User story Enovates
A tender for a hundred charging stations? Just a decade or so ago, that was considered very big. How different it is now, says Stijn Vispoel, who sees the world of electric transport (EV) changing almost by the day. "The market is becoming more and more mature. Just look at our customers; they are now the big players in the B2B market in particular. They are growing fast, as are we. In the past three or four years, our turnover has doubled each time."
In short, the time for pioneering has passed. And they also notice this at Enovates, which is based in Lokeren, Belgium, and where Stijn is manager for research & development (R&D). Here, everything revolves around the development and production of EV charging poles, from the very first sketch to accreditation and certification. Meanwhile, think of Enovates as a real technology company, Stijn says. A company that wants to be at the forefront of the latest applications. And thus distinguishes itself, with a shared conviction - ever since its establishment in 2010: "We believe very strongly in the electromobility market. We always have, no matter how challenging the first few years were at times."
Ready for the future
Responding to those customer wishes: it is up to Enovates to keep a sharp eye on the market for it. Not just for an adaptable front of a charging station, but certainly also where regulation and legislation are concerned. The standards for this are more sophisticated than ever, Stijn explains. So it comes down to being up to date. To ensure safe and reliable products. And to work together with other parties to do so, as Enovates does with Panasonic Industry, among others. More specifically, this mainly concerns Panasonic's HE-R power relay, which switches the power circuit in the charger and, with its four-pole design, complies with current and future standards. Stijn: "The relay gave us a big push. It was the right product at the right time."
In short, with Panasonics relay, Enovates virtually switched to a PCB design, which means a circuit via a circuit board. "As a result, we need much less wiring than before," Stijn explains. "That makes production simpler and more efficient. And because far fewer cables are connected, it also increases the reliability of the product."
Committed to the product
With the relay, Enovates has a component it knows is dedicated to its own end product. After all, Panasonic Industry announced Enovates the arrival of the relay. And asked Stijn and his colleagues for their input. Would the relay already work optimally for them like this? Or was there perhaps still a modification needed somewhere? Both parties exchanged information and knowledge, started working with samples and tests and shared their findings. After which, partly thanks to Enovates' input, a relay was developed that optimally meets the needs of the EV market.
Like Stijn, Luc Aalders, Sales & Business Development manager at Panasonic Industry, also looks back on the project with satisfaction. "This is exactly what we are all about. More than ever, we look at the market first and only then start developing a product. That is also how it went with this relay. We knew the needs at EV companies, and as Panasonic we are closely involved in product standardisation. That knowledge comes together in this relay, combined with input from our customers."
Answers are already there
Certainly, the step from a wire design to PCB design was quite substantial, Stijn explains. For instance, how to deal with the power in the PCB? And how do you ensure optimal soldering? "We put such questions to Panasonic. Each time, it turned out that the answers we were looking for were already known there. And this allowed us to move on quickly, especially because the information was clear and to-the-point. All this makes Panasonic much more of a partner than a supplier to us. And we still notice the latter, by the way, now that we are also exploring the possibilities of bluetooth technology for wireless modules together."
Your Committed Enabler
Talking about that partnership: it's the role that Panasonic Industry likes to play as your committed enabler, according to Luc: "We stand next to the customer, so to speak, and enter into a project together very consciously. And with our service, we offer a customer not only a product, but especially a piece of Panasonic. This is why we inform our customers about future developments. We share our roadmap, and are transparent about what we are doing."
The latter may sound self-evident, Stijn believes, although practice often shows otherwise. "By no means all suppliers are like this. That makes this cooperation rather special." The same applies vice versa, Luc stresses, "Enovates is equally open towards us. The information really comes from both sides, meant to arrive at the best solution together. Simply, being honest with each other: in the end, it's as simple as it is effective."
