The results are in for the 2018 Bishop & Associates US Customer Satisfaction Survey of the Electronic Connector Industry. In this issue, we reveal the top 10 connector suppliers ranked by level of customer satisfaction with product quality and problem handling. View survey results from all survey years. Bishop & Associates recently completed its biennial USRead More

A team of scientists is tapping electronics distributors and open source data to create better, cheaper environmental monitoring stations — and they want to help others do it themselves. Our water resources are under constant assault. Agricultural runoff, chemical pollutants, pharmaceuticals, water-borne pathogens, and other factors can render water unsafe to drink or swim in,Read More

Panel builders can reduce wiring time, achieve a denser, leaner cabinet, and cut costs by moving to a system cabling solution. By Michael Hardman, Product Marketing Specialist, Phoenix Contact USA In today’s industrial controls marketplace, customers are insisting on control cabinets that are less cluttered and take up less real estate than ever before. TheyRead More

Summary coverage of the latest, new-to-market connector and cable products Interconnects, etc.  TE Connectivity launched the new BUCHANAN WireMate Two-Piece Poke-In connectors to provide easy-to-use, three-directional mounting solutions for wall-mounted smart home devices. The two-piece connectors have a panel-mounted, poke-in style terminal block and a blade-style mating header for device PCB attachment, enabling push-in, slide-on,Read More

This week’s Product Roundup highlights I/O connector solutions from leading suppliers. Weidmuller’s OMNIMATE BL-I/O 3.5 sensor actuator connectors utilize the company’s proprietary, spring-based PUSH IN direct-connect technology, which enables the simple, tool-free connection and removal of solid, stranded, and ferruled wires, to provide fast, safe, and intuitive field-terminable I/O connections in processing, manufacturing, measurement, andRead More

Automakers are moving away from incandescent bulbs at increased speeds, eliminating a longstanding connector market. Opportunities for interconnect suppliers to shift gears and merge into more advanced automotive LED lighting applications abound. Much of the automotive industry’s attention is focused on the requirements of safety systems and autonomous driving, but there’s a similar revolution happeningRead More

To make the connected car and autonomous driving possible, quality wire harnesses are essential. Since quality assurance is a complex and largely manual manufacturing process, the use of a specialized manufacturing execution system (MES) is paramount. By Bernd Jost, Managing Director, DiIT AG, and Pete Doyon, VP Product Management, Schleuniger, Inc. Digitization has long beenRead More

Innovative, high-density connectors deliver higher current-carrying capacity and help usher in new levels of performance for electric and hybrid vehicles. By Kirk Nelson, Director of Sales – Automotive, Hirose Electric The continued development of hybrid vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV) is central to most car manufacturers’ future strategies. One day in the not tooRead More

This week’s Product Roundup highlights small form factor (SFF) connector solutions from leading suppliers. I-PEX Connectors’ NOVASTACK35-HDP shielded board-to-board FPC connectors provide high-reliability data transfer and power delivery. They have a 0.35mm pitch, a maximum mated height of 0.75mm, full 360° shielding for closer placement to antennas, heat-resistant UL94 V-0 LCP housings for enhanced protection,Read More

Coating connectors with a dry powder that hardens when cured can bestow benefits in terms of connector strength and protection. For that reason, some connector suppliers are eyeing the move to powder. By Jean Thilmany Connector suppliers often cover their products — or at least part of their product — with an opaque coating thatRead More

In an effort to safeguard the electronics within nuclear power plants, connector companies have turned to an age-old material. Nuclear power is an important source of high-density, long-lasting, and low-emissions energy. A critical part of a diverse global energy mix, nuclear power plants provide 10% of the world’s energy, with some countries, like the USRead More

This week’s Product Roundup highlights connector solutions for the oil and gas industry from leading suppliers. Oil & Gas Connector Products TE Connectivity’s SEACON OPTI-CON standard, dry-mate, fiber optic hybrid connector range for subsea applications delivers high-reliability performance in high-pressure environments up to 7,500psi (5,200m water depth) and allows customers to choose any combination ofRead More