Just Connectors Blog

Founded in 1987, Mencom Corporation is an American electrical connector manufacturer. Specializing in industrial requirements, Mencom sells custom made and off the shelf products to consumers, businesses, and Original Equipment Manufacturers alike. The company is headquartered in Oakwood, Georgia and is the North American Master Distributor for ILME rectangular connectors.

Founded in 1917, Souriau is the world’s leading harsh environments interconnect product producer and manufacturer. Along with Sunbank, Souriau is owned by Esterline which employs over 3,000 people with production centers and research & development sites in North America, Europe, Japan, Mexico, and India. Their high performance connectors and back shells are used in all industries such as Aviation, Space, Energy, Transportation, and General Industry. Military and Defense also use Souriau’s connectors for applications in Military Airframing, Rotorcraft, Radars, Ground Army, Missiles, Weapons, and Military Marine. Souriau’s product profile contains over 500,000 parts.

In November 2014, the German connector company, Harting, introduced a new connector series to their product line for use in high temperature systems. These connectors, called Han High Temp, are designed to withstand temperatures up to 200 degrees Celsius with application use on machines such as mold and casting equipment. As opposed to standard connectors which are typically required to be installed away from high temperatures, the new Han High Temp connectors can be installed at the machine. This feature will allow for more simple machine design and wiring, all while saving cable use. The technology behind Harting’s heat resistant connectors is the feature of a non-adhesive seal applied onto the product which allows for mating and unmating at high temperatures. In addition, the connector features liquid crystal polymer plastic inserts, aluminum die cast hoods and housing, and optimized crimp and screw termination, all of which provide optimal durability, stability, and temperature resistance.

Phoenix Contact is a worldwide producer headquartered in Blomberg, Germany. Established in 1923 in Essen, Germany, Phoenix Contact started off as a commercial agency selling contact wire terminals for electric trams. In 1928 the company worked with Rhine-Westphalia Electricity Works to develop the world’s first modular terminal block. Since then, the company’s influence has gone global, manufacturing industrial automation, interconnection, and interface solutions. Phoenix Contact also developed their INTERBUS fieldbus system which has revolutionized cross-system openness from the sensor to the control.

As technology advances, the demand for raw materials to support new electronic products slowly increases as well. This has caused the world’s supply of raw materials to slowly deplete with the possibility of them becoming completely exhausted. One major raw material that is used especially in electronics and connectors is copper. Sources have suggested that the world’s mineable copper supply could potentially become exhausted in 40 years. This has alerted companies such as Yazaki to take action in the attempt to sustain supply. Yazaki, a global automotive parts supplier, has teamed up with companies such as Toyota to develop the world’s first copper recycling system. Together, the companies have developed a new sorting method which safeguards the metal from contamination by minute impurities during the dismantling process. The new technology has been able to produce recycled metal that have 99.96 per cent purity which is a level stable enough to be considered production quality. It is estimated that annually, the new process can produce about 1,000 tons of copper.

On November 10, 2014, the electronic connector manufacturer, FCI, introduced a new wire to board connector. The new product is under the Griplet line of connectors and is a described as a miniature low profile and compact IDC terminal. The small IDC wire to board design was designed to be ideal for small and tight spaces while providing easy installation to the user. The connector has a height of only 3.7mm with a footprint of only 4.0mm x 6.1 mm. Another feature of the design is a stackable pitch of up to 12 positions with housings to secure and protect the terminated components. Custom housings are also available to allow for automatic pick and place processes.

On October 3, 2014, the electronic interconnector manufacturer, Molex, introduced their new Temp-Flex FEP Flat-Ribbon Cable. This new cable will be the only FEP (Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene) on the market that meets specific military specification requirements for M49055/11 and M49055/12. Designed especially for harsh environment use, the Temp-Flex FEP flat-ribbon cable is able to tolerate high temperatures, high flexure, abrasion, and chemical exposure better than Polyvinyl Chloride and Thermoplastic Elastomers products. Such environments include rugged and extensive use in military aircraft instruments and industrial equipment.

Headquartered in Tuchen, New Taipei Taiwan, and founded in 1974, Foxconn Technology Group is the world’s largest electronics contractor manufacturer. Producing a large variety of electronic products such as Motherboards, Chassis, Card Readers, Graphics Cards, LCD Monitors, and Power Supplies, many well-known brands of today have or are using Foxconn to produce their own products. Such brands include Acer, Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Google, Toshiba, Sony, Amazon, Nintendo, Blackberry Ltd., and Hewlett-Packard. Mainstream consumer electronic products that are manufactured by Foxconn include the iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and the Wii U. In addition to electronic products, Foxconn is also a major manufacture of electronic connectors including Board-to-Board Connectors, Cable Assemblies, Fiber Optics, I/O Connectors, PCB Connectors, and Switches. Foxconn’s electronics manufacturing services reach the worldwide market. The company has factories in China, Brazil, Europe, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, and the United States. All combined, Foxconn’s factories produce approximately 40 percent of all consumer electronics sold worldwide.

Since the company’s establishment in 1932, Amphenol Corporation has become a major manufacturer of electronic connectors, fiber optic connectors, cable systems, and interconnect systems. Headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut, Amphenol Corporation first started out producing tube sockets for radio tubes. It was not until World War II that the company was recognized a leader in the connector industry as Amphenol Corporation became the principal producer of connectors used in military hardware. In present day, Amphenol Corporation is a worldwide manufacturer that serves consumers, businesses, and OEMs in a variety of industries such as automotive, broadband, IT, industrial, medical, and military alike. Their massive product line varies from CATV connectors to HD-optyx to PT/LC connector assemblies. Amphenol Corporation has also been a producer of world first products such as the inventions of the MIL-DTL-38999 cylindrical connector and the BNC connector. The U.S. Military regularly awards Amphenol Corporation with defense contracts to support the Air Force, Navy, and the Army. In 2012, the U.S. Military awarded Amphenol Corporation over 9 government defense contracts with a total combined award amount of over $1,000,000.

TE Connectivity, Ltd. is an electronic component designer and manufacture located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and Berwyn, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 2007 after Tyco International was split, resulting in two major companies, Tyco Electronic Ltd. and Covidien to become separate entities. The publically traded company Tyco Electronics Ltd. was renamed to TE Connectivity on March 10, 2011. Traded on the NYSE and S&P 500, TE Connectivity serves over 150 countries with 100,000 employees and has met yearly revenues of over $14 Billion.