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| Minimising the risk of AC/DC and DC/DC implementation | |||
Pressure on development times, budgets, and resources puts pressure on designers to choose carefully between designing a power supply or selecting an ‘off-the-shelf’ product. Fortunately, by choosing from Astec Power’s wide range of AC/DC and DC/DC products, engineers will find products that closely match application requirements while minimising implementation risk. When it comes to power supplies, the ‘make versus buy’ decision – i.e. the choice between designing and implementing an application-specific solution or selecting ‘off-the-shelf’ product - comes down to risk. The first route carries a significant degree of inherent risk: risk of unforeseen problems during development; risk relating to obtaining safety approvals; risk associated with unproven reliability in the field; risk of component obsolescence or replacement necessitating re-design during development or production; and risk of internal resource being deployed on power supply implementation rather than features that will give the end product competitive advantage. Historically, one of the arguments for accepting such risks has been the lack of exactly the right ‘off-the-shelf’ solution for a given application. Now, however, the growing variety of standard and configurable power supplies from manufacturers such as Astec means that off-the-shelf solutions can easily be found for the vast majority of requirements.  Astec Off-the-Shelf DC/DC Converters For off-the-shelf solutions, risk is negligible. Products can be tested and proven fairly quickly, while the level of product testing and design verification employed by most module vendors eliminates many of the risks highlighted above. Furthermore, application or component changes can often be accommodated by simply choosing another power product in a range or, say, re-programming the output of a DC/DC converter, rather than necessitating re-design of power circuitry from scratch. Finally, for off-the-shelf products a vast array of support information, including datasheets, MTBF and reliability data, reference designs, and safety certifications further reduce risk and cost by contributing to significantly reduced design cycle times.  Astec AC/DC Power Supply Experience, Verification and Qualification Power supply companies such as Astec have many years of valuable experience developing AC/DC power supplies and isolated and non-isolated DC/DC converters. There is a significant value in the knowledge accumulated over these years. Experience of the idiosyncrasies of PWM ICs, transformers, and other power supply components, a detailed understanding of the operation of various topologies, and expertise in integration problems in multiple customer applications all combine to add value to each new product design. The importance of design verification and qualification cannot be underestimated. Astec, for instance, has a rigorous qualification process to ensure that any design or manufacturing issues are detected and corrected prior to mass production. Products are tested over the entire input voltage range, output load and operating temperatures. Key elements in the qualification process include:
 Astec Verification and Qualification Process Astec Power Products Astec Power’s full AC/DC power supply family delivers outputs from 6W to 18kW in many package styles including open frame, enclosed and DIN-rail mount. The company also manufactures the industry’s first digitally controlled AC/DC switching power supplies. The company’s DC/DC converter range offers isolated and non-isolated Point-Of-Load (POL) devices – including POLA™ (Point-Of-Load Alliance) products - spanning power levels from 6W to 600W. For further information, including product Samples and copies of the Astec AC/DC and DC/DC Converter Brochures, please click here |
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