60 seconds with…Brian Preston, Global Business Manager – Elevator, CP Automation Ltd.

Tell us about your business, when was it formed and what do you do?

CP Automation (CPA) have been supplying products to the lift industry for over 20 years now and we specialise in all aspects relating to efficient power delivery and control of a lift motor, whether that be with Magnetek or Nidec AC inverters, regeneration solutions, ARDs / secondary supplies, resistors or even power metering and power quality/consumption assessment.

Who are your customers? Which markets do you serve?

CPA primarily work with controller manufacturers and lift Companies directly to provide solutions for energy efficient power delivery and motor control whether that be for a new lift, a modernisation project or a retrofit to improve the efficiency of an existing older installation.

We also work with consultants and building owners to help diagnose and resolve lift performance issues related to power quality.

How many times have you been to LIFTEX?

We have exhibited at LIFTEX several times, both as Magnetek and now CPA. It is a great platform for us to catch up with friends old and new, showcase our latest products and discuss market challenges that often help decide future product development.

What are the main issues that your customers deal with and how do you help them?

Our customers know we are a diverse business that can help in many areas whether that be a modernisation solution to control a 510V Otis Gen 2 motor, a regeneration solution to reduce power consumption of a lift and help towards BREEAM accreditation or a UPS as a secondary supply to provide full lift operation for several hours.

Our services team are also called upon to assist with drive upgrades, UPS servicing, power quality assessment and energy monitoring.

Are there any issues that specifiers, contractors / owners should be aware of in the next 12 months?

The issue of poor power quality is a growing concern and the problems that are caused as a result will increase in future as control systems become more complex.

In addition, the update to BS9991 and release of EN81-76 will lead to a greater need for reliable, intuitive UPS solutions to provide a secondary supply for lifts. It will also be critical that these UPS solutions have the ability to provide UPS and battery status/condition information to the control system or a BMS.

How can we, as an industry, help designers and building owners to become more energy efficient and meet Net Zero targets?

Ensuring selection of robust, long-lasting equipment that has been selected and optimised for each individual application, coupled with the use of regenerative solutions where beneficial will help our Industry contribute towards achieving Net Zero targets.

What will you be promoting / what can visitors expect to see on your stand?

This LIFTEX will see the launch of our new CPA700 inverter which will be our first drive development under the CPA umbrella and includes a lot of new features.

We will also show our new CPFA regeneration solution which includes a voltage boost function to enable full speed, full load operation of high voltage motors eg.Otis Gen2

Some of our UPS(ARD) solutions will also be on show and we will be demonstrating some of the remote access capability for status monitoring.

…..and much more!

What advice would you give to anyone visiting the show? What should they look for and how can they get the most from their visit?

Allow plenty of time to attend! The day passes so quickly so plan ahead and allow time to see what’s new from all the exhibitors.