The Autumn of 2015 marks two major anniversaries in the story of what is now the HARTING Technology Group. It was 70 years ago that the company was first founded, and it is 35 years since HARTING established its UK operation.

HARTING was founded in September 1945 by Wilhelm and Marie Harting as “Wilhelm Harting Mechanische Werkstätten” in a 100 square meter hall of a repair workshop in Minden, Germany. The company initially made lamps and domestic appliances, but soon diversified and expanded, and in 1950 moved to nearby Espelkamp, the town where it still has its headquarters.
 
From these small beginnings, the company, still run by members of the original family, has expanded into a global organisation with a presence on all continents including 12 production sites and 42 sales companies. Today, the HARTING Technology Group is not only an industry leader in the fields of electrical, electronic and optical connection, transmission and networking, but is also closely involved in the area of Integrated Industry including RFID, automation software and customised modular solutions for Industry 4.0.
 
The HARTING Group develops, manufactures and distributes electrical and electronic connectors, network components, pre-assembled system cables, and backplane assemblies. These products are capable of withstanding the harshest demands in industrial environments and provide high data rates for electronic applications. HARTING connectors and network components are used in mechanical engineering and plant manufacturing, in automation systems, energy generation and distribution, and in electronic and telecommunication markets. Industrial connectors are also vital in construction machinery, rail vehicles and shipbuilding. HARTING offers Ethernet network components and cable systems for both indoor and outdoor networking applications involving power and data.
 
The UK operation of the HARTING Group, opened in September 1980 at Biggin Hill, Kent, and moved to the Brackmills Industrial Estate in Northampton in 1990. Today, it employs 100 people, representing over 917 years’ total service between them and still including original employees from 1980.
HARTING UK is responsible for the sales and market development of HARTING interconnectivity and added-value services for the UK and Ireland, working closely with customers and distributors to help serve the interconnectivity needs of industry in the UK.
 
In addition, the company has on-site production facilities including: 
  • HARTING Integrated Solutions (HIS), a contract manufacturing operation which has the capabilities to design, test and produce complex backplanes and other subassemblies for the electronics and telecommunications markets.
  • HCS (HARTING Customised Solutions): a new and expanding facility for producing custom-specific solutions including heavy-duty cable assemblies. 

Facilities available within HARTING Integrated Solutions, which operates round the clock for 24 hours per day from Monday until Friday, include active component and PCB testing, surface mount assembly, wave-solder reflow, press-fit component insertion, surface-mount assembly, and fibre-optic assembly.

Customised solutions:
 
HARTING Customised Solutions (which again functions for 24 hours per day from Monday through to Friday) offers cable assembly, testing, crimping and customer reporting services. HARTING’s UK manufacturing facilities are approved to the most stringent national and international standards, including ISO 90001:2008, RoHS, IPC and IRIS (for the rail industry). 
 
The HCS operation is part of a new global business unit which HARTING has established to perform the central development and marketing of the service intensive portfolio contents of HARTING’s Connectivity & Networks operation. This includes customer specific solutions, such as cable assemblies and manufacturing, as well as products and complete solutions modified and tailored according to customer specifications.
 
For customised cable assemblies, HARTING is bringing together its market leading connectors with expert local and global production capabilities. As a result, it is able to produce assemblies carrying any combination of power, control signals, embedded processor I/O, Ethernet communications, and data pulses. Custom configurations include kits of parts, I/O assemblies, prewired cables, enclosures, hood-to-hood assemblies, bulkhead assemblies, and complete control panels. 
 
“We are investing in resources including advanced computer-aided design and automated manufacturing systems to help develop future growth in the business”, says Peter Hannon, Managing Director of HARTING Ltd.: “This means evolving our approach to the market to ensure our products and services are at the forefront of our current and future customers’ minds.” 

 
Future developments on the HARTING UK site include the introduction of electric car charging points for staff and visitors, and the implementation of HARTING’s Smart Power Networks concept within the manufacturing facilities, making the site more cost and energy efficient. Reviewing HARTING’s progress to date, Peter Hannon comments:
 
“While it is right to recognise and celebrate our achievements over the last 35 years, the emphasis and energy of the company is very much looking to the future and how we will grow the business to the mutual benefit of our customers and family shareholders. We have further exciting plans to invest in resources and capabilities to drive this growth forward.”