Power resistor manufacturer development!

Telema S.p.A has appointed Andrew Keith, former engineering director at the group’s subsidiary company, Cressall Resistors, as its new group product development director.

Andrew Keith

The Telema group forms the largest resistor manufacturing group in the world, spanning across 20 countries with over 1,500 employees. In the newly created role, Keith will collaborate with companies from across the group to develop a standardised range of load banks.

A load bank is an electrical load made from resistors, inductors or capacitors, or a combination depending on the application. Its purpose is to validate that an electrical power source will perform correctly to full capacity, this can be either upon completion of manufacture, installation or as part of on-going maintenance.

Each subsidiary part of the group has its own wealth of knowledge and experience in delivering bespoke power resistor solutions for the most demanding of applications. Keith’s work will build upon these individual successes and will use the expertise of each company to develop a standard range of load banks that will suit the wider marketplace.

After starting at Cressall in 2007, Keith worked on a variety of projects before progressing to the position of engineering manager and then to his latest director role. During his time at the company, Keith specialised in the design and manufacturing of power resistors for electricity transmission and distribution and for industrial applications. This included work on bespoke designs for Neutral Grounding Devices (NGR / NER), Harmonic Filtering Resistors, Dynamic Braking (DBR) and load banks.

The abundance of experience that Keith gained at Cressall will be of great benefit to his new role, which will begin with a research project that will see him work across the entire group in order to create a new range of standardised load banks for multiple sectors. This project is the first to be conducted across the group, allowing each subsidiary to build upon the others experience and offering.

On his new appointment, Keith explains, “the newly created role is a positive investment for the group and marks an exciting opportunity to bring together the expertise and resources of the Telema subsidiaries to offer our customers the benefits of our shared knowledge.

“By making the most of each member of the group’s own proficiencies in the load bank field, my new role will help to bridge the gaps between each company’s individual expertise, to create a standardised product that will also help to fill a gap in Telema’s existing product range”.

Following the extensive research of each company’s offerings, Keith’s work on the development of a standardised product will enhance the value of the group’s product range which will, in turn, contribute to an increase in sales.

#Telema @CressallR #Electronics @StoneJunctionPR

Engineer brings FEA expertise to resistor manufacturer.

To mark another successful year, power resistor manufacturer Cressall Resistors has appointed Damiano Natali as research and development and finite element analysis (FEA) engineer. Natali relocated from Genoa (I) to join the Leicester-based company (GB) after working as a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) engineer for three years. He also has a PhD in Fluid Dynamics and Environmental Processes from the University of Genoa.

Damiano Natali

Since joining the team in November 2015, Natali has already developed a complex piece of R&D software that allows the department to accurately record test voltage waveforms. The software increases the productivity of the testing process, enhances the reliability of the outcomes and increases the precision with which Cressall meets customer specifications. The software, coined by Natali as CR Lightning also allows Cressall engineers to quickly verify that tests comply with BS EN 60060 requirements.

In a constantly evolving marketplace, ensuring its product range is both cost-effective and flexible enough to satisfy its customers' technical and commercial requirements is one of Cressall's main focuses. To stay ahead, the resistor manufacturer recently invested in advanced software packages, including Ansys Workbench. This, along with the guidance of Cressall engineers, will help Natali develop Cressall's innovative products even further, as well as optimising their existing product range.

"So far, Damiano has had an enormous impact on the Cressall team," explained Andrew Keith, engineering director of Cressall Resistors. "Damiano has a wide skill set, ranging from the ability to accurately analyse raw materials, to conducting advanced CFD operations effectively.

"Damiano joins the team at an exciting time, and the biggest impact of his initial work will come in the next few months, when he will use our 3D modelling and FEA software to optimise an existing design as part of one of our largest projects to date."

In his spare time, Natali is an enthusiastic cyclist and is keen to tackle some of Leicester's toughest cycling routes, including Beacon Hill and Polly Botts Lane.

"Cressall is one of the leading manufacturers for resistor production and its worldwide customer base and wide range of product requests was certainly appealing when considering the job prospect," commented Natali. "At Cressall, I have the opportunity to apply my mechanical engineering background to a wide spectrum of applications, such as the seismic analysis of resistor enclosures, to wind loading on high-stacked banks."

@CressallR #PAuto 

Comprehensive data centre testing.

