Magnetics Business & Technology - March/April 2022 - 16

FEATURE ARTICLE
Wellington's ECR2 Motor and IoT Connectivity Spur Fresh Growth for
New Zealand Company
With strong acceptance for its ECR2 motors specially designed
for refrigeration equipment, New Zealand company Wellington
Drive Technologies is experiencing robust growth aided significantly
by leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. Featuring
an injection-molded ferrite rotor, the motors are being used
increasingly by energy efficient minded manufacturers of food
and beverage refrigeration cases.
More than 3 million of the motors have rolled off its production
lines since introduction in 2016. Wellington sold 225,000 of
them in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 22% above the
184,000 sold in the same period for 2020, according to Gottfried
Pausch, chairman. Revenues for the motors amounted to $8.0
million for the period, up 13.8% from the same period the year
before.
Overall, the company forecasts revenues of $47 million for the
year, reaching a new record and representing a comeback from
business declines during the Covid-19 pandemic. New executive
appointments have been made recently, including Greg Balla,
formerly with health technology company Orion Health, as new
CEO in May.
Pre-pandemic, Wellington posted record 2019 sales and profits
from its innovative ECR2 refrigeration motor, Connect SCS
intelligent controllers and data services. The company develops
technology for the food and beverage equipment market that
improves equipment energy efficiency through its EC motors and
intelligent controllers, connects equipment to the cloud with its
Connect IoT platform, and provides a range of software apps to
give food and beverage brands access to point-of-sale information.
The
ECR2 product underpins its range of energy efficient EC
Motors. " Our flagship ECR2 motor is a three-phase design with
a four-pole, six-tooth stator and an injection-moulded anisotropic
ferrite rotor. Uniquely for its market, the integrated drive
16 Magnetics Business & Technology * March/April 2022
uses field-oriented control and includes a high-power factor and
universal voltage input stage. One SKU for multiple applications
means lower operating costs for our customers, " according to
David Howell, chief technical officer.
The motor works as a drop-in replacement for shaded pole Qframe
and unit bearing motors that were traditionally used as fan
motors in commercial refrigeration. With efficiency of up to 70%,
it uses two-thirds less power than shaded pole motors, improving
the efficiency of plug-in cases by up to 30%, and remote
cases by even more, says the company. It can maintain the high
efficiency over a very wide range of loads. The motor is designed
as a direct substitute for the shaded pole motors commonly used
to drive evaporator and condenser fans in commercial refrigeration
appliances including supermarket display cases, beverage
coolers, ice cream freezers and food service cabinets.
Sales of the ECR2 motor jumped 20% in 2019 to $22.5 million,
helping Wellington increase its revenues to $61.7 million and
post a maiden year-end profit as a public company. Introduced
four years ago, the ECR2 has exceeded expectations, reaching
more than one million units sold in its first two years on the market.
Historically, Wellington was reliant on the beverage cooler
market, but has shifted its strategy to also focus on new markets
like supermarket display cases and food service equipment.
The company has continued to launch several new hardware and
software products, further enhancing its Connect IoT family of
intelligent controllers with advanced fleet management software,
data services and proximity marketing capabilities. Headquartered
in Auckland and founded in 1986 primarily as a power
electronics technology company, Wellington pivoted to its ECR2
and Connect IoT product range in 2015.
For more info see www.wdtl.com.
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Magnetics Business & Technology - March/April 2022

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