In industrial facilities, when motors don’t start, stop, or run correctly, production feels it.
When a motor fails, entire production lines can grind to a halt, sometimes for weeks. In heavy industrial environments like steel, paper, and large-scale manufacturing, that kind of downtime can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For plant managers and electrical engineers, motor control is about more than function alone; it’s about reliability, maintainability, and long-term ownership costs.
Whether supporting a new installation or responding to an unexpected failure, maintenance teams need solutions that are reliable, available, and easy to integrate into existing systems.
Benshaw Applied Motor Controls is a respected manufacturer of rugged, reliable motor controls and drives. Their motor starters, drives, and engineered power control systems are ideal in demanding, mission-critical applications where uptime and reliability matter.
MCE has recently expanded its relationship with Benshaw to better serve these high-demand markets with speed, availability, and technical support.
Motor Control Without Long Lead Times
MCE now offers a line of soft starters and drives that protect motors, reduce stress, and extend equipment life. These products work with almost any motor and can be added without major changes to your system.
MCE offers the Benshaw lineup to customers across the U.S., anywhere industrial motors are present:
- Oil and gas
- Wastewater
- Agriculture and irrigation
- Food and beverage processing
- HVAC and chiller systems
- Mining and material handling
- Manufacturing and process industries
Reducing Startup Stress Starts with the Right Motor Control
Benshaw's soft starters and VFDs deliver advanced motor control and protection functionality, an easy-to-use interface, exceptional input and output flexibility, and connectivity options supporting all major communications protocols.
These add-on products can improve the performance and longevity of almost any industrial motor for reduced downtime. Here’s how:
- Reduced Motor Stress: Benshaw soft starters limit the high inrush current and torque spikes that occur during direct-on-line starting. This protects motors, bearings, and mechanical components.
- Extended Motor Life: Gentle acceleration means less heat buildup and less electrical stress. Motors last longer, and maintenance teams avoid frequent changeouts.
- Minimized Unplanned Downtime: Built-in protection detects developing problems early and keeps equipment running.
- Simple Integration: These units install easily, fit a wide range of motor sizes, and work with existing infrastructure.
Benshaw understands customers’ needs for time savings, reduced risk, better performance, and service. So, they’ve built their reputation around simplifying the purchase of prepackaged motor starters and drives.
Why Prepackaged Motor Control Matters on the Plant Floor
Prepackaged motor control solutions reduce the risk of wiring or configuration errors by combining the starter or drive, protective devices, enclosures, controls, and interfaces into a single, factory-assembled unit.
Prepackaged solutions, such as Benshaw’s soft starters and variable frequency drives, are plug-and-play, with quick delivery times of one to two days from strategically located warehouses.
This approach delivers:
- Faster installation
- Reduced rewiring and integration issues
- Consistent performance across installations
- Shorter downtime during replacements or retrofits
These benefits are especially valuable when responding to unplanned outages or upgrading older equipment.
Low-Voltage Soft Starters for Reliable Motor Starts
Packaged low-voltage soft starters combine the starter, enclosure, protection devices, and controls into a single unit. These are ideal when a facility needs a clean, fast solution without coordinating multiple components.
Best for: New builds, retrofits, fast replacements
Why engineers choose them: Smoother starts, simplified installation with reduced electrical and mechanical stress, and everything is included.
Common applications:
- Pumps and fans
- Compressors and blowers
- Conveyors
- General manufacturing equipment
A popular line in this category is the Benshaw MX4PB Series Packaged Soft Starters. These starters deliver:
- Reduced voltage starting for both standard and heavy-duty operation
- Integral bypass contactors and high interrupt ratings
- NEMA 4 or NEMA 12 enclosures, ready for industrial conditions
- Configurable controls and communication options, all backed by a three-year warranty (longer than many competitors)
MCE also offers:
- Low-voltage soft starters (protected chassis): Chassis-mounted starters are soft starters built into a compact, protected housing, ideal for OEM panels or retrofit applications where space is tight.
- Low-voltage soft starters (open chassis): For applications where engineers want maximum flexibility within a control panel, Benshaw’s open chassis starters offer a rugged, modular approach.
- Medium-voltage soft starters: Where power sizes exceed the low-voltage domain, Benshaw’s medium-voltage soft starters are engineered to handle motors in the 2.3 kV to 15 kV range. These are common in mining, power generation, and large manufacturing facilities.
Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) for Speed Control & Efficiency
Variable frequency drives allow operators to control motor speed and torque, making them ideal for processes that don’t need to run at full speed all the time.
Best for: Speed control, energy savings, process optimization
Why engineers choose them: Precision and flexibility of motor speed and torque.
Common applications:
- HVAC systems
- Conveyors and material handling
- Machine tools (lathes, mills)
- Elevators and escalators
- General manufacturing equipment
A popular line in this category includes the Benshaw S Series Multi-Purpose Micro Drives. These drives deliver:
- A sensor-less vector variable micro drive
- Rugged, compact, economical chassis
- Ideal for low horsepower AC motor applications
- Standard programmable inputs/outputs for more demanding or complex operations
Packaged vs. Non-Packaged VFDs: What Matters in the Field
Benshaw offers packaged and non-packaged VFD solutions. Packaged VFDs are ideal when time is critical because they are fully enclosed, factory-assembled, and ready for installation. They are on the shelf, ready to go, often with one- or two-day turnarounds on delivery.
Non-packaged VFDs are drives that can be used when existing infrastructure already provides protection and controls.
A popular line in the non-packaged VFDs category is the Benshaw GM2 Series. These multi-purpose micro drives feature:
- Rugged, compact, protected chassis
- Dual-rated for normal and heavy-duty applications
- Flexible programmable inputs/outputs included
Benshaw Soft Starters & VFDs: Designed for Real-World Motor Control
In many facilities, motor control issues are not immediately obvious. Problems often surface only after a line goes down, and the root cause may be the motor, the starter, the drive, or a combination of factors.
To support troubleshooting and system awareness, Benshaw motor control products include:
- LCD keypads for setup and monitoring
- Fault and warning codes for diagnostics
- Built-in safety and protective systems
- Integration capability with larger control systems
These features help maintenance teams quickly identify issues and make informed decisions about repairs or replacements.
Get the Right Motor Control in Place – Fast
MCE’s automation and rotating equipment division provides fast and economical solutions for electric motor problems. We work hand-in-hand with Benshaw’s service and repair support to make sure your operations don’t skip a beat.
We have one of the largest industrial motor inventories in all of North America and shops in Toledo, OH & Henderson, NV, allowing us to ship motors within two days to any part of North America. We also have a full EASA reconditioning shop.
We fully test and inspect all motors from our inventory prior to shipping to the customer. This includes motors that are new, used, or rebuilt, including a one-year warranty.
Contact us and speak to an expert to discuss your motor needs today.
