Itacoil is an Italian, family-owned company that designs and manufactures transformers and other wound components for PCBs, since 1981. The company aims to be the ideal partner for businesses seeking highly reliable and efficient magnetic components, while maintaining competitive prices. Committed to continuous innovation, Itacoil strives to meet specific customer needs by providing top-tier technical support and solutions. This ensures high quality, safety, and reliability standards, alongside facilitating space, time, money, and energy savings. The company also pursues efficiency by minimizing design, production, and product delivery times: substantial investments are made in the development of proprietary software for the management of operations, the supply chain, the sales network, as well as for product design and optimization.
Itacoil has now consolidated its presence in Italy and is expanding its business internationally. Efforts are primarily directed towards markets that demonstrate a greater emphasis on quality and optimization of critical variables, making them more willing to recognize the value of customized solutions offered by the company.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Itacoil specializes in the design of custom components, using proprietary design and simulation tools. These unique tools minimize design time and contribute to achieving an exceptionally high first sampling approval rate, allowing customers to save valuable resources. In addition to providing efficient components, the company offers various services, including electronic design, optimal industrialization, support in the preliminary definition of product safety and EMI-related characteristics (pre-compliance).
It also provides a range of testing services, such as:
- conducted EMI;
- localization of sources of radiated disturbances;
- harmonic content;
- Total Harmonic Distortion (THD);
- Power Factor;
- standby power consumption;
- check of temperatures with IR thermography and thermocouples;
- high-precision measurement of efficiency;
- verification of responses to mains voltage dropouts and transients (site error);
- verification of hold-up time;
- inrush current, with programmable phase;
- dielectric strength;
- insulation resistance;
- thermal testing and cycles in a climatic chamber.
With over 30 years of experience in potting its products, Itacoil has also implemented an automatic line for the encapsulation of electronic circuits, thus providing a potting service. This operation can involve significant risks for electronic manufacturers, especially if done with mid-low range equipment commonly found on the market, and requires expertise in managing technological, health and environmental aspects. The high degree of automation allows cost reduction and the achievement of high quality standards through constant monitoring of the mixture and the process.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
Currently, Itacoil is active on over 1000 custom items and has a catalog of 830 standard items.
The product range includes:
- LLC and LCC resonant transformers, extremely efficient and compact if compared to the competition;
- Transformers for flyback power supplies and for all the most common switching topologies;
- Measuring transformers (CT and VT);
- Power Line Communication transformers;
- 50/60Hz transformers;
- Active PFC inductors;
- Common Mode inductors;
- Power, EMI, and smoothing inductors;
- Shielded SMD inductors.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
Magnetic components in general are a mature product, but Itacoil stands as the benchmark for high power density and efficient LLC and LCC integrated resonant transformers.
Moreover, the company’s approach to providing solutions to its customers is innovative in its own right. As previously mentioned, continuous R&D efforts are dedicated to developing advanced proprietary tools, aimed at designing products specifically optimized for the customers’ needs and supporting them to maximize the performance of their applications.
Examples of this kind of innovation can be seen here: https://www.itacoilweb.com/portfolio/improved-demo-boards/ These test reports show how Itacoil solutions bring significant enhancements in terms of efficiency, dimensions and cost. It is demonstrated by comparing demo boards from prominent semiconductor brands to the same boards improved by Itacoil.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
New sizes of standard LLC resonant transformers with continuous power ratings of 1000W and 1500W will soon be available for mass production. These transformers are exceptionally compact and efficient, in line with Itacoil’s usual standards.
The 1000W size can consistently support its nominal power without requiring air cooling, featuring compact dimensions of just 53x41xH43mm. This size can handle up to 2300W peak power, which can also be sustained continuously in the presence of adequate air cooling.
The efficiency of the LLC stage equipped with synchronous rectification is 97.5% @1000W load.
These specifications apply to the standard product with output voltage of 24Vdc, and can improve with higher output voltages.
Similarly, the 1500W size achieves an efficiency of 95.7% at nominal load and can support over 2700Vpk. The dimensions are expected to be approximately 52x66xH56mm.
In general, the company is planning to expand its product range by including transformers with higher power capacities compared to those currently offered.
Furthermore, Itacoil’s team has recently been focusing on another product type: coils for wireless power transfer. Currently available as custom products, these coils are tailored to meet the specific needs of each customer.
E.E: What is the state of the market where you are currently active?
Despite facing challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, such as longer delivery times and higher raw material costs, alongside the ongoing energy crisis, the company preformed remarkably well in 2022. Regardless of the market fluctuations, Itacoil’s progress in 2023 has remained positive, backed by the company’s solid financial position. This success has earned recognition, including the title of “Prime Company” awarded by Cribis/Dun&Bradstreet.
From a technology standpoint, recent years have seen a growing demand for higher efficiency in different sectors, including LED lighting, server farms, home automation, battery chargers, vending machines and others. This demand also arises from stricter requirements of the technical standards. This has led to a reevaluation and widespread adoption of the LLC and LCC resonant topologies, which proficiently meet the need for increased efficiency.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
Notwithstanding the mentioned challanges, most of the analyses published indicate that the passive electronic components market will continue its overall growth in the coming years. A positive trend mainly justified by the increasing digitalization across various sectors, the process of electrification and the proliferation of e-mobility solutions and connected infrastructures.
Equally significant is the energy market and the transition towards low-consumption solutions, driven by new standards that compel companies to reconsider their electronics, thus creating new opportunities for businesses in this industry.
E.E: What estimations do you have for the beginning of 2024?
Despite the growth deceleration experienced by the electronic components market in 2023, 2024 could still be a strong year for the sector. The first six months of 2024 are likely to show a downward trend, but a recovery is anticipated in the second half of the year on a global scale. This is unless there is a further deterioration in the geopolitical situation marked by escalating crises, notably the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Houthi attacks in the Suez Canal.
ITACOIL s.r.l.
Via delle Gerole, 7
20867 Caponago MB – Italy
Tel. +39 02 95745131
Fax +39 02 95745133
contatto@itacoilmail.it