Because automobile manufacturing needs long-term authentication and inspection on the connector, connector enterprises that started late are difficult to become suppliers of joint venture factories. This also becomes one of the reasons that connector enterprises cannot develop rapidly in technology. To get ahead in technology, connector enterprises must follow the technology development of OEMs, which is unlikely to happen any time soon. Fortunately, the automotive connector enterprise has the advantage of low cost as well as high cost performance in the general and mid- and low-end products. Automotive connector manufacturers also accelerate grabbing their own brands in the OEM market.
Besides, new energy vehicles will be an important direction for the future development of the automobile industry. In addition to the traditional connector for cars, international brand manufacturers are paying attention to and constantly increasing their investment in pure electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Early research and development of automotive connector products in those fields will be a major strategy for enterprises to occupy the future market.
What capabilities should an automotive connector manufacturer have in order to keep a foothold in the industry?
1. An automotive connector manufacturer must have the similar design capabilities as a military connector manufacturer.
The technical requirements of automotive connectors are between consumer electronics and military electronics, which requires shorter use time than that of military electronics but longer than that of consumer ones and requires use environment not as harsh as that of military electronics but not as normal as that of consumer ones. Therefore, an automotive connector manufacturer must have the design capability similar to the military connector manufacturer.
2. An automotive connector manufacturer must have automated production conditions similar to those of a consumer electronics connector manufacturer.
With the consumer electronics characteristics of large market capacity, rapid replacement and great demand for production, the consumer electronic connector manufacturer enjoys outstanding supply chain management and automation degree to adapt to those characteristics of the consumer electronic connector. The automotive connectors are produced on a smaller scale than consumer electronics while more than military electronics. Automotive connector manufacturers need automation conditions similar to those for consumer electronics connectors to ensure consistency improvement of products.
