Automotive

The 2009-2010 Automotive Market:
A Year of Turmoil, a Year of Recovery?
by Dave Pheteplace
January, 2010 -- It has been a wild ride for the automotive market, First, the acceleration period: Year-over-year sales just kept growing. The variety and cost of the vehicles expanded, and the cable assembly suppliers thrived. U.S. auto sales surpassed 16 million vehicles in 2007, and the average American household owned more than two vehicles. But in 2009, the structure crashed. The auto business we knew in the U.S. was gone. After the mortgage crisis of 2008, no one could get loans, including the automakers. GM and Chrysler went bankrupt. Lear Corporation went bankrupt. In late 2009, China surpassed the U.S. as the largest car market in the world.

At the same time, the skyrocketing cost of oil and gas, and the push for greener technologies in cars, was solidifying the future of hybrid, electric, and alternative energy vehicles. This appears to be the future of the auto industry. What are the highs and lows of the last two years? What opportunities and challenges do these new vehicles bring? And, most importantly, where is this market going? more

Delphi Weighs in on Hybrids and Electric Cars
by Randy Sumner, Delphi Automotive
January 2010 -- Hybrid technology is the key for automakers to meet legislation requirements for fuel economy and CO2 emissions. Consumers are looking to hybrid and electric vehicle technology to lessen the environmental impact their cars have on the planet. As a result, we are witnessing an increasing demand for these types of alternative vehicles around the world. Randy Sumner, director of global hybrid vehicle development at Delphi, takes a look at the unique challenges for electrical interconnect technology in these vehicles. more

Delphi’s Interconnect System for Hybrids
January 2010 - Delphi has developed a unique interconnect system for hybrids. The following are the major components in their system. more

General Market

The Past, Present, and Future Performance of the Interconnect Industry
A presentation by David Pheteplace of Bishop & Associates at the WHMA 2010 Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida February 24-26, 2010.
March 2010 - 2009 was a difficult year for the connector industry. Connector sales plunged 21.8 percent, losing almost $10 billion in market value. The cable assembly industry worldwide lost $30 billion in market value. This was the fifth time in the last 30 years that the industry has experienced declining sales. However, this narrow and negative assessment discounts the bigger picture. The more defining issue is how well the industry has done in this time period. Connector sales quadrupled from 1980 to 2008, and this has become one of the most profitable industries, surpassed only by more visible industries such as pharmaceuticals, software, medical devices, and defense.

There are over 1,000 connector companies worldwide, with half of those residing in the U.S., Taiwan, and China. The top 10 companies comprise nearly 55 percent of the market. How do so many companies not only manage to survive, but thrive? more

Serving a Diverse Industry
The Wire Harness Manufacturing Association
March 2010 - The WHMA was founded in 1993. It is the only trade association focused solely on the manufacturers of cable and harness assemblies in North America. The purpose of the organization is to connect its members with resources and information that will help them navigate their businesses in this highly competitive market.

The WHMA holds an annual conference which brings its members together to share information. This year, the speakers included Barry Fason, retired Delphi executive (“Navigating the Bumps in the Road—Starting Now!); David Pheteplace, Bishop & Associates (“The Past, Present, and Future of the Connector and Cable Assembly Industries”); Brian Hirt, Industrial Electric Wire and Cable (“Economic Trends in Our Industry”); Christy Herig, Solar Electric Power Association (“Solar Power and the Connector Industry”); and J. Scot Sharland, Automotive Industry Action Group (“Auto Connector, Wire, and Cable Assembly Industry Challenges”). Members also joined roundtable discussions about best practices in strategic planning processes, profitability enhancement, industry benchmarking, industry market research, and independent rep sales vs. direct sales.

Lyle Fahning is the current chairman of the WHMA and the vice chairman of Technical Services for Electronics Inc. of Arlington, Minn. We talked to Lyle about the WHMA and the role it plays in our changing industry. more

The Right Tools for the Job
Modern Software Tools Help Accelerate Wire Harness Development
March 2010 - There has been a lot of discussion about how electrical systems design tools can streamline wire harness development to reduce lead times and cut costs for automotive and aerospace OEMs. However, other industries, such as specialized vehicle manufacturing, agriculture, off-highway, construction machinery, and the wire harness makers themselves, have some of the same problems and goals. Today, many of these companies create their electrical systems and wire harness designs using basic drawing packages. Although they do manufacture as many variants as the major automotive and aerospace OEMs, their complexity issues are still very demanding. Here are some ideas for these manufacturers to gain significant productivity and quality improvements in their electrical design process by using dedicated electrical design and manufacturing software tools. more

Medical

The Medical Market for Cable Assemblies:
Critical Care for a Critical Industry
February 2010 - The economic realities that swept across the interconnect landscape in 2009 did not spare any of the market segments, including medical. The struggling economy had already hit healthcare hard in the last half of 2008. Many hospitals were losing money. They cut staffing and delayed equipment purchases. At the same time, U.S. workers were being laid off in record numbers. Many of the newly unemployed had reduced health insurance or none at all, which exacerbated the pressure on the medical device market as hospitals cut back. These trends continued throughout 2009.

The situation wasn’t unique to the U.S.: The worldwide market for medical cable assemblies declined 18.2 percent in 2009, to $2.6 billion, after growing 5.7 percent in 2008. Many factors continue to affect the market coming into 2010. Healthcare legislation is working its way through the U.S. congress. Worldwide, the population of people over 60 is growing, as are their medical bills. Governments around the world are grappling with the effects of the recession, including high unemployment. However, 2010 will be an interesting year in which the worldwide economy will pivot and form the basis for a recovery. Let’s look at some trends that will impact the medical cable assembly market, and see what we can expect from 2010. more