Vicor expands production at its Massachusetts home

Author: EIS Release Date: Apr 14, 2022

Vicor has shown commitment to US manufacturing, building its new $75m power supply module manufacturing plant at its home in Andover Massachusetts, where it has been making all of its products for 40 years.

 

Vicor-BCM6135

“The expansion adds 2.5 times more capacity than the current facility,” according to the company. “This new capacity is integral to Vicor’s strategy and success in its automotive and data centre businesses.”

 

The vertically-integrated factory is being equipped to build Vicor’s ‘converter housed in package’ (CHiP) products (photo).

 

“CHiPs are manufactured utilising a proprietary production technique analogous to semiconductor wafer fabs. This technique enables Vicor to achieve high quality, low cost, and reliable manufacturing in the United States,” said Vicor.

 

The company is capitalising on the projected global growth of electric vehicle production, where high-density power modules are being adopted to reduce the size and weight of vehicle electronics. The data centre market is also demanding increasing levels of power density and efficiency, it added.

 

The photo is of a BCM6135 CHiP power module, which can handle 3.4kW despite being only 61 x 35 x 8mm. It is currently shipping automotive samples of this (for hundreds of volts to 48V conversion) and two other products: DCM3735 (for 48 to 12V) and PRM3735 (buck boost with regulated 48Vout).