While it’s been three years since 2Connect acquired Components Express, this was the first VISION event where the former’s branding dominated the booth. Part of that is down to an expansion of available markets, according to General Manager, Clayton Webber.
“We’ve really grown beyond factory-based machine vision to applications in the wider world that require vision technology,” he explains. “This includes a whole range of sectors, such as mobile equipment, heavy duty equipment, off-road vehicles, drones, semiconductors and so on – all of which are supported by vision, but perhaps not in the traditional way.”
2Connect’s partners are finding new customers in these areas. “We’re talking to those that have never played around with vision before,” he continues, “and these new markets are exciting for us.”
Serving these new markets brings about new requirements for their products, since most are to be found in harsh environments. “We had a really interesting one recently for a customer in the rail industry, where the connectivity solution had to be hardened against the threat of rats biting the cable,” says Webber. “I’m not sure we’ll be putting that particular feature in a catalogue!”
2Connect is now making its connectors from 100 per cent raw material, enabling the company to make specialised connectors for particular applications – including the defence and military sectors, which are often operating in extreme environments, and need a cohesive, robust and often lightweight solution – even to the point of the harnesses that are used to gather and support the cabling. This is now something that 2Connect has added to its portfolio.
As well as harnesses, 2Connect has seen increased demand for its enclosures, which protect the entire camera, frame grabber, lenses and connectors from the dangers of these harsh environments.
Servicing highly-regulated markets such as defence can only be achieved by a level of local support. In Europe alone, thanks to the parent company 2Connect, the Components Express product line now has access to three facilities in Germany, one in the Netherlands and two in Romania. “We’re not only hiring technical and support specialists in Europe, but commercial teams too,” says Webber. “We’re getting much more serious about Europe – understanding the needs of clients there and how they differ from those of our US customers.”
A major influence on the development of cabling is environmental compliance – again something that differs in Europe from the USA. Among the newer regulations is ROHS 6C, which mandates lead-free components. “This is immensely challenging,” says Webber. “Lead and copper alloys were fairly standard for years, because it makes structures easier to harden and easier to machine. Removing those alloys makes production more expensive and the end product susceptible to cracks.”
While the vast majority of factory-based machine vision takes place in a controlled and moderate environment and within a moderate temperature range, these extended markets bring in new challenges, such as extreme temperatures, clean-room environments or even salt water for submersibles. Each of these requires a different approach in product development.
2Connect remains at the forefront of future development too. “We’re on various standards committees that affect all of us involved in vision technology,” says Webber. “We’re working on cables that deliver higher speed and new USB standards.”
Webber addresses the place of Components Express within the 2Connect group: “CEI has a good reputation and standing within the vision industry. You will see us more as a product group within the wider 2Connect group of cabling and connectivity companies – we’re the high-speed vision expert team and we’re very proud of that.”
Components Express was a pioneer in featuring a configuration tool on its website almost 20 years ago; the latest version of that tool, launched as part of a website refresh, is now AI-based and more powerful, making it easier to ask questions. “It helps customers understand what they can and can’t do with cabling, so they can make better decisions,” concludes Webber.
