Würth Elektronik, Centech Foster Entrepreneurial Innovation

The partnership between Würth Elektronik, an electronic/electromechanical components manufacturer, and a renowned university business incubator helps bring ideas to market.

Following a successful first year, Würth Elektronik announced a new two-year commitment to continue its partnership with Centech, a renowned university business incubator based in Montreal, Canada. This collaboration supports the growth of emerging technology startups by combining Centech’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with Würth Elektronik’s expertise and resources.

Würth Elektronik’s relationship with Centech started informally about 10 years ago, by chance. “We’ve had partnerships with other incubators in Canada. Our local salesperson in Montreal at the time just kind of stopped by and knocked on Centech’s door. Over the last year we decided to enter into a formal partnership agreement,” said Brian Wiese, Vice President of Technical Sales – The Americas. “We have a technical product that we sell, but we try to build relationships and friendships along the way.”

Centech specializes in fostering high-potential technological innovation projects originating from science and engineering disciplines. Over the past 25 years, the incubator has helped bring ideas to market, contributing to the creation of over 1,500 jobs by graduate companies in just the last five years.

Wurth Elektronik brings a wealth of expertise, specifically in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and in switch mode power supplies. “Every electronic device needs to have compliance testing in EMC, whether that’s from UL or CSA or VDE, depending on which country you’re in. It used to be, you plug the vacuum cleaner into the wall and your TV would start buzzing and flickering. That’s because there’s electromagnetic interference from those devices. Today, country-specific laws specify how to protect devices from that and how to prevent electromagnetic pollution from interfering with other devices. That’s an area that is not taught in university; it’s an area we really specialize in troubleshooting.”

Testing and troubleshooting comes at a price that is difficult for startups to absorb. “When you’re developing something brand new, you eventually have to determine whether your device will meet these standards. That test is somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 per test by an independent laboratory. That’s a lot of money for an individual, and you often fail the first time.” The technicians at these testing laboratories cannot provide any help or insights. So, the process involves a certain degree of trial and error, the cost of which quickly adds up.

“We have test capabilities and can do some initial evaluations, then make some recommendations on the front end. That helps quite a bit,” said Wiese. “Often the solution to that EMC problem requires re-laying out the entire printed circuit board. That costs a lot of money as well, so we always make recommendations early on, during prototyping. Leave some space here, leave some space there so you can add on if there is a problem. That’s the biggest contribution we make from a technology side. As one of our engineers says, our components, the parts that we sell, whether it’s an inductor, a transformer capacitor, a connector… they’re all governed by the laws of physics. It’s really these added value services and expertise that we bring that differentiates us.”

Würth Elektronik also offers expertise pertaining to thermal management and power supplies. Devices, whether plugged into the wall or running on a battery, continue to require more energy, while simultaneously needing to be smaller. “That creates another host of problems. You need to be very efficient. Proper component selection helps immensely,” said Wiese. “We also have relationships with all the leading semiconductor manufacturers. We work with what we call reference designs; they’re the brains, I’ll say, of the electronics devices. We bring those resources to bear for these entrepreneurs.”

Würth Elektronik trains young developers at the Centech start-up center.

Würth Elektronik’s involvement at Centech goes beyond providing product knowledge and expertise. “We have a very active engagement. We’ll host different seminars for all the entrepreneurs, and we also provide large parts cabinets. We try to make available samples of our most popular, leading-edge products for these entrepreneurs to take at will.”

In addition to Centech, Würth Elektronik partners with other incubators in North America, as part of a greater company initiative. “We have an office in Berlin, Germany, that we call our competence center. A team coordinates this type of support on a global basis.”

Wiese explained that Würth Elektronik creates career-long relationships with people, regardless of whether their current project succeeds. “Most startups don’t make it, but even if they throw the white flag up and get a regular job, they tend to be very appreciative of the support that we gave to them because most of our competitors or other suppliers in the component world have limits on what they’ll give away for free, either from a sampling perspective or from a technical consulting perspective.”

The entrepreneurs at Centech and other incubators come from all walks and stages of life. They may be new engineers who have recently graduated or retirees. Some have worked for other companies for years and are ready to strike out on their own. Although the majority are focused on software development, Würth Elektronik looks for opportunities to partner with incubators like Centech that have some portion of their entrepreneurs involved in electronics hardware product design. The projects could be completely new ideas or ways to make something better.  Centech offers additional resources, so the entrepreneurs don’t need to worry about investing tens of thousands of dollars in test equipment or facilities. Some of those resources are communally available to them on site, provided by companies like Würth Elektronik.

“We enjoy helping people succeed or set the foundation for revisions. We tend to shine because we believe there is a long-term benefit. If we help somebody when they’re just starting out, we’re confident that relationship will continue once they become a big dog and graduate out of this program, or move up somewhere else,” said Wiese.

Visit the Preferred Supplier page for Würth Elektronik to learn more about the company and its products.

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