Palladium Energy Leadership Team

In baseball, the term “battery” refers jointly to the pitcher and the catcher.  My beloved baseball battery is the Brave’s Tim Hudson and Brian McCann; but what most spectators don’t realize is that America’s favorite pastime wouldn’t be possible without reliable and long-lasting lithium batteries. 
Today, everyone from sports journalists to coaches to paramedics to box office agents rely on portable battery power to send, receive and store information.  Further, lithium’s green properties, small, light-weight profile and extended life make it the perfect chemistry for these sporty portable devices.

So, next time I’m at a Braves game, you can bet that when Fredi Gonzalez confers with his bullpen coaches, he’ll have portable electronic battery power to thank.  And if the power goes out (a la Super Bowl XLVII), you can count on battery power to keep the scoreboard lit.  And when you use your credit card to buy peanuts and cotton candy, the vendor will rely on the battery power in its data capture device to process your purchase.  

The transmission of communication and storage of data are critical to large-scale sporting events, like Major League Baseball (MLB) games. Moreover, portable devices must meet increasing demand for long-lasting life.  That’s why today’s batteries must swing-for-the-fences in order to survive nine innings.  In addition, since the MLB season consists of 162 games over six months, batteries that power the game must be able to perform in a range of environments, climates and temperatures.

Interested in learning more about portable lithium power? Contact us. 

-       Rebecca Kritzman, director of marketing and communications

When it comes to U.S. design and manufacturing news, industry experts turn to Assembly Magazine.  So, we are excited to be highlighted in the publication’s May 2013 issue!  Click here to read the full article.

Recently, Assembly Magazine’s senior editor, Austin Weber, visited Palladium Energy’s manufacturing and testing facility in Woodridge, Ill. for an up-close look at our 55,000 square-foot (and growing!) plant.   Our senior manufacturing manager, Steve Hagemaster, showed Austin our battery and charger assembly lines, SMT capabilities, safety testing and more. 

In addition, our vice president of operations, Bob Sweeney, talked with Austin about next-generation battery assembly trends and processes.  Here’s an excerpt from this month’s article:

Palladium Energy recently implemented a new program involving robotics and automation. “This worked great for us, since the program was one product with high volumes,” Sweeney points out. “Most of the automation was centered around mechanical, dimensional and electrical functional testing. We want to take this experience and see if we can apply it economically to the larger part of our business that is lower volume with much higher mix.”
Palladium Energy specializes in engineered custom batteries for a variety of industries, ranging from medical to defense, rather than manufacturing large quantity AA alkaline batteries for consumer consumption.
“We have reasonable volumes in our consumer-oriented products, but generally we are faced with the challenge of lower volumes and higher mix,” explains Sweeney. “Most of our processes are manual and semiautomatic. So, for us, we think more about economies of scope.”
Interested in our Made-in-America battery packs and power supplies? Click here to request a custom quote.
- Rebecca Kritzman, director of marketing and communications

Each year we send our team to an international conference highlighting the latest developments and technologies in the battery industry– Battery Power.  This year, our Senior Business Development Manager, Monika Minarcin, will lead a session for industrial battery professionals entitled, “What we can learn from the automotive world of lithium batteries.”
While the automotive industry is considered the first test market for larger lithium ion battery packs, there are lessons industrial and smaller format pack integrators can glean from the automotive industry and apply to the small format pack world.  The presentation will discuss safety factors involved in pack development, which require disciplined engineering, cell performance understanding, consistent performance and regulatory challenges.  In addition, the session will address the synergies between large format and the industrial smaller format markets, including primary divers, duty cycles, performance and commodity factors.

Want to learn more? Join us in Denver on June 6th at 1 p.m. for this informative and entertaining presentation.  Click here for the preliminary program.
In the meantime, connect with Monika and Palladium Energy on LinkedIn.


- Rebecca Kritzman, director of marketing and communications

At Palladium Energy, we’ve shipped more than half a billion lithium-based battery packs in the past 39 years with a near-perfect safety and reliability record. How do we do it, you ask?  The answer lies in a 6,000 square-foot area within our Shanghai manufacturing facility in the Minhang District.  Here, Palladium owns and operates an independent, CTIA Authorized testing facility - IQ Laboratories (IQL).  In fact, we are the only custom battery pack manufacturer with a testing laboratory of this caliber. 
Today is World Laboratory Day – a day to celebrate the scientists and technologists who innovate in high-tech facilities across the globe.  In honor of World Laboratory Day, we wanted to give our blog readers a sneak peek of our very own, IQL.

 




















At IQL, we have full capability to perform tests based on IEEE 1725, IEEE 1625, CE, UN38.3 [DOT], Telcordia GR-3150 and other lithium-ion battery safety standards such as Japan PSE, IEC 61960 and IEC 62133, etc. We also have the capacity to test for all regulatory specifications for safety, including over charge, over discharge, short circuit, hot box, impact and more.  In addition, we can conduct environmental testing, including altitude simulation, thermal cycling, vibration, shock and external short circuit, which are important for our customers who request ruggedized packs that can perform in extreme environments. 

Unfortunately, risks like overheating, thermal runaway conditions, hot-gas venting and fire are inherent in the battery systems, making safety regulations a top priority. Most recently, Boeing’s Dreamliner incident reminded us of the safety challenges that our industry faces. Even though the statistical rate of catastrophic failure is low, the financial liability and damage to buyer confidence can be devastating. 

We understand this risk, which is why we founded IQL 12 years ago, and employ the industry’s brightest engineers and PhDs at this state-of-the-art facility.  We've also had on-site reliability labs at our Woodridge, Illinois and Manaus, Brazil facilities for many years. 
From the latest electronic gadgets to medical devices to data storage devices to military electronics – our world runs on lithium-ion battery technology.  At Palladium, we’re dedicated to ensuring this power is safe and reliable into the future.  IQL is just another way we keep our customers Always a Solution Ahead. 
  
- Rebecca Kritzman, director of marketing and communications