Harting continues to experience double digit annual revenue growth in the US market, a trend which shows no sign of abating, says Jon DeSouza, President and CEO of HARTING North America. The company's North American revenues increased by 20% to almost $56 million in HARTING's fiscal 2014 when ended last Sept 30.
The outlook for fiscal 2015 is equally bullish. Key indicators suggest an acceleration of US GDP growth to the 3.0-3.5 percent range. "We expect that to translate into increased sales for our modular connectivity products in particular, as well as custom solutions like our US-made backplanes and cable harnesses." Those custom products are assembled at the company's manufacturing facility at Elgin, IL.
Global revenues for the family-owned company's FY 2014 rose by 13% (to €547m from €484m). That included 40% growth in Asia (to €126m from €90m) and 13% for the Americas as a whole (€52m from €46m). Revenues in Germany rose 11% to €194, but the rest of Europe and the Middle East registered only marginal growth. Globally, HARTING is forecasting single-digit revenue growth, reflecting uncertain economic conditions in China and Europe as well as geopolitical risks in some overseas markets.
HARTING's strongest US products segments included Han modular connectors - its signature product segment - board-level products like the new har-flexicon series, DC2 connectors like the PushPull lineup, and custom backplanes. "There are a lot of new products in the pipeline for 2015, like our Han HMC connector optimized for over 10,000 mating cycles and the North American debut of Ha-VIS pre-LINK, an ingenious solution for Ethernet cabling," said DeSouza.
The ability to introduce new products for industrial and device connectivity and factory automation is part of the company's continuing success in North America, said DeSouza. HARTING, always an R&D leader in these fields, has expanded new product development with the opening of the new Quality and Technology Centre (HQT) at the HARTING headquarters in Espelkamp, Germany, last June. HARTING's total R&D investment amounted to €44 million, a 10% increase over fiscal 2013. Projects undertaken at the HQT will develop cutting-edge technologies. The center also serves as a state-of-the-art test facility.
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