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The Invertek Drives business continues to grow its share of
a $7 billion per annum global AC drives market that is
growing at 7% per annum (source IMS). This growth is
largely driven by the concern about future energy supplies
and the increased interest in the inherent energy saving
potential offered by of AC drive products.
To give perspective to the energy saving opportunity, it has
been established that AC electric motors consume at least
25% of the electricity generated globally. Almost 30% of
this could be saved by the use of AC drives and improved
motor technology. This represents an astonishing 8% of
global electricity consumption, the most significant single
contribution of any technology to the problem of carbon
emissions. For this reason, I have every confidence that
inverter drives will continue to buck the reported
downward market trend of other industrial market sectors.
The continued growth in Invertek Drives market share
translates to an impressive year-on-year sales growth of
nearly 30%. This sales success has been achieved through
increased market penetration due to product innovation;
exploiting opportunities arising from the increased demand
for energy saving opportunities; and ever-wider coverage of
the global market.
Highlights of the product innovation programme this year
are the Optidrive IP55 and the Optidrive E2 drives
products. Both products have recorded impressive levels of
sales around the World in their first year of production and
have made a significant contribution to achieving an
increased share of the global AC drives market.
This pace of change and innovation in product technology is
regarded as a key strategy for growth and is set to
accelerate over the coming year. The new Optidrive
Compact ,Optidrive IP66 / NEMA 4X and Optidrive Plus V3
drives are now in production and have already generated an
extremely high level of interest with potential customers.
This is supported by a keen focus on the adaptability of
Optidrive drives to meet the exact needs of specific
applications, ensuring that we offer highly differentiated and
optimised drive solutions.
Looking to the sales success generated through increased
market coverage, multiple branding contracts have been a
key factor. Within these contracts customised products
from Invertek Drives are added to the product portfolios of
other global AC drive manufacturers to provide a wide
range of additional channels to market.
Nothing is possible of course without adequate resources
and we have spent the year building our teams in
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