At a recent event in Naperville, Ill., HARTING Americas President & CEO Jon DeSouza presented a business update focusing on the company’s success in the Americas in 2017 fiscal year, which ended in September. Key figures for the company over the past year included 20% growth in North America, 22.4% growth in the opportunity pipeline, 64.2% new product revenue growth, and 15.5% North American manufactured products overall revenue growth.

DeSouza then noted some of HARTING’s 2018 initiatives to continue on that path. The first is to capitalize on economic recovery and growth, then to expand digital marketing initiatives and focus on South America development by enlarging the area HARTING serves. Also key are expanding its IIoT footprint through smart connectivity and edge computing, and investing in manufacturing and technology development. Finally, he stated, the company expects continued growth throughout all major vertical markets.

Chairman of the Board, Philip Harting, offered a global perspective of HARTING’S achievements and initiatives. Over the past two years, the company has seen substantial successes, Harting recounted, from winning the Hannover Fair’s coveted Hermes award in 2016, to a 10% global growth in fiscal year 2017, to the expansion of new facilities in Mexico, Romania and India.

Next, Harting announced the partnership with the Robotation Academy in Foshan, China, as one of 21 partner companies in the fields of robotics, automation and Industry 4.0. The Robotation Academy provides training, conferences and presentations on future technology trends.

“This will give HARTING access to almost every manufacturing company in South China, including IT manufacturers in Shenzhen,” noted Dr. Ellen McMillan, general manager of HARTING China, in a recent announcement. HARTING China will also send its employees to the Robotation Academy for training and help fund the higher-education institution. The Robotation Academy is a 100% subsidiary of the Robotation Academy in Hanover, Germany, which is in turn part of Deutsche Messe AG.

Finally, Harting thanked the company’s strong partners in the U.S., including MIT, Texas Instruments, the Industrial Internet Consortium, IBM Watson, and Microsoft stating that HARTING’s key strategy for success is through partnerships.

Also at the meeting, held at North Central College, the officials announced that they have opened a lab dedicated by HARTING to introduce basic electronic methods and applications to students of the College. In addition to naming the lab, HARTING has pledged to donate equipment and products for students.

“This lab is very exciting for us,” said DeSouza, “as it represents things that are very important to the company. The first is HARTING’s investment to education and shaping the minds of young engineers. In addition, it was important to select a college nearby our Elgin, Ill., North American headquarters so that we support our local community.”

Chairman Harting called the ceremony a “milestone” and expressed his enthusiasm for furthering the partnership and connecting with students who may be “possible employees for our future.”

President of North Central College Troy Hammond also noted HARTING’s global accomplishments and its ability to respond to the changing needs of its customers. “We intend to support HARTING’s success by generating talented graduates,” he said. “We’re proud to partner with HARTING to ensure we both have a brilliant future.” The HARTING Electronics Lab is located in the newly named Wentz Science Center.

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