Have you ever stopped to think about the wealth of knowledge that your local Controlled Power Company sales rep agencies have when it comes to recommending one of our electrical power quality, medical-grade power, or emergency lighting inverter solutions?   Not only does your local rep understand “power quality”, but (s)he knows the particular CPC product’s competitive advantages … as well as what sets Controlled Power Company apart from our competitors!

Last week, we hosted one of our “Sales Rep Training” seminars.   Participants typically include new rep agencies, new-hires within rep agencies, and reps wishing to refresh their knowledge and/or educate themselves about some of our newer products.

In a “small classroom” style with a low participant-to-instructor ratio, our reps spend 1.5 days with us here at our facility in Troy, Michigan.   In a “lecture / open discussion / hands-on” format, we educate our reps about the necessity and fundamentals of electrical power quality, provide detailed descriptions and applications of each of our product families, and discuss our marketing efforts and customer support.

We not only facilitate our reps’ efforts in field sales, but these individuals’ comprehensive knowledge of our products and services enables YOU to make informed purchase decisions about which of our products best suits your needs!   A true “win-win”!

And just so you don’t think that 1.5 days is all “work, work, work”, we include a healthy balance of good food and social fun while our reps are here!   Below is a photo taken during our evening playing ”WhirlyBall” together.   “WhirlyBall” is a 5-on-5 team game that is a unique combination of basketball and lacrosse (using a scoop to pass and shoot a whiffle ball toward an elevated goal) — while driving bumper cars !   No kidding!   I’ve learned that there are only about 16 “WhirlyBall” locations around the U.S. — 3 of which are here in southeast Michigan!

Posted in Company News, Emergency Lighting, General Power Quality, Medical Power Quality /

In recent weeks and months, the U.S. has been plagued with a number of widespread, major power outages, which have affected millions of electrical utility customers.   The causes of these recent outages were primarily from faulty equipment and acts of Nature:

• July 11, Chicago IL:
  A derecho (bow-shaped, fast-moving and often long-lived, straight-line windstorm) knocked-out power to 805,000 commercial and residential customers.
• August 27 – 28, the Atlantic Seaboard from North Carolina to New England:
  “Hurricane Irene” caused 5+ million power outages.
• September 8 – 9, Southern California and Arizona:
  The replacement of a piece of problematic monitoring equipment left another 5+ million commercial and residential customers “in the dark”.
• September 16, Oakland CA:
  Several banks of stadium lights at Oakland Coliseum went out during a baseball game, leaving several thousand fans sitting in partial-to-total darkness.   (Imagine being in the restroom, at the concession stand, or in any other darkened area among total strangers … more than a little scary!)

It’s no secret that despite energy conservation efforts (CFL bulbs, LED’s, high-efficiency appliances, etc), the stress placed on an aging electrical infrastructure in the U.S. is compounded by continually increasing demands for electricity — it simply is what it is.   As for violent weather events, ”stuff happens” — weather systems are not going to go away!

The fact is that power outages are going to happen.   Granted, typically not every few weeks nor affecting so many millions of customers … at least, we hope not!   But nonetheless … what can you do about it?   Better question:  what are you going to do about it … do you have a contingency plan, and does it include emergency backup power?

Preparation is key.

Ironically, on July 8 this summer (harbinger of things to come, perhaps?!), we blogged about  “The Cost Of Downtime … “ !     Take a read, think about your own business continuity … and ask us how we can help you with your UPS’s, centralized emergency lighting, and other life safety / mission critical electrical preparations!

Posted in Emergency Lighting, General Power Quality, Medical Power Quality /

Patient safety is a primary concern when selecting a medical-grade uninterruptible power system (UPS) for use in hospitals and other healthcare facilities — especially when that UPS is going to be used with patient vicinity and portable (cord-connected) equipment.

NFPA 99 electrical codes provide guidelines that help ensure patient safety, by defining safe levels of leakage current and by defining how to test portable patient care related electrical appliances and equipment to ensure that they meet those safe levels.   NFPA 99 also includes “Patient Care Vicinity” standards, which define examination and treatment areas.   All cord-connected electrical appliances and equipment located within the “Patient Care Vicinity” must meet leakage current requirements — and that includes the UPS.

A “UL 60601-1 listed and labeled UPS” has been tested and certified as meeting the NFPA 99 leakage current limits for portable equipment.   However, keep in mind that a UPS bearing only the UL 1778 listing has not been tested and approved for use as portable equipment in a medical facility.

Contact us for more information about the NFPA 99 definitions of “leakage current” and “patient care vicinity”.   Ask us how we can help you reduce potential liability issues and costly maintenance / testing by using an “NFPA 99 compliant” and UL 60601-1 listed portable UPS!

