FEATURE MILITARY/AEROSPACE & DEFENCE - DSEI
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: INTEGRATION IS THE KEY TO COTS
Jake Moir, managing director of Gresham Power Electronicsweighs up buying “off the shelf” T
he arguments for COTS are persuasive and are largely driven by cost. There is
also a perception that procurement lead times can be drastically reduced, by buying “off the shelf”. Given that sources of specific electrical supply are often the last elements to be designed-in and sourced the elimination of design time is often as much inevitable as desirable. Gresham is particularly fortunate in having two distinct businesses. One is the straightforward and historically core defence business. Because it is wholly owned by a US public company that specialises in the design and manufacture of low power switch mode power supplies – that brings with it the distribution of these commercial power supplies in Europe. At first sight, the company has two totally different businesses. What it has planned and executed is merging the strengths of each type of business – its technologies cultures and processes - while at the same time eliminating the negative elements. This has enabled the company as a small business, to meet the changing demands of its customers with the flexibility and speed of response that they need. The resulting business model is not the direct application of commercial equipment but rather the integration of COTS power sub-assemblies and control layouts into its defence power conversion and distribution equipment. As a small company, not withstanding the quality of its engineers, there is simply not the resource available for continuous development of new products - or products for particular applications - without having recourse to “bought-in” technology. Some years ago Gresham was able to make use of sub-assemblies of its own design that could be mixed and matched and repackaged to meet various power ratings. Technology has moved on, and that together with the wide range of equipment that Gresham is now supplying has forced the company to move away from vertically integrated in-house design. These pressures have been exacerbated by increasing pressures on price. The changes that have taken place over the last twenty years moving from equipment designed
20 JULY/AUGUST 2017 | ELECTRONICS
while those that did, adjusted their prices to take account of it. Further, commercial technology moves a great deal faster than the design and procurement processes of the defence industry. A Naval vessel build can take many years
Figure 1: Gresham Power DC UPS
Figure 2:
Gresham defence power source
under direct MoD sponsorship to direct procurement by prime contractors has meant that, for example a frequency converter, rated at say 5kVA, commands a price now at a level some 60% below that of its equivalent – over 20 years ago - and that is without adjusting for inflation! Early attempts by shipbuilders worldwide to incorporate existing equipment into naval design were not overly successful. Commercial suppliers were reluctant to take on the significant additional bureaucracy involved in defence supply
from initial design (and initial procurement plans) to vessel build, fitting out, trails programmes and finally entering service. During that time a commercial power supply will have gone through many design changes driven by market requirements and competition. The consequence is that if not properly managed commercial equipment can be effectively obsolete before it is turned on in anger. In order to maintain a competitive edge, the company has established a dual track design philosophy. Where possible it designs its own power assemblies but where technology and performance dictates – and always with the knowledge of its customers – the company also use power assemblies bought in from commercial third parties. Commitment to this requires both a close relationship with its suppliers since a great deal of confidential technical detail needs to be acquired to achieve successful integration. Equally the long-term requirement to support further emphasises the need for a close relationship. In essence the company’s structure has
enabled it to understand and manage the integration of sophisticated commercial power sources into the demanding naval environment. In the simplest of terms the company is are “repackaging” these elements. In reality it is managing a process involving a close relationship with selected contractors in a way that both are willing to invest in the long term success and support of the project. As Gresham is in part a commercial
business it is able to understand the aspirations and fears of those suppliers it works with to arrive at a solution employing up to the minute technology with reliability and through-life supportability. The best of both worlds.
Gresham Power Electronics
www.greshampower.com T: 01722 413060
/ ELECTRONICS
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