Powerelektronik i hjertet af Europa

Østrigske RECOM-Group, der i løbet af de seneste 20 år har opbygget en stærk position inden for powermoduler, har netop taget et helt nyt hovedsæde i brug (in english).

For the past 20 years, this medium-sized owner-managed company has become a leading supplier of power modules on a worldwide basis, with subsidiaries in Frankfurt, New York, Singapore and Shanghai – as well as an automated production center in Taiwan – all managed and steered from its newly conceived 'Think Tank' headquarters in Gmunden, Austria.

This new company center also brings a new concept to Austria:

- We offer a platform for innovation and contact to the power world is how the CEO, Karsten Bier, explains the company philosophy, and the new 3,000m2 building offers sufficient space to live and breathe that vision.

- This is why the doors of the EMC, Test and Quality Laboratories, which cost two million dollars to implement, are also open to industrial customers and students of Austrian and German universities. The idea is to implement a ‘RECOM-Campus,’ including the availability of apartments, in this high tech, low-energy building. Additionally, we will open 300 m2 of office space to help start-ups and cooperating partners further enhance the flow of information, says Karsten Bier.

Concept for the future

After years of above average growth, it became necessary to expand RECOM’s capacities in all areas. The guideline for the architects and the design team was to establish an innovative building with architectural clarity. Added value was to be created not only for employees, but for the complete customer, business partner, and local scientific community ecosystem. Easy access to high value equipment for internal and external users was part of the charter.

The concept eventually realized by the architects Kollmann & Mayrhauser in cooperation with the designer Andrea Bier followed modern and effective principles of architectural space. The optimized symbiosis between technology, design and workspace provides a creative and productive atmosphere. The ecologically aware design uses state-of-the-art technology to help preserve and sustain valuable natural resources.

- Roughly 25 years ago, RECOM developed the first DC/DC-converters for the emerging market of mobile telephones, remembers Horst H. Bier, founder of RECOM. These early company activities were carried out by H. H. Bier and wife, Freda, in the basement of their house in Frankfurt.

Shortly after completing the first prototypes, a leading German electronics manufacturer placed the first order for eight thousand 1 watt converters, setting the path for future growth.
From 2003, RECOM intensified its development activities and expanded from Gmunden into the European, North American and Asian markets. Newly developed innovative products for industrial automation, energy, medical and transport were the driving forces of the company success story. More recently, drivers to power LED-lighting were added.

Today, RECOM employs approximately 350 people worldwide – with nearly 60 in its new HQ in Gmunden. The product portfolio covers more than 21,500 types, of which more than 2,500 are permanently on stock in the new computerized logistics center.

Reliability is the primary goal

RECOM converters are commonly used in critical customer applications – for example, supplying processors in industrial controls.

- Zero failure rate is our goal, states Karsten Bier, and he draws attention to the considerable efforts RECOM undertakes to secure this. The failure of even a single converter can be very costly for the customer, so the future growth of RECOM is guaranteed by this attention to detail. RECOM customers are loyal customers:

- Once they have had our converters in their products, they often replace competitor’s converters with our modules, remarks K. Bier, not without pride. High reliability is paramount in electronics and must be designed into a product from the beginning.

To secure this, RECOM operates a fully equipped environmental testing laboratory in Gmunden to conduct accelerated aging tests – a facility that many competitors lack. This is exemplified by the RECOM warranty for its products which ranges from 3 to 7 years. LED drivers for example, have a working life expectancy of 70,000 hours, which corresponds to more than 8 years of continuous operation, thus outliving the useful life of the LEDs they are driving. The recently introduced DIN-rail mounted power supplies exceed this further!

Future perspective and facts

RECOM is busy extending its product portfolio, especially for AC/DC power modules and LED drivers beyond its traditional power limit of 60 watts. Part of this drive is a strategy to include products such as medical power supplies.

RECOM’s revenue in the operating year 2014 will exceed 50 million US$. Currently the group has approx. 350 employees, of which 60 work in development, marketing, and administration in Gmunden. Customers can rely on local support centers in Frankfurt, Milan, Moscow, London, New York, Singapore, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Production will exceed 9 million converters in 2014 – from two production centers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan – a conventional assembly factory for small- and medium-sized quantities, and a fully automated SMT-facility for select volume products. The current product portfolio covers approximately 21,500 different modules to which around 10 new product families are added each year.