Battery manufacturer appoints PRINCE2 specialist

Paul Heyes

~ Former Marconi executive will streamline project execution ~

Accutronics, the UK-based battery design, development and manufacturing company, has appointed Paul Heyes as project manager. Paul joined Accutronics in May from Marconi where he worked for 14 years, developing a wealth of experience.

Heyes’ background is in railways and highways infrastructure management. He was involved for two and a half years on the West Coast main line, a £90 million job, as a project manager reporting to the project director. Marconi based its project management on the PRINCE2 (PRojects PRINCE2 is a de facto standard developed and used extensively by the UK government and is widely recognised and used in the private sector, both in the UK and internationally. It embodies established and proven best practice in project management.

“My goal is to put processes in place based on PRINCE2 to improve project management within the design function at Accutronics,” explained Heyes. “Specifically I’m looking at issues like communications, cost control and project scheduling. Here design activity may last 12-18 months, but we design products that go into a ten year product life cycle, so sustainability is crucial.”

Heyes’ appointment is a key element of Accutronics’ growth plans because of the increasing number of projects being initiated by the company. The appointment will free up engineering staff from project management tasks, and allow them to focus on efficient management.

“It is all about planning, expediting, coordination and control,” Heyes adds. “Marconi was a huge organisation. This meant my project management role involved using subordinates to take action on my behalf. At Accutronics, I will be the only one doing that; it’s a much more hands-on approach. This is entirely appropriate for the size of the organisation.

“Accutronics is a good fit for me and has much more of a family feel to it than Marconi. People here tend to stay for a long time, which reflects the positive working environment. It’s a nice place to work,” concludes Heyes.

Accutronics delivers smart battery technology to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) worldwide, in a range of industries, including military, medical, industrial and portable electronics applications, so Heyes’ experience will prove to be invaluable. Accutronics offers whole of life support for OEMs and design consultants who demand a high level of technical and commercial expertise. The company’s smart batteries offer advanced functionality and performance and features such as charge control, fuel gauging and device communication.

A father of two, Paul lives in Stafford and is a keen cyclist in training. He has plans to retrace a route he travelled with his brother in his youth, which runs from St Helens to Shrewsbury, covering a distance of about 60 miles.

Three days to Electronica

It is now only three days until the start of Electronika 2012 in Munich, Germany. The Accutronics team will be in Hall B2, stand 353 showing our 'Accupro' custom batteries & chargers, the wide range of Inspired Energy standard smart batteries, chargers & accessories and the new Entellion range of innovative power products which include our credit card batteries and the all new Intelligent Power Vault multi battery power solution.

Hall B2 is where it all happens if you need a battery or power supply solution so please visit us and see how Accutronics can help you, your products and your company succeed.

Intelligent Power Vault (536Wh version shown)

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

Neil

What Accutronics really does in portable electronics

Whether it is a POS (Point of Sale) machine used in a restaurant or high-tech night-vision goggles, portable electronics have invaded every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Engineers, scientists, restaurant staff, delivery operatives and Doctors all use portable electronic equipment that keeps the world turning. The common denominator in all of these devices is the requirement for a safe and reliable battery system. 

POS machines need reliable batteries

The research and development team at Accutronics is dedicated to developing and manufacturing the rechargeable batteries that allow professional people to measure, calculate, interrogate, sample, monitor or communicate in the way their jobs demand.

OEMs around the world, in a variety of industry sectors, rely on Accutronics to produce their batteries on time and within the specified budget.

This is made possible by integrating fuel gauging electronics, active protection circuits and careful cell balancing into our batteries. Providing customers with state of the art battery functionality is the focus of all our efforts.

A key requirement for all portable electronics is that they be easy to use, lightweight and, depending on where they are used, robust. In the defence sector for instance, when military operatives on duty have to transport this crucial equipment on their person they simply can’t afford to be overloaded. Accutronics provides the batteries that power this equipment and helps ensure that they will not weigh down the troops.

Moreover, where soldiers have to carry radio equipment, transmitters, lighting or vision systems, robustness becomes an additional imperative. Accutronics’ batteries are designed to withstand the cold nights in the mountains, as well as the hot days of patrolling thought the desserts.

Powering mission critical equipment, as well as handheld devices used by delivery drivers or restaurant staff, is ultimately a matter of flexibility and ingenuity. Accutronics’ designers are used to taking every detail into account when creating the prototypes for our batteries. By continually re-focussing on the purpose of the end technology and concentrating our technical understanding, we have always endeavoured to support our customers in achieving their objectives.

If you want to discuss the development of batteries for any type of portable electronic device, please contact our sales and customer service team on +44 (0) 1782 566688 to discuss your requirements.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net