Shop floor colleagues
9
Status January 2013
142
Status April 2020
The early beginnings of e-mobility: 12 workstations,
a low number of versions, a great deal of team spirit
Team spirit
You need very special employees to do this. “It takes months
of training here before a colleague can assemble their first
connector. We have extremely experienced professionals from
all kinds of trades working in production, from automotive
mechatronics technicians to carpenters. Their technical
understanding is a part of the production. Sometimes
colleagues sit there on their own accord until late in the
evening and work on suggestions for improvement that can
then help us to move forward.”
Not without pride, Finken explains that “What distinguishes
everyone here is the will to improve themselves, their constant
desire to learn. A High Power Charging connector consists of
more than 150 individual parts. They have to know them like
the back of their hand first of all. And in production, there
is also a certain amount of physical resilience necessary to
handle the heavy cables.
At the time of the spin-off, the decision-makers – the
Executive Board – were still concerned about the potential of
this new family of items and the whole subject of e-mobility.
Our Executive Board has demonstrated entrepreneurial
foresight and courage by supporting this subsidiary. Today,
we benefit from a mixture of having a strong company
behind us and organizational independence – and therefore,
technological speed. This distinguishes us from competitors
on the market who are many times bigger than us. Short
paths, an innovative company structure, well-known suppliers
within our own group – who else can print out a sample of a
High Power Charging connector overnight?
We have long since ceased to be regarded as the newcomers
from the sticks; we are now a supplier and contact point for all
of the big players in the industry on an equal footing, both on
the automotive side and in the field of charging infrastructure.
But cable preparation is, and will remain, and despite all the
aids and fixtures, a manufactory production process with a
great deal of precise skilled work.” (lo) •
phoenixcontact-emobility.com
The Phoenix Contact innovation magazine UPDATE 5/20 15