Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1499865
High-Speed Data in Industrial, Automotive, Healthcare, and Data Centers 22 Across its optical solutions business, Molex uses collaborative design tools with its customers to propose initial concepts for optical module products. Beyond the technical performance parameters, they can address size, configuration, connection interfaces, and aesthetics. The full module is simulated so that Molex can predict performance and create advanced features before making the first physical parts. The tools allow engineers to position fully architected products in a 3D environment as working examples within the customer's end application, using animation to demonstrate how the product will fit, interact, and function. Customers benefit by seeing results quickly and having the opportunity to provide input, enabling Molex to respond rapidly with change requests and enhancements that make the product development cycle more efficient. In concert with its advanced design capabilities, Molex also uses advanced manufacturing capabilities and technology innovation to automate their advanced optical wavelength switches using Molex's optical fabric-build automation robotics platform. Aligning optical lightpaths for clear transmission is key to reliable performance in communications systems. The final alignment of the optical system is achieved via automated robotic control. Molex custom alignment stations optimize the degrees of freedom that light can travel. The company develops custom software to monitor light running through the optical circuit to control the robotic alignment of all the various elements. Not only does this result in better products that can be built more efficiently, but it ensures better uniformity from unit to unit and across operators and manufacturing processes. Designing products with the technology to apply advanced manufacturing methods at the early stage of product design allows Molex to work with customers and factory teams to enable streamlined manufacturing, even before the first pilot runs of the product on actual equipment is finalized. Learn More Learn More 5G mmWave RF Flex-to-Board Connectors Premo-Flex Shielded Flat Flexible Cable FFC Jumper Once in volume production, Molex employs advanced automation using robotics and computing capability to monitor the health and efficiency of production lines in real time. This allows changes with minimal interruption to production, thus increasing throughput and minimizing downtime. Ultimately, this combination of advanced technology in design and manufacturing enables Molex to respond with greater speed and create more value for customers, suppliers, and society. Putting Industry 4.0 into Practice Leveraging new technologies and transformative processes to deliver higher efficiency is not just a trend, it is a continuing expectation. While Industry 4.0 gives this currency, it should be acknowledged that all markets are closely tied to the underlying technological developments that enable this and all other trends. In the context of product design and manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are vital, and automation is critical to the process overall. However, the machinery used to implement that automation must be designed considering how each component is integrated into the total system to ensure accuracy, performance, and efficiency. Likewise, those smallest building blocks should also be developed with DFM in mind. Bottom line: Building better products starts with the design but extends all the way to final assembly and fulfillment. And with the latest tools and highly skilled engineering expertise, those ever-evolving efficiency and accuracy percentages are reaching new heights. n " " Building better products starts with the design but extends all the way to final assembly and fulfillment.