At HARTING’s annual trade media luncheon in downtown Toronto, the company announced plans to increase its full-time Canadian sales force to four in the coming months, after reporting continued double-digit revenue growth.
Ashley Smith-Heine, vice president of sales, HARTING Americas, told the trade media attendees that the sales force expansion is particularly attractive because of a number of stellar opportunities in the Canadian marketplace especially given that Canadian companies are embracing greater automation and IIoT solutions, which is only going to accelerate in the years to come.
Ashley Smith-Heine, vice president of sales, HARTING Americas.
“We see the uptake of IIoT accelerating in the Americas, with commensurate benefits in optimizing operational efficiency and business costs,” said Smith-Heine. “By 2023, the smart manufacturing market worldwide is expected to be worth US$299 billion with a compound annual growth rate of 11 per cent.”
That aligns with much of what’s being developed in HARTING’s global R&D programs and the company’s focus on new automation products and strategies.
HARTING established a direct presence in the Canadian market seven and a half years ago, creating HARTING Canada with an office in Montreal. Today, the Canadian sales force is backed by HARTING Americas’ in-house sales department as well as a comprehensive distributor network. The product support team based in Elgin, Ill., also assists Canadian customers remotely and even onsite when warranted.
While machinery and transportation are still hugely important in Canada, HARTING is finding success in additional markets like data centres and PGTD (Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution).
There is a correlation between expanding the direct sales presence and building more mutually productive customer relationships, stated Carl Maalouf, director of sales, HARTING Canada.
“There is no substitute for boots on the ground; our customers have always appreciated that of HARTING,” said Maalouf. “We’re not just there to sell products, but to help them select the most appropriate ones from both a technical and business standpoint.”
Ashley Smith-Heine, vice president of sales, HARTING Americas and Carl Maalouf, director of sales, HARTING Canada.
Maalouf noted that having game changing new products like the HARTING MICA mini-computer and the ix Industrial connector for IP20 Ethernet applications is giving machine, plant and process designers the chance to design differently. He cited two new products featured at the Hannover Messe in April that are about to debut in Canada:
Han 1A: Compact, modular connector series configurable with up to 12 contacts for transmitting data, power and signal is ideal for controllers, small drives and control cabinets. These lightweight connectors cater to the need for smaller interfaces in machine design and robotics, taking up 30% less space than the Han 3A widely used for such applications. There are inserts and accessories for indoor and outdoor applications (IP20/IP65). Assembly is tool-less.
HARTING T1 Industrial: Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) connectors can be configured to carry power and data on one pair of wires instead of the usual two pair and can provide effective Ethernet coverage to previously inaccessible locations and connect the simplest of devices, like sensors.
“We literally created the standard for Single Pair Ethernet (SPE); all relevant standardization committees have gone along with HARTING’s design for an SPE mating face,” said Heine-Smith.
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