Product category:
Motors and Variable speed drives
News Release from: ABB Automation Tech (Drives and Motors)
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 02 May 2005
ABB predicts backlash on OEMs in motors
price war
ABB will take a major share of the low voltage AC drives market next year, but predicts that the current OEM demand for the lowest cost LV motors will result in major problems of future supply
ABB is on course to capture 20% of the UK market for low voltage AC drives in 2005, according to Steve Ruddell, head of their UK drives and motors division Ruddell, who took control of the drives business a year ago, to add to his responsibilities for motors, was charged at the time of his appointment with growing both businesses at the rate of 10 percent a year
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 6 Aug 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Data for over 500 motors now available online
Motor performance curves, data sheets and drawings for low voltage AC motors, from 0.055 to 710 kW, are now available from the ABB website: data for more than 500 motors to be downloaded or viewed
Much of ABB expansion in the AC drives market is due to success in the HVAC market, where the company is making great strides with a tailor-made product for this industry and a newly established network of distributors.
Together with smaller increases in other market segments, this has led to a 67% increase in factory output of drives rated up to 110 kW over the past year.
In the motors market, ABB is selling on a quality message, highlighting to customers that high quality motors cost far less than their low cost counterparts over the course of the life cycle.
Further reading
High voltage motors are standardised for OEMs
A new range of standard high voltage induction motors, ready for delivery within days, has been launched by ABB: lower priced than engineered motors, these are ideal for OEMs needing standard product
ABB becomes preferred supplier for Imerys Minerals
Aiming to save downtime costs of up to GBP10,000 per hour, Imerys Minerals in Cornwall has entered an agreement with ABB to supply motors and drives to its UK plants
The strategy here is not to become drawn into a price war: 'The struggle for market share going on in the UK LV motors market right now has brought price levels that are unsustainable,' he says.
Ruddell believes the current price war in the motors market will backfire and that the losers will be end users who opted for cheap motors - which will ultimately prove to be an expensive choice.
The increasing prices of copper and steel mean that some manufacturers selling motors at rock bottom prices are barely covering their production costs.
'If a motor manufacturer goes under because it has been selling too cheaply, its OEM customers will be faced with increased costs,' says Ruddell.
'They will not be able to get motors elsewhere for the same price and so will only be able to fulfill their outstanding orders at a loss.
What end-users must realise is that lower quality motors will end up costing them money - in wasted energy, in downtime and the cost of replacement when those cheap motors fail.' ABB is also trying to spread the energy-saving benefits of efficient motors and drives by advising financial directors of the advantages they can bring.
'Financial Directors are often reluctant to fund energy saving schemes, yet with the cost of electricity climbing by as much as 30% a year, cutting the energy bill is becoming a highly profitable option.' Ruddell believes there is still much scope for growth in the drives market, with many potential customers still to be converted to the major benefits that variable speed drives and energy efficient motors can being to a business.
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