Posted in Medical Power Quality /

Whether you’ve been following us for weeks now, or are new to our blog, you’ve no doubt been reading about our products, applications, and some of Controlled Power Company’s qualities that set us apart from our competitors.   But did you know that we also offer a top-notch customer service program and customer support plans?

Upon receipt of your new Controlled Power Company product, we encourage you to submit an online warranty registration form.   In addition to the hardcopy owner’s manual that you received with your new product, you may also request that a PDF copy be e-mailed to you!

Besides our standard warranty on each of our products, which guarantees each product to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for 1 – 3 years (product-specific) following shipment from our factory, we also pride ourselves in being able to offer you a wide variety of extended warranty and service plans to specifically meet your needs and budget !

Reap the long-term benefits of scheduled preventive maintenance visits, as well as extended hours of onsite repair coverage if necessary!   Ask us about our “Start Up Plus” program, which is truly the “best-bang-for-your-buck” !

Posted in Company News, Emergency Lighting, General Power Quality, Medical Power Quality /

A “K(i)” rating refers to the intermittent kVA or “momentary power demand” rating.   During the time that a medical imaging or treatment modality performs the actual scan or procedure, that piece of equipment has a high surge current — meaning that the current will rise to (or be higher than!) 3 to 5 times that of the steady state current.   This momentary power demand typically lasts for < 5 seconds, however these seconds are ‘critical’ in that the power source must deliver the required current while staying within the line voltage tolerance of the imaging / treatment equipment.

So Oversizing Should Solve Everything … Right?

Not true!   We’ve seen how some medical OEM’s and power quality product manufacturers take a “better safe than sorry” approach, and deliberately oversize the distribution transformer, power conditioner, or voltage regulator, treating the momentary power demand as if it was a continuous event.   However, keep in mind that most of the time, the imaging / treatment equipment is in the stand-by mode and requires only a fraction of its momentary power demand.   Therefore, the “oversizing” approach simply leads to an expensive and inefficient installation, increased operating costs, and typically a larger space than necessary to accommodate the oversized transformer or power conditioner.

A Better Approach:   Controlled Power Company’s Solution

Our K(i) rated SureImage power conditioner or SureImage voltage regulator is installed ‘upstream’ from the medical imaging / treatment modality.   Therefore, when sizing our product, we consider both the maximum intermittent and the maximum steady state kVA ratings of the modality.   We size our SureImage product’s K(i) rating to be greater than the modality’s maximum intermittent kVA rating.   And likewise, we size our SureImage product’s continuous kVA rating to be greater than the modality’s maximum steady state kVA.   Our SureImage medical-grade, K(i) rated power conditioners and voltage regulators are designed to supply both the intermittent and continuous kVA, while continuing to provide tightly-regulated voltage.

 SureImage “Model Ultra-K/M” (left) and “Model 700F/M” (right)

So what does this mean for you?   Bottom line:  our SureImage products are properly-sized for the continuous load rating; and provide regulated and conditioned power, high efficiency, and lower operating costs.   In addition, all of our SureImage models are surge-rated to optimize performance; and provide your medical modality with exactly the power that it needs.

Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?!   Contact us for details … let us know how we can help!

Posted in Medical Power Quality /

As a follow-up to our recent post about how “bad power will cost you money”, I’ve skimmed through some online business and efficiency studies which report that commercial and industrial facilities experience an average of over 500 hours of network and operational downtime each year!   That’s just shy of 25% of the time (based on the typical 40-hour work week of 2,080 hours per year)!!   Completely unacceptable!!   Consequently, these companies are losing millions of dollars in annual productivity and revenue!   Is your company one of them?

These studies revealed significant details about lost productivity due to business interruptions which included everything from complete power outages, to all types of system failures caused by electrical power quality problems.

Consider the following details:

Did you know ….. that over 70% of the companies surveyed had been adversely affected by or were at risk for power outages?   Over 50% of these companies had experienced debilitating hardware, software, and communications failures as a result.

Did you know ….. that these business disruptions have cost 77% of the surveyed companies over $100,000 dollars?   The remaining 23% have lost between $100,000 to over $5 million dollars.

Did you know ….. that 54% of the surveyed companies reported that their hourly cost of business interruptions was between $50,000 dollars to over $5 million dollars?

Did you know ….. that 60% of the surveyed companies said that their very survival was at risk within 1 – 48 hours after a business disruption?   The remaining 40% were severely at risk within 72 hours.

Did you know ….. that only 37% of the surveyed companies have corporate-wide contingency plans in place?   The remaining 63% either have plans in certain locales or departments, are currently developing plans, or have no contingency plans in place at all.

