Build or Buy: tradeoffs

Focus:

The issue of whether to build or buy a power supply for your project is addressed here in two very easy-to-read lists. The first list identifies all the reasons for building your own supply, while the second list identifies the reasons for buying your supply. This article is written from the perspective of a power supply design consultant, which may be why the reasons for building the power supply outnumber the reasons for buying the supply. Nevertheless, this article provides a good counterpoint to the many articles leaning toward "buy a power supply," identifying potential problems with off-the-shelf power supplies that you may not have thought of. Since the consultant who wrote this article offers design and manufacturing services, this article could also be read as a discussion of whether to buy a custom power supply versus a standard, off-the-shelf power supply.

What you’ll learn:

• How to determine whether to buy or build a power supply for use in your product or system
• How to convince your engineering manager that it makes sense to build the power supply for your product

Notes:

No publication date specified. This entry was added to H2P Design Guide on 5-10-2010.

View the Source

Author & Publication:

no author specified, Power Electronic Systems, Vendor website, May 10 2010

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