Custom magnetics firm launches production service
Frenetic Electronics in Spain has launched a production service for its custom magnetics designs.
“The idea of the company started ten years ago with a power control system but magnetics are the main problem that customers were having, especially inductors and transformers,” said Dr Chema Molina, founder and CEO of Frenetic tells eeNews Europe.
“So I created Frenetic in 2018, and at the beginning it was software that is able to suggest designs that are good enough to start the process. But we found the only way forward was to build samples and sending them to the customer. The problem was that they then wanted suppliers so we created Frenetic Factory which is a production service without a minimum order quantities.
Frenetic Factory produces inductors, transformers and EMI filters based on its free Core Optimizer web design and analysis tool. The bill of materials (BOM), 3D models and engineering drawings are automatically generated.
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“We are including algorithms for ferrite materials and litz wires and for frequencies from 10 and 15kHz to 1.5MHz up to 8 E100 stacks to 100kW. Customers can choose an inductor, ask for specifications and dimensions, and the algorithm generates a solution or sends it to our engineers for a custom solution, then you can get a quotation.”
He points to EV charging stations where the inductors can be very heavy and have a good margin in production batches.
“We have a lab factory in Madrid for everything below 5000 units and we have partners for 10000 units. We focus on customers that are producing less than 20000 units a year,” he said. Frenetic currently has a production capacity of 8.75M units annually, that can be scaled to even higher volumes
When the tool cannot produce a design, it can be more complex, and Frenetic then charges more for the design
The frequency is limited by the ferrites. In space the current and energy can be lower but the limitation is in the ferrite.
“If you want to do 2MHz the system will work but the limitation is the ferrite conditions in the L1 algorithm. The algorithms are being updated and L2 in July to August will cover ferrite and powder, with L3 in amorphous materials,” he said.
The company closed its Series A funding round eight months ago with $12m. “We are in the deployment of that investment so probably next year we figure out how to move forward,” said Molina.
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