With all these details in mind, did you know that Controlled Power Company is your electrical power quality solutions provider?!

Our full complement of UPS, power conditioners, centralized emergency lighting inverters, voltage regulators and constant voltage transformers, power distribution units, and K-rated isolation transformers protect your facility and its life safety and mission critical applications from the effects of the business disruptions described above.

When failure is not an option, ask us how we can help you avoid the cost of downtime!

Posted in Emergency Lighting, General Power Quality, Medical Power Quality /

In general, electrical utilities do a fairly good job of generating quality power.   However, just through the nature of electrical transmission and distribution, the utility companies then ‘lose control’ of the quality of the utility power that a commercial / industrial / healthcare / educational facility receives and uses.   While over- and under-voltages can certainly be the result of what is happening on the power grid itself, the electrical power quality within a facility can be further compromised by a number of different sources.

Inside a facility, such additional causes of over-, under- and fluctuating voltages might include ground faults, undersized power systems, and the sudden start-up or switching of large loads such as an elevator or electric motor.   High and low voltage fluctuations may only last for a few cycles or a few seconds, but that’s more than enough time to affect the operation of critical loads and applications.   Over-voltages (surges lasting for several cycles) in particular, may result in equipment and/or electronic component failure.

The bottom line is that  bad power WILL cost you money  … as unscheduled downtime, lost production, repeat processes, and expensive emergency repairs.

So, what’s going on in your facility with YOUR electrical power?   Are some of these scenarios happening to you?

By means of  power conditioning, voltage regulation,  and  uninterruptible power  … let us help you maximize your profits through power quality!

Posted in General Power Quality, Medical Power Quality /

Calling all BMET’s, CBET’s, clinical engineers / technicians, medical I.T. specialists, and other healthcare professionals  … !!

Stop by our Booth # 454 on Saturday June 25 through Monday June 27 at the “AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) 2011 Conference & Expo”, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX!

“AAMI 2011″ offers a host of educational sessions, networking opportunities, and dedicated exhibit hall hours to minimize any logistical conflicts for show attendees.

We’ll have one or two of our medical-grade products on-display in our booth.   Stop by and introduce yourself!   We’d love to meet you, and help you with your electrical power quality questions or concerns!

Posted in Company News, Medical Power Quality /

In today’s hospital and healthcare facilities, industry experts attribute as many as 75% of electronics-based equipment, system, and network disruptions/failures to electrical power quality issues.   These power quality problems refer to the electrical anomalies (e.g., brownouts, surges, voltage spikes, harmonics, and high-frequency electrical noise) and power outages that affect the performance and reliability of electronics-based modalities and applications prevalent in hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Think about it:  What would it mean to your hospital or healthcare facility, if 7 out of 10 equipment, system, and network problems were prevented?   If power quality is affecting the performance of imaging and treatment modalities, MRI suite lighting, patient vicinity applications, healthcare IT networks, and operating room lighting, it’s costing money and affecting patient care.

“SureImage Model Ultra-K/M” (left) and “SureImage Model 700F/M” (right) for imaging and treatment modalities.

With a strong, established presence in healthcare power quality applications, Controlled Power Company’s products are The “Perfect Prescription”!

Posted in Medical Power Quality /

You’ve found our recently-launched company blog!!   Maybe you stumbled-upon us in an online search for a power quality term, or maybe someone pointed you in our direction.   Nonetheless, we’re glad to have you with us here … thanks for stopping by!

We’re a manufacturer of electrical power quality solutions for mission critical and life safety applications.

We developed this blog as a way to stay in-touch with you (our sales prospects, customers, manufacturer’s reps, electrical contractors / distributors, specifying engineers, etc), and we hope you’ll choose to stay in-touch with us and follow us by subscribing to our RSS feed (see the link on the right)!

We thought this blog would be a great way to share pertinent product and application info with you, as well as give you the opportunity to ask questions and interact with us!   We anticipate our blog being a valuable resource for you, and a real win-win for both of us.

Navigation is pretty straightforward … current posts are front-and-center, categories of archived posts are on the left, and a list of recent posts in reverse-chronological order are on the right.   Besides our own product and application news, we’ll also offer some real-world info from our subject-matter experts out in the field, some pertinent and helpful industry news … and from time to time we’ll even throw in some “not-so-technical stuff” just for a brain-break!

So again, welcome!!  And thanks for your interest in Controlled Power Company, and our electrical power solutions!

Posted in "From The Field", "Suzanne Sez ... " (Short Editorial Zone!), Company News, Emergency Lighting, General Power Quality, Industry News, Medical Power Quality /