CIE Components in Electronics
Belden, a leading supplier of signal transmission solutions for mission critical applications, has set up the Connectivity Center to assist customer-specific developments in the EMEA region. Customer-specific developments are offered for connectors and cordsets as well as for active and passive I/O modules for fieldbus or Ethernet networks from its Lumberg Automation brand. The centre aims to make production processes easier while cutting total cost of ownership, TCO.
“Depending on the individual requirements, we can normally deliver to the customer within the course of a few weeks, but three months is the absolute maximum of time we require,” says Andrej Lorkovic, who has been in charge of product management at Belden’s Connectivity Division since the beginning of 2012. According to Lorkovic customer-specific developments are a cornerstone of Belden”s growth strategy and Belden’s plans call for this business model to make up 50 percent of the division”s total revenue by 2015. In addition to its core markets of mechanical and plant engineering, Belden also develops products for diverse markets such as enterprise and transportation.
When implementing customised solutions, the Connectivity Division is able to benefit from a comprehensive program of standard products, which is being extended all the time. The extremely robust I/O modules for PROFINET and EtherNet/IP, launched as part of the LioN series at the beginning of this year, are just one example.
“We currently implement around 100 projects per month in our Connectivity Center,” explains Lorkovic. Simple variants of standard products, such as cables in customised lengths or with individual labelling, are normally delivered within two to four weeks. Offers for this kind of work are sent to customers within two working days. This response speed is possible thanks to almost fully automated underlying processes.
Solutions that deviate from the standard repertoire, however, can take up to several months to complete. “A connection cable that we recently developed for configuring M8 sensors had a standard connector at one end and a USB connector at the other,” reports Lorkovic. “This example shows how customer-specific developments are able to add real value: a USB interface is more flexible, more reliable and less expensive than the serial interface previously used by the customer.”
According to Lorkovic, “The maxim for all our activities is “listen, understand, implement and deliver,” he says. “We turn our customers” challenges into a successful collaboration for both parties. We take great satisfaction in supplying our customers with superb solutions that open up completely new opportunities for them – from both the technical and business perspective.”
