Molex Inc., Lisle, Ill., is beginning its 75th year in business, serving users in the data communications, telecommunications, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, aerospace and defense, medical and lighting markets. Molex sells more than 100,000 different products and ranks among the top three connector companies in the world based on annual revenue.
“Molex has built a legacy of innovation while growing from a small, local enterprise in Chicago’s western suburbs to one of the largest connector companies in the world,” states Martin P. Slark, vice chairman and CEO.
Established in 1938, Molex earned an industry reputation for developing unique interconnect solutions for challenging design problems. Examples include: simple PCB connectors and stamped circuitry, as well as nylon plugs and receptacles for color TVs. Molex also introduced ever-smaller connectors and modular interconnects—the micro products of their day—and continues to be a leader in the miniaturization of electronic components.
Molex opened its first factory outside the U.S. in Japan in 1970. The company has since opened manufacturing operations in many other overseas locations, including Mexico, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and China. In 1972, Molex went public launching a period of rapid growth as the company expanded into global markets to provide design, customer service and manufacturing capabilities closer to its increasingly diverse customer base. On its 60th anniversary, Molex sales had reached over $1.6 billion in annual revenue—a figure that has since more than doubled.
To achieve product innovation, Molex continues to invest 5% or more of annual net revenue in R&D, which ranks it among the highest levels of R&D investment in the electronics industry. In FY12, Molex released more than 200 new products, received 319 patents and sold 60 billion connectors.
Molex Inc.
www.molex.com
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