Stand L48, Coventry Building Society Arena

•  This year, Hitaltech brings its latest range of floating connectors to the Engineering Design Show (EDS).

• Floating connectors help product manufacturers create easier-to-assemble products with increased reliability, greater vibration resistance and no connection misalignments.

• Also featured will be Hitaltech’s Value Added Services, which enable manufacturers to customise every element of their component supply, from kitting and printing to machining and buffer stock packages.

Introducing floating connectors from Hitaltech

Floating connectors are an electromechanical interconnect product which are used for connecting PCB to PCB. Their spring-like terminals incorporate a self-alignment mechanism which enables them to correct a range of misalignments when PCBs are assembled. These help to reduce placement errors and are ideal for automated assembly and are widely applied in manufacturing.

Hitaltech’s floating connectors resist significant shock and vibration in intense environmental settings, while positioning posts help to prevent connection errors such as misalignments. They also help to reinforce the connector after soldering it onto the PCB. The connectors are most frequently applied in automated substrate assemblies for the industrial, automotive, commercial and medical industries where vibration and shock are common problems encountered during operation.

Matt Hughes, sales manager at Hitaltech is eager to bring the connectors to EDS: “The capacity of floating connectors to absorb alignment errors makes them an essential addition to our rigid connector range. We know how important rapid and precise automated substrate assembly is to protecting efficiency and cost-efficiency of automated PCB assemblage for our customers. We’re looking forward to letting EDS delegates get hands-on with the connectors and explore ways they can help solve their vibration and alignment challenges.”

Adding value

Hitaltech will be complementing its floating connector exhibit with a showcase of its Value-Added Services. These enable customers to customise even off-the-shelf ranges to ensure the components they source are exactly right for their needs. These services bring together the myriad ways in which Hitaltech has always supported its customers, raising their profile to ensure that everyone can benefit from services designed to deliver products faster, simpler and more cost effectively.

“Services such as kitting, printing, wiring loom assembly, machining and more can help our customers develop better-realised products that stand out from the competition,” says Shaun Rose, sales engineer for the South. “These services help refine processes, reduce assembly times and cut production costs, and we’re looking forward to exploring the many ways we can tailor our services to benefit the companies attending the show.”

 “We are always excited to showcase our latest innovations and meet customers old and new. And this year we are particularly excited to bring our value-added services to the show to demonstrate how much more we can benefit our customers when we work in partnership with them.” says Andy Fitzer, MD.

Another process innovation is the connector kit. Where once customers needed to order multiple parts, then sort them ready for the assembly line, now they can order predefined bags of components under one part number. Hitaltech tailor’s bespoke component kits for each client, with each bag containing a pre-defined set of terminal blocks and connectors, each coloured and printed to the customer's requirements.

Fitzer explained: "The kitting option is already proving popular with customers who want to supply their finished products with a bag of pluggable connectors for the installer to use and we are also finding that the kitting service can save a significant amount of time in sifting and sorting components on the assembly line too."

And most recently, the company has added loom assembly to its services, giving customers more flexibility and capacity.

Find more about floating connectors

Find more about Value Added Services