Sourcing VFDs

One way to approach questions like this is to Web-search the product manufacturer. Quite frequently they they list their distributors in various regions. Contact perhaps three of them that could serve your location, ask for prices, and accept the best combination of price, quality, proximity, and service.

Hello,

Does it have to be ABB or would another manufacturer be OK?

Sometimes, indeed, the impression is (faulty but strong): manufacturers are not interested in their products distribution - if one looks at the extras the "distributors" are charging, worldwide.

I work for a drives manaufacturer (Invertek Drives Ltd) in the UK who have a distributor in South Africa if this is any help to you?

The term "quite expensive" is totally subjective. Compared to what?

Here is the problem as I see it. To be a "good"d istributor of VFDs, one must also support the products they sell. That means having qualified staff on-site that can assist in application and selection before the sale, start-up and commissioning assistance after the sale and troubleshooting after the installation. That investment in personnel is not free, in fact qualified people expect decent wages; it takes a lot of education and experience to know what you are doing with complex systems such as VFDs. Sure there are simple applications that people can do on their own, but for those, the companies that sell cheap junk over the internet make it unprofitable for good distributors to bother with. So companies that take on a quality line such as ABB must approach the market from a value added perspective, which means you will be getting more for your investment than just the cheapest parts you can find.

So if you find someone outside of Kenya t see you the BB drives, you can expect a VERY hefty bill for service ad support from this Kenyan franchisee, becaus as far as he is concerned, you are NOT a customer he will care about.

Pls. check with ABB or Allen Bradly - its quite simple to operate and can be connected to PLC's. Other product such us Seimens, Dunfuss and many more can be used.

Pls. compare all items in terms of cost, spare parts cost/availability, servicing cost, space or size of units and availability of local representative - if you have evaluated al of this, then you may decide what is best for adanategeous to your company needs.

6.11.09

Every product you buy has 2 dimensions to it: the tangible ( hardware ) and the intangible ( software ). We hard boiled engineers cynically do not want to look beyond the hardware. It is this same warped logic that drives software piracy. Many people cannot stomach how software packages can be sold at a multiple of couple of 100s over the price of blank CDs.

The same cynicism is driving aircraft design, where we are very close to treating human passengers as cargo pieces.

Open yourself up a bit, let the franchise help you chose the right product, guide you to its proper installation and use and be with you if and when it fails you. Al this costs a li'l money which you gotta fork out.