Development and manufacturing of highly available power supplies, converters and battery chargers for railway technology and industry
Grau Elektronik GmbH
Karlsbad-Ittersbach (Baden-Württemberg)New on Amplifa
About Grau Elektronik
Grau Elektronik GmbH develops and manufactures customised and standardised power and voltage supplies in the power range 25W to 15kW. The product portfolio includes DC/DC and AC/DC converters, battery chargers, capacitor chargers, inverters, high-voltage and emergency-start converters, gate-driver transformers, measuring transformers and current sources. At the Karlsbad-Ittersbach site, the entire value chain is handled in-house: SMD reflow assembly, manual soldering, bonding, cleaning and coating, partial-vacuum potting, an in-house wound-component production for transformers and inductors, as well as mechanical manufacturing with bending, folding and CNC machines. After every production stage, inspection, testing and calibration are carried out, supplemented by temperature, EMC and vibration/shock tests and a comprehensive final device inspection (burn-in). The devices are designed, among other things, to EN 50155 for railway use. The main industries served are railway technology/rail vehicles, industry, telecommunications and renewable energy. With around 30 employees, the company supplies customers on all five continents.
- Site
- Karlsbad
- Processes
- SMD reflow assembly, Manual soldering, Bonding, cleaning and coating of electronics, Burn-in (device test/final inspection), Partial-vacuum potting of electronics (potting resin), Wound-component production (transformers and inductors, prototype and series production), Sheet metal working / mechanical manufacturing (bending, folding, CNC machining), Development and manufacturing of power supply devices (DC/DC and AC/DC converters, battery chargers,
- Materials
- Potting resin, Copper, Printed circuit boards (SMD reflow assembly), Copper wire, Metal (mechanics)
- Certificates
- ISO 9001:2015, ISO 9001
- Founded
- 2001
- Employees
- 30
- Industries
- Railway technology/rail vehicles, Industry, Renewable energy, Telecommunications
- 01
Development and design
- 02
Component procurement via selected distributors
- 03
SMD reflow assembly
- 04
Manual soldering, bonding, cleaning and coating
- 05
Wound-component production (transformers, inductors)
- 06
Partial-vacuum potting
- 07
Mechanical manufacturing (bending, folding, CNC)
- 08
Assembly and burn-in
- 09
Testing, calibration and documentation
- 10
Sales
Materials and Processes
Printed circuit boards (SMD reflow assembly)
Base material of the electronics assembly using the reflow soldering process.
Potting resin
Protection of electronics against moisture, conductive dust as well as vibration and shock requirements in partial-vacuum potting.
Copper wire
Material for wound components such as transformers and inductors.
Metal (mechanics)
Material for enclosure and mechanical parts in bending, folding and CNC manufacturing.
Site
Karlsbad-Ittersbach
DEDevelopment, manufacturing, sales (headquarters)
- Lot size
- Prototype to series
- Materials
- Printed circuit boards, potting resin, copper, metal
- SMD reflow assembly system
- Partial-vacuum potting laboratory
- Bending machine
- Folding machine
- CNC machine
- ERP system
Components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMD reflow assemblyAssembly | – | – | – | – | Printed circuit boards (PCB) |
| Manual solderingAssembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| Bonding, cleaning and coating of electronicsAssembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| Burn-in (device test/final inspection)Testing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Partial-vacuum potting of electronics (potting resin)Plastics | – | – | – | – | Potting resin |
| Wound-component production (transformers and inductors, prototype and series production)Assembly | – | – | – | – | Copper (wire, derivable), Plastics (coils, derivable) |
| Sheet metal working / mechanical manufacturing (bending, folding, CNC machining)Machining | – | – | – | – | Metal (not further specified) |
| Development and manufacturing of power supply devices (DC/DC and AC/DC converters, battery chargers,Assembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| Final device inspection, inspection, testing and calibration after every production stageTesting | – | – | – | – | – |
5 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bending machine | – | 1 | – | 2017/2018 | Karlsbad |
| Folding machine | – | 1 | – | 2017/2018 | Karlsbad |
| CNC machine | – | 1 | – | 2017/2018 | Karlsbad |
| SMD reflow assembly system | – | – | – | – | Karlsbad |
| Partial-vacuum potting laboratory | – | – | – | 2019 | Karlsbad |
Additional services
Quality
After every production stage, inspection, testing and calibration are carried out, concluding with a comprehensive final device inspection (burn-in) including temperature, EMC and vibration/shock tests. The quality management certification to ISO 9001:2015 (TÜV SÜD) has been in place since 2002; documentation includes 3.1 certificates and complete serial number documentation.
| Evidence | Karlsbad-Ittersbach |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 |
History
- 2001
Founded in Neuenbürg near Pforzheim; development of customised DC/DC converters and battery chargers for railway technology (50W–1kW).
- 2002
First audit to DIN ISO 9001 in January 2002.
- 2003
Relocation to an own company building in Karlsbad-Ittersbach; development of standard converters for laser technology, AC/DC converters with PFC (75W–1kW) and overhead-line converters 750–3000V DC.
- 2005
Introduction of planar transformers; development of wide-range converters 14.4–154V in the 25–100W range.
- 2006
Development of a bidirectional battery charger 24V↔200V with 3kW.
- 2007
Development of a fanless 500W telecom converter with 10 output voltages.
- 2008
Start of in-house apprenticeship training for electronics technicians for devices and systems and mechatronics technicians; currently 4 apprentices.
- 2012
Expansion of sales in Australia and China; cooperations in the industrial sector and railway technology.
- 2013/2014
Construction of a new hall with own electronics manufacturing; around 30 employees at the Karlsbad-Ittersbach site.
- 2017/2018
Expansion of the mechanics department with a bending machine, a folding machine and an additional CNC machine.
- 2019
Set-up of a partial-vacuum potting laboratory.
- 2020/2021
Set-up of an own wound-component production for prototype and series production of transformers and inductors.
- 2021
20th company anniversary; development of an uninterruptible power supply (UPS); customers on all five continents.