Cressall is partnering up with its French sister company, Rentaload, to provide the British market with an effective means of load testing data centres. The collaboration comes as a response to the growing popularity of cloud computing and consequently, the need for reliable data storage.

Rentaload provides a range of load banks for a variety of industries - from oil and gas to the health sector. The company specialises in renting innovative rack-mounted load banks for the specialised testing of data centres. Cressall is now the UK contact for businesses seeking to rent load banks from Rentaload.

Traditionally, data centre load testing focussed purely on the data halls and back-up generators. Testing was often carried out on individual systems, even before the final infrastructure - such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) or server racks - were in place. This testing method sometimes meant problems arose because elements of the data centres hadn't been tested together.

To address this issue, Rentaload supplies load banks that emulate servers, rack-mounted to provide an accurate perception of working functionality under normal operating conditions. This means they mimic the actual load on the HVAC system, automatic transfer switches and the electrical system. This allows the client to test the whole system under normal operating conditions.

Single phase rack-mounted load banks are available at 7kW and 11kW loads and free standing 21kW single/three phase mini-tower units.

"It's imperative for companies to test data centres at their full working capacity before servers are switched on," explained Mark Templeman, sales engineer at Cressall and representative for Rentaload. "You don't have to look back too far to see the consequences of downtime in data centres. It is what gave birth to tier certification. "Data centres are awarded different tiers of certification depending on their reliability and levels of redundancy in place. These certifications are awarded by an unbiased advisory organization, Uptime Institute and are categorised from one to four. Tier four recognises the highest level of reliability for a data centre. Using Rentaload's rack-mounted load banks to accurately test working loads on electrical, back-up and HVAC systems is an effective way of proving reliance and achieving tier certifications."

International trade qualification brings expertise to resistor manufacturer.

Hard work and expertise in the field of international export has paid off at Cressall.  Hina Sharma of the company's commercial engineering team has achieved an International Trade Operations and Procedures (ITOPs) qualification.

ITOPs is a recognised international trade qualification that covers the main elements of export administration. This includes documentation, customs and excise - as well as other legal requirements - payments, dispatch and shipping.

The East Midlands Chamber of Commerce delivered the course in conjunction with Fidelitas Training.

Sharma, who began her career with an engineering degree at De Montfort University, is involved in post sales management, handling contracts and schedules and ensuring safe delivery at Cressall.

The Leicester based resistor specialist exports products worldwide with distributors in 17 countries, spanning four continents.

"For Cressall, exporting internationally is an incredibly important aspect of the business," explained Sharma. "In gaining my ITOPs qualification I've learned a great deal and have already started to implement small changes to the way we operate that will have a positive impact on our overall efficiency.

"The course has enabled me to take a step back and look at Cressall's international trade procedures from an objective point of view. The skills and knowledge I've acquired thanks to ITOPs will help Cressall operate internationally for years to come."

Sharma also achieved a British Chambers of Commerce Foundation Award in International Trade alongside her ITOPs qualification.

Resistor manufacturer returns.

After a well-received appearance at last year’s Export Connect Cy Wilkinson, managing director of Cressall Resistors, has been invited to return to the event and speak at the 2014 conference. Run by SayOne Media, it will take place in  London on September 9, 2014.

Cy Wilkinson

One of several speakers on the day, Wilkinson’s half hour presentation will focus on Cressall’s experience in export markets gained over decades of work overseas. He will concentrate on the strategies used to overcome cultural and regulatory barriers in worldwide markets.

The session will expand on Wilkinson’s previous presentation at last year’s event which provided delegates with much needed insight into export operations from a small and medium enterprise (SME) point of view. He offered useful, real life, examples of the challenges UK manufacturing companies face.

Cressall is set to take to the stage among a diverse group of industry professionals, with speakers from a number of companies including Typhoo Tea, Hockley International and Fracino. This year’s Governmental speaker will be Andrea Walker from UK Export Finance, which is also a partner of the event, along with organisations such as the Automation Advisory Board and the Lean Management Journal.

Part of the Manufacturers Accelerated Growth series, Export Connect provides attendees with a guide to successful export into new territories with regional spotlight sessions on North America, Brazil, the Middle East, India, Asia and Russia. The essential information, contacts and best practice provided by senior manufacturers, industry experts and peers will present a strong platform to enable further overseas growth.

“Export is the lifeblood of British industry,” explained Wilkinson. “It’s an integral part of the economic recovery. Cressall has over 100 years of experience to share, but I’m sure we can learn something new as well.”