Our client is a lock manufacturer.
As is customary in the region, customers are looking for two different sources of the same motor component for supply chain redundancy.
The customer provided a sample of their proposed motor and commissioned us to build an exact replica.
We reviewed the sample specifications from other suppliers.
We characterized their motor on the dynamometer and immediately saw that the data sheet did not match.
We suggest asking us to create a customer that matches the motor instead of the published specifications.
In looking at the customer's application, we felt that overall reliability could be improved by changing the windings from 3 poles to 5 poles.
The reliability of electric locks is very important. For an electronic remote lock, the motor must start moving the lock pin, hot or cold, at the expected time.
Our 5-pole motor proved to be more reliable when the lock was started, especially in cold conditions.
The customer eventually adopted our 5-pole design and set it as a reference standard (along with our correct and matching datasheet) and commissioned their other suppliers to match.
