Company X is a power supply manufacturer that develops and manufactures various types of built-in power supplies, including stand-alone board types, on-board types, and unit types. They specialize in switching power supplies for information and communication devices, and handle a wide variety of products, from general-purpose products to customized products.
In recent years, with the remarkable progress of ICT in the field of information and communications technology, there has been an increasing need for power supply devices to be more energy efficient, more compact, and with longer life spans, and equipment manufacturers are placing increasingly stringent demands on the power supplies they use.
Company X has also been conducting various research and development projects, such as improving power conversion efficiency and high-density design, but among these, "improving cooling efficiency" has become a key issue in terms of reliability.
Company X had been using low-cost overseas cooling fans for a long time to reduce product costs, but gradually found that they could no longer meet the required requirements for cooling performance, quietness, reliability, etc. Therefore, the company decided to completely reconsider the selection of cooling fans to be installed in its power supplies.
However, Company X faced a big obstacle: the "selection criteria" for the optimal cooling fan. The performance required of the cooling fan varies depending on the device in which the power supply unit is installed. For example, when installed in a PC, quiet operation is an absolute requirement. On the other hand, when installed in a server, low vibration is required while maintaining high heat dissipation performance.
Regarding the challenges that Company X faced, Mr. Y, a manager in the company's Technology Development Department, had this to say:
"The amount of heat generated inside electronic devices is increasing due to the increasing functionality of these devices. Furthermore, the high density of packaging inside the equipment requires higher cooling performance than before. For this reason, improving cooling efficiency was extremely important. There are also cases where power supply units need to have a longer lifespan, so it was not easy to select and implement fans with the optimal characteristics and size to suit the characteristics of each installed device."
Furthermore, interactions with overseas manufacturers had many constraints in terms of delivery dates and support for detailed requests, which was a bottleneck in product development.
Mr. Y, who had been actively gathering information to improve cooling efficiency, visited SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. Denki booth at a certain exhibition, where various types of cooling fans were on display. Mr. Y was first surprised by the wide range of products on offer.
"After speaking to the sales representative in detail, I learned that there are more than 40 different frame sizes for standard DC Cooling Fan alone, with a wide variety of airflows and static pressures. What's more, there are fans available in a range of types to meet all kinds of needs, including quiet fans, Counter Rotating Fan, oil-proof and Splash Proof Fan, Long Life Fan, low-power fans, and CPU cooling fans," said Y.
In addition, we measure the blade balance of all cooling fans, and only those that meet strict standards are used, and we also conduct shipping inspections on all of them, so we can expect a significant improvement in quality. Furthermore, the expected life span is longer than the cooling fans from the manufacturer we currently use, which was also a major attraction.
What was useful to Mr. Y was the advice on "what to consider when selecting the optimal cooling fan."
"When we asked for opinions on the noise reduction characteristics of a power supply unit that was still under development, we learned that simply installing a quiet fan would not be enough. Even if the noise reduction standards were met, the required performance in terms of air volume might not be achieved, and noise levels would change depending on the fan's installation position. They suggested that we needed to reconsider not only the fan specifications but also system impedance and other factors." (Mr. Y)
Mr. Y felt that not only was the extensive lineup impressive, but that receiving such technical advice "given him a great sense of security," and so he decided to request specific proposals for the development of a new power supply unit.
SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. accompanied an engineer to visit X Company to check the equipment and hold a meeting. After checking the equipment layout, specifications, and conditions, we considered the operating air volume required for cooling. After that, we explored the optimal configuration to ensure a balance between intake and exhaust, and made several proposals, such as the fan installation position and changes to the standard fan specifications.
When Mr. Y tested a prototype power supply unit, he confirmed that it was possible to ensure sufficient cooling performance while maintaining quietness.
Company X decided to use 80mm square DC Cooling Fan manufactured by SANYO DENKI CO., LTD.. SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. continued to provide technical support, even going so far as to make a mass production prototype with harness processing.
"SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. provided us with ongoing support right up to the mass production prototype. With the cooling fans we had previously used, there was variation in the evaluation results between prototypes and mass production prototypes, which was a cause of delays in the development schedule, which was a source of concern. By using SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. 's cooling fans, we were able to maintain the specifications of the prototype in the mass-produced product, which made the transition to mass production a smoother process." (Mr. A from the Technical Team)
Another major factor in customer satisfaction was the prompt delivery of the cooling fans through the "short-term delivery service." This service also made it possible to accommodate sudden changes in specifications, which contributed to shortening the development and evaluation process.
A few months later, Company X released a new power supply that was quieter and had a longer lifespan. Its high reliability earned it favorable reviews from users.
Mr. Y said:
"In addition to the extensive lineup and high quality, their technical support that focuses on issues at the development site has significantly improved the speed of our product development. We look forward to consulting with them in the future to improve the performance of other power supply devices."
For more information about axial fans, please see "What is an axial fan? Its features, structure and usage."
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