Molex
| Molex, LLC
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Limited Liability Company |
| founding | 1938 |
| Seat |
Lisle , United States
|
| management | Joe Nelligan ( CEO ) |
| Number of employees | 35,983 |
| sales | 3,620,000,000 US dollars |
| Branch | electronics |
| Website | www.molex.com |
| As of June 30, 2013 | |
Molex is a former Nasdaq listed manufacturer of electronic components including electrical and fiber optic connectors, switches, integrated products and specialty tools.
The company was founded in 1938 and has been owned by Koch Industries since December 2013 .
Molex is an original equipment supplier to industries such as automotive , consumer goods, industrial and office equipment, in-building cabling, and telecommunications.
Most of the connectors manufactured by Molex bear the abbreviation MXI for M ole x I nc.
Molex connector
Product Type
Molex manufactures various, sometimes highly complex, high-quality and customer-specific or system-specific connectors, but also connectors of very simple designs such as B. those used in the power supply in PCs.
Use of language
In parlance, Molex has partly become a generic name , that is, plugs of this type are often referred to as Molex plugs without actually having to be products from Molex as the manufacturer.
Molex connectors in industrial electronics
As a rule, high-quality, robust and often application-specific or application-adapted connectors are used in systems and in the vehicle sector. Design details such as resistance to foreign substances, IP protection class , removal protection and mechanical attaching / removal aids (e.g. levers) also play a major role here.
Molex connectors in PCs
In conventional PCs, comparatively very simple standardized connector shapes are used, which some manufacturers also use inferiorly with cheap materials, service lives, strengths and material thicknesses.
Power supply cable
| colour | tension | |
|---|---|---|
| yellow | +12 V | |
| black | Dimensions | |
| black | Dimensions | |
| red | +5 V | |
Certain connectors for the power supply in computers are commonly referred to as "Molex connectors", even if Molex is not the only manufacturer.
Usually, a Molex connector is a 4-pin connector (Molex 8981 series) that supplies power to hard drives , CD-ROM drives and other internal devices with medium to high power consumption (but also for some fans , which are usually a have low energy consumption). It was originally used for 5.25 " floppy disk drives .
The colors are not chosen arbitrarily. The red wire carries +5 V, the yellow +12 V and the two black wires are connected to ground. The Molex connectors mentioned above do not contain metal pins in the actual sense, but small sockets. The pins are on the drives or on the mainboard itself.
Connectors on PC fans
The name Molex is also associated with a smaller, three-pin female connector that is plugged onto the corresponding counterpart (usually on the motherboard). It is primarily used to connect fans . The pins carry ground (black), +12 V (red) and, if applicable, the speed signal (from the rotation sensor) of the fan (yellow or blue). Molex carries these connectors under the name "KK 254 Connector System".
Four-pole connections of this type have also been available since around 2005 (e.g. Molex 47054-1000). There is also a blue cable for the pulse width modulation signal (PWM) to the fan. The PWM signal controls the speed of the fan.
Four-pole plugs can be plugged into three-pole connections and vice versa. The asymmetrical connector shape with two guide rails on one side ensures that the correct cables are connected in this case as well (however, this assumes that the corresponding guide tab of the male connector is available). The blue PWM line remains free in this case, the ability of the fan motor for pulse width modulation is not used. As with a three-pin connection, in this case it is still possible to regulate the voltage of a suitably equipped motherboard so that the fan speed can still be controlled.
With quiet fans, it may be sufficient to completely do without a controller. With the help of an adapter cable, a fan can be fed directly via the 12 V power supply of a large Molex connector. The speedometer line and possibly the PWM signal remain unused (nc).
history
Frederick August Krehbiel founded the Molex Products Company in Brookfield, Illinois in 1938. He named the company after Molex, a plastic material he had developed. Shortly afterwards, a number of products were made from it, including watch cases, flower pots, round handles of rotary valves and salt tablet dispensers.
In 1940 one of Krehbiel's sons, John H. Krehbiel Sr., joined the company and discovered the excellent electrical insulation properties of the material early on. A few years later, the company introduced metal stamping into its molding processes, which resulted in the first connector for household appliances from General Electric and other manufacturers.
In the 1950s, Molex quickly penetrated the device market with its low-cost connector blocks. In 1953, the company first introduced a connection based on the plug-socket principle. In the following years Molex expanded the product range for commercial and private areas of application.
In 1960, Molex introduced the first nylon plug-and-socket connection , which led to Molex becoming an electronics company.
In 1967 Molex began to operate internationally. The first factory opened in Japan in 1970 and the second in Ireland in 1971. Today, more than two-thirds of annual revenue comes from products manufactured and sold outside of the United States.
Molex kept pace with the growth of the electronics industry in the 1980s by expanding its product offering to meet the needs of the computer industry and business equipment. The company also established itself as a supplier to the automotive industry.
In the early 1990s, markets such as telecommunications, industrial automation and premise networking were opened up.
Molex has strengthened its own position in key markets and has expanded through growth and several strategic company acquisitions. In 2006, Molex acquired Woodhead Industries, the largest acquisition in the company's history. This results in a stronger presence in factory automation and other heavy industrial areas.
In September 2013, the US American Koch Industries, headquartered in Wichita , Kansas, announced the takeover of Molex for around 7.2 billion US dollars.
Molex in France
Molex settled in France in 2004. There it had a development department in Montigny-le-Bretonneux (Yvelines) and a factory in Villemur-sur-Tarn (Haute-Garonne), two locations that were sold by SNECMA shortly before its merger with SAGEM and which were up until the year 2000 the companies Cinch Connecteur and Labinal belonged. The Villemur-sur-Tarn factory has existed since 1932. The part acquired by Molex had 283 people (2008) and mainly supplied PSA Peugeot Citroën . Another part was kept by Labinal ( incorporated into the SAFRAN group since 2005 ). It produces connectors for the aviation industry and employs around 600 people.
Since October 2008, the Molex factory in Villemur-sur-Tarn was threatened with closure. Relocation to China and the USA was considered. The French co-managing directors Marcus Kerriou and William Brosnan resigned on August 6, 2009 after they were involved in a fight with the striking employees and left the management of the American management of the Molex Group. A ministerial arbitrator, Francis Latarche, former director of DDTE (Les unités territoriales, formerly Directions départementales de l'emploi, du travail et de la formation professionnelle (DDTEFP)) was appointed by Christian Estrosi , Minister of Industry. In the course of 2010 the final closure took place despite the protests and actions of the workforce.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180718005229/en/Molex-CEO-Martin-P.-Slark-Retiring-Forty-Two
- ↑ a b Form 10-K 2013
- ↑ a b KOCH INDUSTRIES, INC. COMPLETES PURCHASE OF MOLEX INCORPORATED , December 9, 2013
- ↑ Molex (Ed.): KK® 254 Connector System . Online product description. Accessed September 8, 2015.
- ^ Inka Meyerholz: takes over Woodhead Industries. (No longer available online.) In: elektroniknet.de. July 4, 2012, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 27, 2012 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ See e.g. B. Le Monde on August 12, 2009 A bone of contention in the industrial basin in decline .
- ↑ L'Humanité, August 26, 2009 Molex: The Strategy Press out the lemon and then throw it away
- ^ Démission des dirigeants de Molex pour la France sur le site de Reuters Resignation of the leadership for France from Molex on the Reuters site
- ↑ ARTE: "The Molex Case - Chronicle of an Illegal Closure", documentary film, France 2010, original with subtitles ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
