Since 1938, the people of Molex have provided the expertise, products and service to its customers to help them compete in the global marketplace. A talented and diverse workforce that includes design engineers, electrical engineers, chemists, global marketing teams, product managers, tool and die makers enables the company to offer quick response to effectively satisfy its clients'requirments.
In 1999 the company generated record global revenues of $1,7 billion - a 5,5% increase in a market considered flat - and went on to grow its market share to more than 6%, the second largest in the industry.
As an on-source supplier, Molex provides global account management in a customer's home country and then co-ordinates product design, logistics and delivery to multiple customer manufacturing sites worldwide. Local sales support means then that the customers receive knowledgable assistance from people who speak their language and understand their specific business environment. This comprehensive approach to service assures worldwide coordination of resources to meet customer's needs globally, regionally and locally.
The entire Molex organisation is linked through a system it calls the Molex Global Information System - a single database that gives its personnel anywhere in the world realtime access to customer contracts, orders, specifications and delivery requirements. Molex currently operates 68 sales offices on six continents, 26 product development centres and 50 manufacturing facilities.
Design and manufacturing
Design groups at Molex strive to employ the latest tools, systems and technology in their work. An integrated approach to product development is applied that involves both the customers and Molex representatives from R&D, design engineering, sales and marketing, quality and manufacturing right from the start. Much of this activity takes place in its development centres around the world that are connected by its global computer aided design network. This ensures that engineers in multiple locations can cooperatively develop the best product for the cus-tomer's application. A global database also ensures the facility of design-sharing and testing results across borders and different industries.
Engineers at the Molex process and materials laboratories are responsible for continually testing new technologies. This drives product innovation for the company. In the reliability laboratories, extensive electrical, mechanical and environmental tests verify performance before the products are released to manufacturing. Predictive engineering tools are also used to evaluate electrical, mechanical and thermal performance.
Although all customers have access to products developed and manufactured across the entire Molex organisation, the company also works closely with customers to develop non-standard products for specific applications. New product development is a key business driver and in the past five years Molex has secured 2000 new product patents. New products consistently generate nearly a third of its annual sales.
Some of the recent product innovations are high-speed interconnects for the global telecommunications and computer networking markets, as well as I/O connectors that combine capacitive and inductive filtering technology to support its rapidly expanding automotive presence. Industry-leading advances in membrane switches for medical equipment and cellular phones have also been made. The industry standard for next-generation high speed computer multimedia communications, the MicroCross connector, was a Molex origination. Molex also pioneered the application of self-aligning connectors for the automotive industry, and were among the first to develop mobile phone I/O connectors combining power RF and signal contacts. Additionally its use of specialised contact geometries has spurred a number of innovative connector designs for high-speed applications.
Customers are clients
Molex believes in actively identifying additional opportunities with current customers, as well as extending its reach to new accounts, industries and applications. It continues to win repeated business from major cellular phone producers, prominent notebook PC makers, the world's largest automotive suppliers, and the top telecoms manufacturers as evidence of this fact.
The company keeps its structure flexible enough to service companies in established industries, as well as in emerging growth areas such as computer networking and digital electronics for consumer products and telecoms applications. A collective focus on niche markets allows it to develop concentrated expertise - often in advance of explosive growth. An example of this is Molex's recent emphasis in active components for fibre-optic and higher speed, higher density backplane connectors and cable assemblies for the telecoms industry.
As development partners, Molex works alongside its customers to design-in innovations as integral features of their systems. In response to evolving customer needs, it has expanded its value-added services and contract manufacturing facilities.
A truly global company, Molex can design, manufacture and deliver products to any location throughout the world, and services its customers through its own sales engineers and a global network of authorised distributors.
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