Powering up
Powertron has been supplying power converters to the rail industry since 1979

“The history of Powertron can be traced back over many decades; indeed Powertron has been designing and building power supplies in and around Cambridge since its foundation in 1971,” says Mike Carter, the company’s managing director. “Powertron Converters Ltd, which was founded in 2002, was formed as a continuation of the activities of Powertron Ltd, whose manufacturing associate had gone into liquidation shortly beforehand. The formation of Powertron Converters Ltd means the whole operation, which had been moved to Lincoln prior to the management buyout, is now back under the control of the former management team, with design, sales and manufacturing consolidated at the Knapwell site near Cambridge.”

From its purpose-built plant, Powertron Converters can supply standard and custom designs of quality power supplies for a wide range of applications. An important part of the company’s time-honoured product range has been specially designed for railway rolling stock applications and complies with all the relevant international standards.

“Our products are high-specification, reliable, rugged and cost-efficient switch mode power supplies, AC-DC, DC-DC converters and DC-AC inverters, generally within the range 3W to over 2kW,” continues Mike. “They are commonly used in a very wide variety of customer-specified applications, including the rail industry for which we have a standard range of products approved for use on rolling stock.

“Powertron started supplying DC-DC converters to the rail industry as far back as 1979, and has since gained a vast amount of experience in this specialist sector,” he continues. “In today’s market, there are very few UK manufacturers who specialise in power supplies for use onboard trains, although there are some notable overseas competitors, particularly in Europe. We pride ourselves in offering high quality, competitively priced products that comply with all the relevant railway standards, combined with customer service that is second to none. We can also offer bespoke solutions for relatively small quantities, whether that be slightly modified standard products or out-and-out custom solutions, all of which comply with all the rail-specific norms and standards - this sets us above our competitors in the sector.”

Powertron’s engineering expertise is exceptional. Featuring some of the best technical minds in the industry, the company attempts to help with any power supply requirement. The versatility of in-house manufacture, local CEM partners and offshore manufacturing gives Powertron a competitive edge. “Although our products are generally built to order we are able to offer small and medium volumes on a very fast turnaround. For higher production quantities, our offshore partners have demonstrated that they can provide low cost manufacture of Powertron designs without any compromise in quality.” All final assembly, test and burn-in test is undertaken at Powertron’s factory near Cambridge. “This gives our customers, and particularly those in the rail sector, the confidence that the products supplied are of the utmost quality and reliability”.

The company is committed to providing customers with that special power supply solution, whether that involves competitive pricing or meeting complex specifications.

Mike, when talking more specifically about the challenges the company faces in the rail sector, adds: “In our experience, the rail industry is somewhat cyclical. For example, following privatisation there was a huge amount of investment in new trains. I believe something like 60 per cent of the UK’s rolling stock was replaced in a six-year period. Obviously, when a train has a design life of 25 years or more it means very few new trains will be produced over the next 20-odd years so we are looking for work in new sectors. Consequently, we seek to expand our export capability in the long term, but in the medium term there are many pending London Underground projects which we expect to be involved in.

“We are also witnessing an increasing demand for more technology onboard trains,” says Mike. “There is far more electronic equipment being installed on today’s trains than in the past; equipment such as passenger information and entertainment systems, wireless internet access and CCTV. All of these applications require power supplies so this represents a great opportunity for us.”

In the future Mike would like to see Powertron continue to enjoy a sustained period of steady growth, becoming more efficient and balancing work so that the cyclical nature of the rail industry does not affect profits. He explains: “Traditionally, we have found ourselves operating in a cycle, more often than not following the market. But by looking at slightly different markets – we are particularly excited by new opportunities for trackside applications – and by increasing our export sales, we should have a more balanced workload than we have had in the past. We are committed to maintaining a competitive edge and a strong presence in the market place, so we look to the future with optimism.”

November 2006

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