Users want their drives easy to setup and program, and they plan to buy more of them, according to a Control Engineering survey of subscriber preferences for ac adjustable speed drives (also known as variable frequency drives or VFDs), conducted with help from Reed Research. Generally respondents prefer plain-vanilla open-loop Volts/Hz drives, more than in 2005. Very important features include simple setup, programmability, and ability to download or copy parameters; 98% expect to buy as many or more in the next 12 months, while 45% plan to buy more; just 2% will buy fewer.
A total of 317 subscribers who evaluate, specify, recommend, install, and/or purchase these drives responded to the survey (more than twice as many as in our 2005 survey). Of these, 57% buy drives for in-plant requirements, while 24% buy them for original equipment manufacturer (OEM resale) requirements, and 19% buy them for both in-plant and OEM requirements.
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- Wilfried
