ITT Interconnect Solutions invests in new European 38999 connector assembly facility

Interconnect Solutions has announced a major investment at its Basingstoke, UK facility which will enable the leading global connector manufacturer and supplier to deliver assembled MIL-DTL-38999 connectors with market-competitive lead times and pricing. The company sees this move as part of a wider initiative to support the military and aerospace market, and has recently redesigned its QPL-approved MIL-DTL-38999 product line-up to simplify manufacturing and reduce costs.

The £500,000 investment in Basingstoke is designed to support the local European market for a wide range of MIL-DTL-38999 products as well as other styles of connector. This gives ITT the ability to fulfill volume orders for OEM customers and service value-add distributor partners who operate in the fast-turnaround small volume sector.

In order to streamline manufacture and assembly, ITT has reduced the number of internal parts and simplified the connector construction, making final assembly simpler and quicker. Comments Product Manager Robert Pulman: "The military & aerospace market as well as other hi-rel sectors is very important to ITT. As well as this product redesign and investment in the local European assembly facility, we have recently been awarded silver status in the ADS SC21 programme which raises the performance of companies active in the Aerospace, Defence and Security sectors. To achieve such a high level of performance, ITT was sponsored by two major defence primes and is the only connector company to be awarded this status."

The Basingstoke facility is qualified to ISO9001-2008 and ISO 14001-2004 including an in-house plating line. In addition to QPL-qualified Cadmium olive-drab and silver Nickel platings, ITT also offers RoHS-compliant platings specifically for the European market.

Other military and aerospace products that are assembled at the plant include MIL-DTL-26482, missile and 'Nemesis' connectors (targeting future soldier systems), as well as high-current PowerLock, electric vehicle J1772, RF and high-density micro connectors. Harnesses for all ITT product types are also designed and produced at the facility.