharat Bijlee, says, “We have introduced a range of IE3 premium efficiency motor series including FLP range. We’ve also developed a new range of super premium IE4 class Line Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (LSPMSM). These motors do not need a VFD for operation, unlike most PMSM’s. These can easily replace existing squirrel cage induction motors. They offer significant savings over IE2 motors. This is a new product and is not yet seen in the Indian market.” The company also has motors suitable for VFD (Variable frequency Drive) applications with encoder mounting options and with forced cooling for VFD applications involving very low speed. It has supplied motors confirming to stringent NPCIL specifications.
Dutta says, “Our efficient product design and stringent quality norms ensure that our products are highly reliable and robust. PBL has a special in-house testing rig for geared motors. Each and every product passes through a series of test and trials before we introduce it in the market. That is the reason why Radicon PowerBuild geared motors are able to deliver high performance over prolonged period under the most difficult conditions.”
high uptime, long life
Indian companies’ strength in power electronics in control technology has made them leaders in the industrial controls marketplace. For instance, at Delta Electronics, as the technology of microprocessor unit advances, the development and cost affectivity of permanent magnet manufacturing technology for servo motor and high performance semiconductor power devices has improved continuously. Therefore, AC servo motor and AC servo control system have become the basic techniques for accomplishing automation control technology. Delta servo system is an omnibearing integrated servo system which is based on Delta’s strength in industrial and electronic technology and developed for different customers’ requirements of various application machine tools. All ASDA series servo drives are provided with a superior digital signal processor (DSP) which represents a high-speed performance of the control circuit loop. Besides, the other features of Delta ASDA series, including gain tuning, smooth motor operation and software analysis/monitor function, also provide high-speed and high-precision motion control for a wide range of industrial automation applications.
In today’s sluggish market scenario, buyers are hesitant to invest in the most efficient and latest solutions due to the initial cost difference. As a result, many buyers often settle for inefficient and cheaper options which is a very myopic approach. Dutta says, “It is in such situations that we face immense price pressures. We believe that the demand cycle is now turning and the preference of buyers will shift towards better brands. In many cases, customers continue to use belt driven or worm gearboxes even when more efficient options are available. This will require a strong awareness on the need for energy efficiency and probably some government incentives/regulations to accelerate the shift.”
Speaking at the Make in India Week, Sanjeev Sharma, CEO & managing director, ABB India, said, “ABB India strongly believes in reducing energy use and CO2 emissions, while finding new ways to develop energy efficient solutions. It would be mindful to remember that nearly 70% of industrial electrical energy use goes into powering electric motors. These motors are the workhorses of business, from pumps moving fluids to fans moving air to compressors, conveyors, and every type of machine that depends on rotational force to get its job done. That’s why we’ve developed a wide portfolio of low and medium voltage AC drives, as well as a portfolio of DC drives. Drives such as variable speed drives or variable frequency drives are designed to run the motors based on your processes current demands rather than running them at full speed and reducing output using mechanical controls like throttles, dampers or gears.”
delving into r&d
According to Dutta, Power Build has been investing continuously in new product development. “In fact, it is this stress this has been our strength which has helped established our reputation worldwide. In 2011, PBL bought over the Radicon Geared Motors division from David Brown UK. With this, we entered the global market.”
A few years back, PBL launched advanced Planetary Geared Motors. This was followed by Bevel Planetary range. Recently, it entered the decentralised Drive Systems with the introduction of Radicon PowerBuild moto drives. The moto drive offers highly energy efficient drive system which can vary the speed of geared motor through VFD. This product finds widespread application in automatic bottling lines, airport baggage handling, controlled material handling lines, packaging lines, automatic assembly lines, etc. Some of its new product developments are designed for various applications like waste water treatment, agitators, cranes, hoists and sugar segments.
market challenges
The intensive production of motor vehicles, semiconductors and electronics, healthcare products, and other electrically operated motor systems is augmenting demand for servo drives and motors across the globe. However, high dependency on China for the procurement of rare earth minerals and high initial purchase cost are challenging the growth of the global servo drives and motors market. By device type, servo drives and motors are the two segments into which the global servo drives and motors market is divided.
Some of the challenges faced by manufacturers here is sluggish escalation of commodities restraining prices, a less-than-smart effort to create new designs, and a tendency to surpass minimum efficiency requirements.
Motor and drive suppliers continue to struggle as growth prospects still exist although average selling prices stagnate in general. What will work well for the manufacturers going forward is when the market starts bucking the trend and what will change that is higher-efficient motors.