Everyone involved in connectors should be aware of the name Molex, which incidentally, is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of electronic, electrical and fibre optical interconnection products and systems.
Molex was founded in 1938 following the discovery of a new plastic material by Frederick Krehbiel and this was designated 'Molex'. For several years, the company Molex Products, manufactured a variety of products from this new material, including flower pots and clock cases, until one of Krehbiel's sons recognised its excellent insulation properties. And from the 1950s, Molex rapidly started to dominate the market with its low cost terminal connector blocks. Today, Molex operates 50 factories in 21 countries and employs more than 16 000 people.
Molex entered the South African market in a serious way in the early 1980s when Technor (then owned by the Rishworth family) became its sole distributor. Over the years Molex steadily bought into Technor and by 1994 it was the major shareholder and the name was changed to Molex SA. Shortly after that, Molex SA became wholly-owned by the parent. In the earlier days there was local manufacture of some connectors, but this was stopped in the '90s and Molex SA imported product as required from one of the company's many plants worldwide.
Paul Rishworth had been GM of Molex for a few years but was transferred to the USA where Molex could make better use of his engineering skills. He was replaced as general manager by Rob Clephane who had been with Molex for some 26 years. Born in the UK but raised in the old Rhodesia, Clephane started with the company in 1976 in the UK in a financial position (financial controller) and later went on to work at the Molex plant in Ireland. In 1986 he was appointed financial director for the Americas and new venture regions - which included South Africa and India - from Chicago. During 1991 he was appointed managing director of the manufacturing facility in Mexico. This was one of his greatest challenges and successes and from almost nothing (50 people) he turned the facility into a huge operation with a staff of 2300 people, satisfying the demanding North American market for value-added products such as harnesses, PCB board population and eventually, even specific customer-required devices.
When Rob Clephane joined Molex SA it was a mere ghost of its former self with just a small sales and marketing team. Despite this he realised the potential and in 2001 acquired 49% of the business from Molex. He saw the future as once again supplying value-added products to customers and in 2001 purchased the almost moribund Van Dyk Cable Assemblies and elected to consolidate all the operations in that manufacturing plant which was located in the Brits Industrial Park. From a total staff of 30 in 2001 Clephane has grown this through value-adding operations to some 100 people (with another 30 expected to be employed before the end of the financial year in 2005). At the same time in 2003 he purchased the remaining 51% equity stake from Molex and then became the sole owner.
As part of that agreement, which sees the company remain the exclusive representative for Molex in southern Africa, Clephane was asked to implement a name change and this has now taken place with the new company being called South African Connector and Cable Solutions (SACCS). SACCS will continue its operations through its existing Brits operation and the newly-established branches in Durban and Cape Town. The relationship with the existing South African distributors, namely Electrocomp, Avnet Kopp and Arrow Altech remains unchanged. In terms of the agreement, SACCS will receive total engineering, technical and marketing support from Molex and will still have training sessions (the next one in South Africa). After Clephane's 26 years with the parent, this is expected to be a very close relationship.
Changes that have occurred at SACCS are that the company is now strongly into the business of supplying special harnesses to industries including automotive, industrial electronics, security and telecommunications. ISO 9001:2000 certification has been obtained and the company is working towards the overall automotive industry standard, namely QS 9000. In terms of the automotive industry the company has done exceptionally well at the second tier level, supplying harnesses for tracking systems and motors. Another success in the automotive sector has been the supply of complete harnesses for built-in hands-free phone systems for vehicles (the mobile phone is merely inserted into a socket and the car radio provides the audio signal). SACCS does not intend to get into the highly complex business of full vehicle harnesses but will focus on the harness requirements for sub-systems, such as electronic door and window systems, internal lighting etc. In terms of the industrial market, initial successes have been in metering, lighting and industrial electronics. Note that SACCS now imports all Molex connectors and the 'value-add' is in connecting these to the locally made-up wiring.
As a result of customer demand, over-moulding was recently added to its capability, including the manufacture of 5 and 15 Amp moulded electrical plugs. The manufacture of flat ribbon cable with connectors will be added later this year. The objective is to become a one-stop shop for customers and other capabilities will be added as demand occurs.
Clephane is a strong believer of growing a company through reinvestment of profits and this is the way SACCS will be handled. It has plans in place in terms of the acquisition of new equipment, while its own sales force was doubled in size during July this year.
One of the areas that SACCS will be looking closely at over the next 12 months, is how to implement Black Empowerment. The company here is looking at a BEE partner who ideally could bring investment or expertise in terms of the relationship - preferably both. If such a partner cannot be found, the company has alternative strategies that it will put in place. Besides empowerment, Clephane believes that the facility is now strongly contributing to the local community. The manufacture of wire harnesses is extremely labour-intensive and SACCS is creating job opportunities with more than 80% of its staff coming from the previously disadvantaged black community.
Through SACCS, Molex is now set to see a strong revival of its connector business in South Africa with the introduction of further value-added products as customer demand arises. While Clephane does not see the company reaching the size of the Mexican operation (as a result of the more limited market size) he does intend to see that it will continue to grow over the next few years.
For more information contact Rob Clephane, South African Connector and Cable Solutions, 012 250 2975, [email protected]
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