Switches, relays & keyboards


NKK Switches' YB2 series of illuminated 22-mmpushbuttons include an outer ring illumination option


Omron is making additional


investments to expand capacity for certain products within its power PCB relay segment, driven by


demand from building automation


and home appliance segments. However, Chandler says "for every one product I take off allocation, I add one to it."


"There isn't product available to


support significant upticks in general. It's not just an Omron situation; it's a global supply shortage that exists today," said Chandler.


Omron also is recommending "dual


technologies to satisfy customer application requirements." "We're trying to create dual footprints within a PCB assembly


application, which can handle different options of relays," said Chandler. "A 10-A productmay have serious supply chain issues but a 3-A or 5-A solution can work if we do some due diligence three, six or ninemonths ago to get it qualified and approved for the application," he said.


Buyers can also ensure supply by entering into longer term


contracts, said Chandler. "Longer termengagements are probably the biggest thing that helps us understand demand and puts us in a position to support their needs."


"When you're at these levels of shortages you're not able to give everybody everything," he added.


Growth drivers Although NKK introduced its OLED SmartSwitch line about two years ago, the product line is starting to take off due to its doubled life expectancy. The display life of the OLED SmartSwitch pushbutton has been doubled to 30,000 hours.


NKK also expanded its product portfolio to include flushmount,


as well as round and square illuminated switch options. These are power rated switches, targeting industrial applications.


Chandler says key growth drivers are home appliance, automotive


and building automation sectors. "We're looking at building automation as the newhot demand driver as they transition their products and focus on energymanagement," he said.


This segment usesmany of Omron's electromechanical relays


as well as detection switch solutions. "We continue to see segments recover and get stronger.What is


uncertain iswhetherwewill see some softening in some of the segments that recover early on such as home appliances, automotive, and building automation," Chandler said. "Will those continue at their current pace or soften a little bit and howwill that impact some of the other segments that are starting to recover."


Omron Electronics expects about three to five percent growth


for switches and relays in fiscal year 2011. "It won't be nearly the dynamics we experienced last year. Growth last year was 10 to 15 percent," said Chandler.


To drive some of this growth, Omron continues to expand its


switch and relay product portfolios. The componentsmaker is developing relays aimed at energy and energymanagement


18 | April 2011


NKK Switches doubles the display life of its OLED SmartSwitch pushbutton switches, and reduces the devices' already low-power consumption by 30 percent


products, and is in the process of introducing a low operating force line of surface-mount 12x12 tactile switches.


Omron also ismonitoring what some of the standards groups


are doing in terms of standards consolidation. Chandler says there is an initiative underway to consolidate some of the safety standards for Europe and North America. "There is an IEC/UL programunderway thatmay become a bigger issue for all electromechanicalmanufacturers. Typically European standards havemore restrictions applied to their products."


Tablets impact keyboardmarket


The invasion of the tablets is both a threat and opportunity, said Craig Kaliebe,marketingmanager, ZF Electronics Corp., a manufacturer of Cherry products, Pleasant Prairie,Wis.


"A threat fromthe standpoint that some of the people thatwould


normally use a PCmight use a tablet and not need a keyboard because they aren't entering large amounts of data," he said.


"On the other hand, there are large amounts of opportunity


because some of those tablets with Bluetooth connectivity are marketing small footprint keyboards. It's this invasion ofmobile technology that is revolutionizing the way we surf the web, the way wemonitor data, and the way we interact with socialmedia," Kaliebe added.


Kaliebe believes there are quite a few applications where the


tablets don't suffice." If you have to type in large amounts of data and if you're a coder or like to play games or have a POS terminal, these are certainly applications where you need a keyboard and you can't go with just a touch-screen interface."


There also are big growth opportunities in security particularly


for keyboards with biometric fingerprint authentication and fingerprint scanners built into themfor POS applications, health care includingmedical kiosks andmobilemedical carts, and government for access control. These keyboards also can incorporate smart-card and credit-card readers. They primarily use capacitive sensor technology.


In addition, to help customers have a smoother andmore


reliable roll-out, Cherry recently announced a partnership with a software provider Softex in Austin, Texas.


www.electronics-sourcing.com


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