Industry trends are driving the shift toward higher power density, built-in safety, and fully digital power architectures. How is the power supply evolving to keep up though? We find out in this Q&A session with VP of Product Management, Simon Wheeler.
What major trends are shaping the power supply industry today?
Simon: Across the medical, industrial and semiconductor manufacturing sectors, we’re seeing two big pressures: shrinking system sizes and increasing functional complexity. Engineers need more power in less space, but they also need deeper insight into system health. That’s pushing the industry toward compact, highly efficient, fully digital power supplies with built-in intelligence, communication safety and operational security.
XP Power's FLXPro series is a great example of how a modern power supply can be compact, intelligent and designed from the ground up to meet the dual demands of high power density, cyber resilience and safe, digital communication.
Why is communication safety becoming increasingly important?
Simon: As more power supplies connect to automation networks, safety around those communication interfaces becomes critical. FLXPro’s ES1-rated isolated digital communications keep touch voltages safe and touch compliant with IEC 62368-1, even under fault conditions. This reduces the need for external barriers or isolators and accelerates integration, which is something our customers tell us they really value.
How does FLXPro address the demand for higher power density?
Simon: Power density is one of the defining challenges right now. With FLXPro we’ve leveraged wide-bandgap semiconductors (SiC and GaN) to reach industry-leading density in a 1U chassis. FLXPro delivers up to 1.3 kW in a footprint of just 254 × 88.9 × 40.6 mm, achieving 23.2 W/in³. This level of density simply wasn’t possible with traditional silicon devices.
What advantages does a fully digital end-to-end architecture provide?
Simon: A lot of so-called digital supplies still rely on analog output stages but FLXPro is digital throughout. Internal communication over UART or CANBus gives fast response and rich diagnostic data. Our iPSU Intelligent Power technology turns that data into actionable insights which improves safety, reduces downtime, and enables predictive maintenance. Digital is no longer optional – it’s essential.
FLXPro offers fully digital power control for a faster, smarter, and more predictive performance
How is predictive maintenance evolving in modern power systems?
Simon: Downtime is expensive, so predictive maintenance is becoming a key industry trend. FLXPro’s Black Box Snapshot captures not only the shutdown event but the three minutes leading up to it. The last four events stay in non-volatile memory, even if the unit is damaged. This dramatically speeds up root-cause analysis and system recovery.
What role does cyber security now play in power supply design?
Simon: As power supplies become network-accessible, security can't be an afterthought. FLXPro uses multi-layer password protection with customer-defined credentials, including for firmware updates. That’s important in IoT-connected, robotic, and medical environments where both accidental and malicious changes must be prevented.
How does FLXPro give engineers more flexibility with less system complexity?
Simon: You can control each output independently, configure outputs in series or parallel, and adjust a wide voltage range between 9–60VDC. External inhibit capabilities reduce safety circuitry, and 2× MOPPs insulation supports medical-grade applications. It’s all about giving engineers more capability while simplifying the overall design.
In summary, what makes FLXPro aligned with where the industry is headed?
Simon: The future of power supplies is compact, intelligent, safe, and deeply integrated into system control architectures. FLXPro delivers all of that! It really does help engineers build smarter and more reliable systems with less time and effort.
Redefining configurable power supplies - discover the FLXPro series.
Rachel Sandeman
Rachel joined XP Power in 2022 as a Content Specialist. She brings more than 16 years of PR and marketing experience promoting engineering and technology companies, and building strong relationships with industry editors and media partners.
