Driverless golf carts and neighborhood electric vehicles may become mainstream well before autonomous cars become common. By Terry Costlow Golf cart suppliers have beat the auto industry in the race to electric power. Now they’re striving to make big inroads into the autonomous vehicle field. The challenges and benefits of using both electrified powertrains andRead More

It’s easy to overlook backshells, but they play a critical role in protecting connectors, cables, and overall system reliability. Mike Kahn, Director of Marketing, NorComp Connector reliability is essential to the performance of electronic systems in transportation applications. Off-highway equipment, long-haul freighters, bus and rail systems, and all other modes depend on critical systems includingRead More

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

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

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

Achieving a controlled finished surface suitable for wire bonding is essential for mission-critical applications. Here are the qualities you should look for. By Sussex Wire, Inc. Wire-bonded glass-to-metal and ceramic-to-metal hermetic assemblies are extensively employed in commercial, industrial, and mission-critical energy, military/aerospace, automotive, and medical applications. Products cover a wide range of assemblies, including vacuum feedthroughs,Read More

The exploding growth of the medical device market is putting more pressure than ever on the components that make today’s life-saving technologies possible. By Jean Thilmany New Materials Expand the Capabilities of Medical Connectors Connectors destined for use in medical devices face a number of unique challenges. They must be able to withstand frequent connectRead More