Not all variable speed drives suppliers are the same. To help you identify the best supplier for your drives, here are the eight critical things you need, you should expect – even demand.
The supplier should employ a team of fully qualified drive experts. Your supplier should be able to take the details of your specific application and quote the correct drive to match it and underwrite that selection thus removing all risk from you the customer.
The supplier should be an expert on the products they offer. This means you have the assurance of excellent product knowledge from their staff and that the supplier will have been audited prior to optimising by the manufacturer.
You should expect the supplier to have a professional website that is mobile friendly and free to access. Product datasheets, manuals and schematic drawings should be on here for you to download at your leisure.
Availability is critical to 24/7/365 operations; you should expect your drives to be available ex-stock.
Expert drive supply companies should also provide full installation and commissioning services from fully qualified drive engineers. Beware of box shifting companies that have no engineer expertise. Never let a salesperson commission your variable speed drive!
Ask you supplier how they provide out of hours support, any company that have one person on call after normal working hours is breaking the working time directive legislation. Insist on details on how out of hours support is actually provided.
Supplying the Drive should only be the start of the relationship, your supplier should provide 24/7 direct access to trained drive service engineers.
And finally ensure that your supplier is fully credit checked, do the due diligence on financial stability of the Company and the Directors.