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Table of Contents Departments News High-rel makers bet cautiously on hybrid, industrial automation The uncertain future of the automotive industry may have many harsh connectivity manufacturers in a wait-and-see mode, but if recent product announcements are any indication, manufacturers continue to have faith–or, at least hope–in the long-term viability of hybrid vehicles as well as continued expected growth in industrial automation demands. Study: Profitablity will require more PLM, ‘lean’ A recent study by Aberdeen Group (www.aberdeen.com) indicates that electronics/components manufacturers who want innovations developed into profitable products must focus on boosting product lifecycle management (PLM) investments, adopting lean and open innovation, leveraging existing information assets for knowledge capture and reuse, and maximizing value out of their product intellectual property (IP). USB 3.0 adds “SuperSpeed” data path Faster-than-ever downloads from consumer devices are on the horizon as a result of the recently finalized USB 3.0 connectivity specification, but actual products aren’t expected until later this year and more likely in 2010. Donated connectors help drive University of Minnesota’s solar project A team of undergraduate students from the University of Minnesota’s engineering department, with some help from Neutrik USA. News Briefs: Newsmakers: MIL-quality nano connectors feature space saving polarizing technology MINNEAPOLIS, MN– Omnetics Connector Corp. (www.omnetics.com) has developed increasingly smaller nano connectors targeting space and weight-critical military applications. Molex assemblies achieve InfiniBand adoption Molex’s (www.molex.com) 84-circuit iPass+ High Speed Channel (HSC) and 38-circuit iPass connector and cable assembly systems were recently adopted by InfiniBand as the CXP 12x QDR and QSFP 4x QDR standards, respectively. Editor's View A world of interconnection Recently, I had a phone conversation with an insider to the connector industry, and that conversation pretty quickly turned to the need for increased interactivity among our industry’s professionals. Features Lean goes upstream Facing a small number of components and high variation of configurations, here’s how one semiconductor connectivity tooling manufacturer found a way to lower cost and reduce lead times. Ensuring signal integrity in high-speed connectors Channel characterization has become a major signal integrity issue, requiring manufacturers to develop test methods that will ensure that devices perform as specified. The misunderstood crimp force monitor While there can be challenges to using a crimp force monitor, a basic understanding of the essential components can result in an accurate, time-saving method for wire harness crimp quality verification. Buyer’s Guide 2009 Products New Products Connectors Coaxial Connectors Fiberoptic Connectors Cabling and Connector Support Manufacturing Equipment & Tools What’s new:

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