DDK continues to develop and expand its range of interconnection products for the industrial market and has now added a metal shell version of its DK series connectors. Electronics Buyer met with Fujikura DDK's business development manager and problem solver, Andy Richardson to discover a company striving to be as flexible as the connectors it manufactures.
Established in 1963, DDK Connectors became a fully owned subsidiary of the Fujikura Corporation in 1999. Fujikura Europe has grown in the last ten years and now occupies a 14,000 square foot site in Chessington, Surrey which houses the company's European sales administrative offices, technical support centre and service repair workshops.
The DK series products have been designed mainly for factory automation applications such as NC machines, robotic equipment, servomotors and moulding and welding machinery, but their versatility means that they can also be used for other applications too. They are available in three body sizes for signal transmission, signal and power transmission or high power transmission.
Offering a robust design, a wide variation of housing styles, a current rating of up to 30A/contact, voltage rating of up to 600VAC (rms), the DK series can be easily terminated to wire sizes of AWG10 to AWG28 using hand held crimp tooling. These connectors are available in cable-to-board, cable-to-panel and cable-to-cable options. The newly introduced metal shell version (DK-2 and DK-3) features a tough metal shell, a one-touch locking lever and quick release mechanism, and easily interchangeable plastic insert options.
Andy Richardson feels that flexibility plays a huge role in promoting the company's business capabilities. "A large connector company can sometimes be inflexible so that when they release a product, they try and force it onto the marketplace. DDK tend to follow on behind the major players and although people can see this as a weakness, I view it as a strength. When we're following, a customer might come to us and say they like a leading brand, but require various modifications to make it a bespoke connector. This is where DDK come in and we receive many design-in opportunities as a result. At the lower volume end, DDK is now looking at the opportunities of designing more bespoke connectors for industry and eventually they can be released to everybody.
As the conversation turns to the needs of today's electronics buyers, Andy suggests that the quickest way to the buyer's heart is to keep them happy on price and availability. "However, you can now add the implications of the RoHS directive to this list," he claims. "If the buyer requests a quotation for a product, I generally find samples and datasheets and visit them. This is how I succeed, because you visit more and more customers, whereas some companies tend to do this kind of thing over the telephone or via email. It's more of a personal service and if the buyer feels that I've solved their problem, then it normally leads to repeat business. If I can't help them, I'll put them in touch with someone who can - that way, they still see me as a problem solver.
