Industry Marketing Thoughts

Wind Energy… Firmly entrenched in Europe wind energy is an exciting opportunity for North America and beyond.  And boy, did the 2010 Wind Power Show in Dallas indicate that.  Over 20,000 attendees and nearly 1400 exhibitors representing companies from countries all over the world including Germany, Spain, Italy, India, Canada, China, Korea and many others.  And the diversity of the offerings was immense… from the largest wind turbines you have ever seen, to the ladders and hoists that allow access and service, to the components inside the turbine that control pitch, power conversion, etc, to the trucking and transport companies responsible for transporting these large turbines and blades across the country.

The excitement at the show was evident, the buzz non-stop.  People are really excited about wind energy taking off in North America.  According to the AWEA, last year the United States installed more than 10,000MW of new wind power.  Thirty six states now have wind projects.  The people were a friendly bunch… happy to discuss opportunities knowing that  we all must all work together to grow this market, both for our companies and the environment.

So let’s talk about the exhibitors.  The turbines are unbelievably large.  Anyone who has ever seen a wind turbine across a field has little idea of the magnitude of these structures.  Or of a single blade.  Or of  the nacelle.  These structures make people look like ants!  All of the major manufacturers were there and it was impressive group.

One of the discussions we had with several of the global exhibitors is the necessity to have local manufacturing around the globe.  It is not economically feasible to ship these large parts all over the world.  Rather the large turbine and blade manufacturers must set up shop regionally, and thus need local suppliers in each region.

Of particular interest to Southco, were the many exhibitors who manufactured equipment for the inside of the turbine.  Many latches, hinges and fasteners could be found on the pitch drives, the inverters and other enclosures in the turbine.   There are a lot pieces of equipment  that need to be accessed during service, and our quarter turn fasteners and compression latches fit the bill..  There are also a lot of applications on the testing equipment, whether it is for monitoring the amount of wind at a location or testing the systems  in the wind turbine.

Other than that there was a lot of just plain fun.  A delicious exhibitor-sponsored lunch was provided each day and offered a good opportunity for networking.  There were plenty of evening activities including a function at the Hard Rock Café featuring Elvis Costello and the Conference Dinner starring Sienfeld’s Jason Alexander.  Even some of the booths got into the spirit of things… The Wind Energy TechnoCentre of Quebec  hired a three-piece Texas jazz band to perform at the end of the day, which led to quite a lively happy hour!

Bottom line is that it is an exciting time for green energy worldwide and especially wind. 
The growth potential is enormous and the clean energy it can provide is ELECTRIFYING!

For about five years now, we have been designing ejectors, fasteners, and alignment pins for the forthcoming  ATCA market.  Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions are all the rage in embedded computing— improving time to market, reducing development and material costs, and allowing OEMs to focus on their specialized components (special sauce!), while fitting in the bigger picture. 

Well, the market ramp-up has been much slower than anticipated due to factors including slower adoption, product readiness and the recession.    And, the high initial investment by suppliers, coupled with the slow adoption, had some people worried.   However according to Simon Stanley of Light Reading, the ATCA market is set to grow significantly over the next three years.

Another notable occurrence in this area  is the adoption of the PICMG standards by markets other than telecom.  Much like its predecessor CompactPCI, telecom was the original target market for ATCA (along with AMC and MicroTCA) and was expected to show the highest revenue and growth.  According to VDC Research Group, telecom accounted for 70% of cPCI business in 2007.  However, a funny thing happened on the way to adoption… other markets surpassed telecom, especially in AMC and MicroTCA applications.  According to Crystal Cube Consulting,  the MicroTCA vertical market breakdown in 2009 showed that Military/Aerospace market share  was triple that of Telecom, with Medical and Industrial following closely behind. So what are we excited about?  

First, the ATCA market is growing, which makes Southco and the other suppliers in this ecosystem happy.  Also, PICMG recently announced their effort to expand the ATCA market and applications beyond central office telecom.  And finally, AMC and MicroTCA has become a serious player in other markets, especially military and aerospace.  Therefore, we should see steady ramp up of the market (and our ejectors) from here on out.  So buckle your seatbelts and come along for the ride…