Mechanical

2017 Motor Drives Report: 5 high-level findings

Key trends in variable-speed, servo and/or stepper, and medium-voltage drives from buying and specifying respondents to the Control Engineering 2017 Motor Drives study

Key trends in variable-speed, servo and/or stepper, and medium-voltage drives follow below from buying and specifying respondents to the Control Engineering 2017 Motor Drives study.

  1. Usage: 87% of respondents use or expect to use variable-speed drives within the next 12 months; 46% use/plan to use servo and/or stepper drives; and 22% use or plan to use medium-voltage drives.
  2. Applications: When specifying variable-speed drives, 90% of applications are new, 76% are retrofit, and 73% are replacement. The breakdown for servo and/or stepper drives is 88% new, 63% retrofit, and 71% replacement. For medium-voltage drives: 92% new, 66% retrofit, and 61% replacement.
  3. Purchasing: 36% of respondents prefer to buy motors and related variable-speed drives, ac/dc controllers separately; 24% prefer matched units. Regarding servo/stepper drives, only 13% prefer separate and 56% look for matched units. For medium-voltage drives and Above NEMA motors: 29% prefer separate and 34% favor matched units.
  4. Expenditures: Over the past 12 months, respondents estimated an average of $148,000 having been spent on variable-speed drives, ac/dc. For the same time frame, respondents also estimated average values of $96,000 for servo/stepper drives and $509,000 for medium-voltage drives.
  5. Important factors: The most critical qualities respondents look for when choosing a motor drive are frequent start/stop tolerance for variable-speed drives (78%), accurate positioning for servo/stepper drives (93%), accurate speed and torque control for medium-voltage drives (88%).

Access the full 2017 Motor Drives Report to view additional findings.