“Our clients ask us to improve their products or design products from scratch. Hitaltech components and enclosures help us do that.”
For cost efficiency. For production simplicity. In this way, we support their design team’s capabilities. Discover why Electronics Subcontractor DVR chose Hitaltech.
Why Electronics Manufacturers Choose Hitaltech
“We help our clients bring new products to market,” says Chris Dilliway, product design manager with DVR, the 100-strong Essex-based electronics manufacturer. “We’re really good at ‘board stuffing’, that is, putting electronic components onto circuit boards in the most space-efficient way.”
That ability has seen the company create electronics for a wide range of industries from energy to military to automotive. But it was as part of a rail-based project that Chris first came across Hitaltech, around eight years ago.
“DVR Design [Chris’ division of the business] was developing a system for the London Underground that would warn of impending electrical failures. It was a clever piece of kit and Hitaltech was providing me with the connectors for the system.”
In the years since, Chris has remained in contact with Hitaltech, using its components for the occasional research project, but a new commission saw Chris return to Hitaltech for a considerably larger order to support product development.
Off-The-Shelf Cost And Production Simplicity
“This time we needed a metering and monitoring solution for caravan parks and marinas,” he explains. “In the past, these would be the sort of coin-operated meters that sit by berths and moorings. Now, you’ll pre-pay for your gas and electricity, topping up by smartphone so you can always see how much money is left on your account, and how much energy you’ve used.”
Crucially, the account travels with the customer. The meters need to be smart enough to know when a customer has left one marina and moored at the next, so users always have the power they need.
“We, therefore, need to be able to connect to the meters, turn the power on and communicate wirelessly,” explains Chris. “For that to happen, data needs to be sent to a gateway which condenses the information and sends it to the cloud. We’ve developed the system and corresponding mobile app on behalf of our sister company Meter-MACS (Monitoring And Control Systems). Our app then connects each marina and caravan park’s management system to our own.”
Keeping Things Simple With Hitaltech
Hitaltech components are used throughout the system. “The data logger uses a Hitaltech (Italtronic) enclosure and connectors. Our previous model had custom mouldings, but after evaluation, we decided it was better to try and use a standard box. The Hitaltech enclosure is straight off the shelf and, because we’re making these by the thousands, that works well from a cost perspective but also in terms of production simplicity.
“We use the same enclosure for a temperature input/output that connects to the data logger (which ensures no one else can use your power if you take your boat out for the day).
“Then we needed an optical extender to enable an input switch to work a mile away. To make that robust and able to cope with things like lightning strikes we needed some additional electronics that could be operated by relay. It was a little power hungry previously, but we’ve come up with something that is less hungry and puts 16 relays in one box – the same box as the data logger. We have Hitaltech connectors in each of these enclosures.”
Creating A Smarter Meter
“Hitaltech products help us”
Installation of the latest generation of meters is complete at the first marina, covering 300 berths. Now rollout is set to continue across many more sites, bringing the total number of metering and monitoring points to 4,000.
“We needed to make sure the unit could fit an off-the-shelf box so we worked with Hitaltech, getting the enclosure first so we could design the insides to fit. Ultimately, we’ve reached a point where we’ve placed a whole suite of products – data logger, temperature input/output and optical extender – in the same enclosure, which improves cost efficiency.
“It’s really good that we’re on a first name basis with Hitaltech,” adds Chris. “It’s a good service with a personal touch and they’ve helped us find the right connectors for our products and enclosures. They’re really good on price for mid-volumes too when you’re working with thousands of units.”
Chris is grateful for the way Hitaltech supports his design team’s capabilities.
“We design products that meet the needs of our customers. We have a really good team that can help any business that’s in the market for industrial Internet of Things products. We help them develop a technical working concept and make it ready for market. Hitaltech’s people and products help us do that.”
To discover how Hitaltech can help you develop your products and bring them to market, talk to us.
