ElectroCraft, the US-headquartered supplier of small motors and motion controls, has rationalised and standardised its global drive portfolio. Its CompletePower range of speed controls and servo and stepper drives, some of which were previously available only in Europe, will now be available worldwide.

“We have rationalised our product offering to create a comprehensive range of products and capabilities, while minimising the product overlap from one drive to another,” explains Rob Kerber, ElectroCraft’s vice president of marketing and motion. “This makes drive selection simpler for our customers and allows us to better support our products on a global basis.”

ElectroCraft is owned by US-based DMI Technology, which bought the brand from Rockwell Automation in 2006. Rockwell had acquired ElectroCraft in 1994 as part of Reliance Electric, which had owned ElectroCraft since 1991. Previously, the company had belonged to the US motor-maker Robbins & Myers, which had itself acquired ElectroCraft in 1980, 20 years after the business was established as a manufacturer of servomotors and amplifiers.

DMI has combined ElectroCraft with two US-based motors businesses, EADmotors and AGI (Arkansas General Industries). It has also been expanding ElectroCraft through acquisitions. In 2007, it acquired the German servodrive and speed control manufacturer, eMotion Drives & Controls, and in May this year it bought Automotion, which produces brushless AC and DC controls, specialising in embedded servos for OEM machine-builders.

ElectroCraft now has operations in China, Hong Kong and Germany, as well as European headquarters in Crewe in the UK.

It has recently announced a new range of digital servo drives to power its brushless motors. The CompletePower Plus drives (shown above) offer software-selectable torque, velocity and positioning control, with sinewave commutation using encoder feedback for smooth torque at low speeds. The drives include: 24-48V DC models that deliver 7–20A peak (3.5–10.5A continuous); 90–254V single-phase AC models that deliver up to 11A peak (5A continuous); and 90–254V single- and three-phase versions delivering 14–21A peak (8-12A continuous).