To learn more about recent appointments, promotions, and awards, check out the news briefs for May 19, 2015. Molex announced the acquisition of certain assets of Soligie Inc., which specializes in printed and flexible electronic solutions for applications in medical, military, industrial, lighting, and consumer goods. Products range from sensor systems, medical wearables, LED lighting,Read More

In the latest installment of our “Connector Basics” series, Randy Manning of APEX explains basic single-mode connector attenuation estimation using Monte Carlo simulation.    An optical fiber connector is a mechanical component that transfers light between two fibers or between a fiber and an active device such as a transmitter or receiver. A connector isRead More

Choosing between fiber optics and copper? According to Jacques Mieville of Fischer Connectors, the further you go, the more you need fiber.   When properly maintained, there is no argument that fiber has significantly greater bandwidth and is more reliable than copper. Because fiber transmits data as a series of light pulses instead of electricalRead More

Fiber optics has long been touted as the next big thing. After 30 years of expectation, is that reality finally here? Fiber optics has long been defined as a technology that will become mainstream within five years…for at least the last 30 years. That may finally be changing. We don’t see fiber replacing copper toRead More

Over the last three decades, a myriad of optical connectors have come and gone, but small form factor connectors are making the choice easier these days. Molex offers tips on how to specify small form factor optical connectors.    In a maturing market, there are clear winners that prove superior and push out competing technologies.Read More

The annual Optical Fiber Communications Conference continues to grow, and ProLab’s Giacomo Losio reports on the top five technologies that everyone was talking about.   OFC 2015 was a very busy show. Sometimes you go to a two-day event and think it could have been condensed into one, but in OFC’s case it could have been three andRead More

Bishop & Associates examined 10 years of connector industry balance sheets, which revealed consistent performance that rewarded investors.   The connector industry grew to almost $53 billion in 2014. It is an industry with a good balance sheet and not a lot of long-term debt. Let’s take a look at some of the stats that supportRead More

Plastic optical fiber is an option for applications as diverse as residential wiring and avionics. Here’s a short guide to plastic optical fiber to help you determine if it’s what you need.   Installing plastic optical fiber (POF) cabling may be the better choice for networking with infrastructure runs of up to 80 meters that connect toRead More

Restrictive connector terminal solutions can be an issue when specifying aluminum wires for automotive applications.   In light of time-to-market issues in the automotive industry, aluminum is the best option for reducing the weight of the electrical distribution system and harnesses. Aluminum has been used in battery and power applications in premium cars for some time.Read More

While secondary sourcing can be a viable option to mitigate supply chain interruptions, many connectors for today’s automobiles are so specialized that finding a second source can mean a whole new set of challenges. The “supply chain” is the process by which a company creates and distributes its products and services to the end users. The execution begins whenRead More

When every penny counts, manufacturers look to wire processing equipment suppliers to help cut production costs and improve the cost per lead. To assist in your next equipment purchase, Komax offers five things to know about automatic crimping machines.   In today’s competitive business environment, wire harness manufacturers are winning contracts by the penny. WhenRead More

Poor crimps can slow down a production line. Schleuniger explains how to improve crimp quality to increase productivity.   A high quality crimp termination will usually exceed the service life of the product in which it is installed. On the other hand, a marginal quality crimp termination can cause electrical failures early in a product’sRead More