02/14/2017 //
Design engineers and purchasing personnel want to use the best connector companies for their design and purchasing requirements. However, identifying the best companies is not an easy task. Asking the following questions helps narrow the field.
The answers to these questions are not always obvious. It takes experience. It takes time. Only the experience of directly working with companies will provide the answer to the question, “Which companies will become valuable parts of our supply chain?”
The first step is to identify the most successful companies. We believe identifying the top 10 companies, using different definitions of what constitutes top 10, is the logical starting point for identifying the best connector suppliers. Specifically, who are the:
This article will provide you with the names of the companies in the above four classifications. You may further refine your selection to consider which companies are uniquely qualified to become part of your supply chain. For example, what are the largest companies that offer:
A more granular approach is required, but the designer or buyer should always start by examining the largest companies first. We believe that achieving size suggests a level of success. After all, customers have rewarded them with their business for a reason.
The remainder of this article identifies the largest companies in total world sales, sales by regions, sales by market sector, and sales by product manufactured.
We identified the top 10 in world sales in the October 2016 Bishop Report, issue #287.
We identified the 10 largest connector companies by region in the November 2016 Bishop Report, issue #288.
When the definition is top 10 by region, 25 companies earn a top 10 ranking.
The following table identifies the top 10 in the 11 market sectors.
When market sector is used as the definition, 39 companies achieve top 10 ranking.
The following table identifies the 10 largest manufacturers of the 12 major product categories.
When “products manufactured” is the definition, 43 companies achieved top 10 ranking.
The following table identifies the 48 companies that have a top 10 ranking using sales by regions, markets, and products. The table also notes the number of top 10 mentions under each of the three definitions.
We identified 48 companies with a top 10 ranking. We believe this information is very useful to the user community in identifying, researching, and selecting the companies with whom to partner.
Other levels of information are also important. For example, what are the leading companies in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Malaysia, Taiwan, etc.? What leading companies in Germany supply military circular connectors or have heavy-duty power types?
The quest for the right supplier for your company is not easy. However, identifying the companies under various definitions makes a difficult task easier.
Bishop & Associates compiles more than 700 connector company profiles on a special website designed to make your research and decision-making easier. www.wccreport.com can help you determine which companies will best meet your requirements. The site provides informative profiles that can be sorted by annual sales, region, country, markets served, and products manufactured. Each sort prepares a report that may be downloaded and saved.
Contact Lynda Nolen at lnolen@bishopinc.com for a demonstration of how www.wccreport.com can help your company search for the providers that can best meet your requirements. The “Go-to-Meeting” conference call requires about 30 minutes. Those 30 minutes could save you hours, even days, in your search for that perfect partner.
No part of this article may be used without the permission of Bishop & Associates Inc.
Ronald E. Bishop founded Bishop & Associates Inc., a market research firm that specializes in the world electronic connector industry, in 1985. The firm publishes a monthly newsletter titled “The Bishop Report,” and the twice-monthly digital publication Connector Supplier.
The reports, produced by a staff of 20 researchers, focus on geographic regions, end-user equipment markets, connector products, and interconnect technologies.
The firm also provides executive placement services and conducts multi-client studies and customer surveys, and assists in merger and acquisition activity.