Currently, one of the most innovative partners in the field of cable harnesses — the ‘nervous system for trucks & buses — is the PKC Group North America, which was awarded the Daimler Supplier Award 2020 for Innovation.
PKC’s cable harnesses are designed to meet the challenges of highly complex, electric, and automated trucks. PKC has mastered an excellent process innovation and combines the fast production of mature prototypes with a flexible life cycle management in series production. To put it bluntly: With the infinite variety of cable harnesses, PKC is able to develop prototypes very quickly using impact engineering, and implement them in series production.
Cable harnesses transmit signals and electrical energy.
Today's Daimler trucks have installed complex equipment that contributes to safety, comfort, and operation. Active Brake Assist, Turning Assist, Active Drive Assist, Interactive Multimedia Cockpit, and Keyless Start are just a few examples. They all integrate complex cable harnesses and have crucial signals flowing through them. PKC tests all cable harnesses components without compromise to ensure that no vulnerabilities can arise at these critical points. It is only ready for the road after all vibration, abrasion, and heat tests have been successfully completed, as well as the accelerated aging processes for determining the service life. Because if the software commands from the control units do not reach the corresponding assistance systems, then the truck comes to a stop!
PKC Embraces Innovation Since the Establishment.
The establishment of the market-oriented company dated back to 1969.
PKC develops, manufactures, and integrates custom electrical distribution systems, as well as the associated architectural components, on-board electronics, wires, and cables—especially for trucks, buses, construction machinery, and agricultural and forestry equipment. Product design and effective supply chain management are performed in close cooperation with customers and are implemented in accordance with their requirements.
" From idea to innovation—that's PKC! You supply the state-of-the-art cable harnesses for our North American business. Through new design methods, you convert flexibility into speed. Thank you for establishing our connection to the future and advancing our truck business! "
Three questions for Mr. Frank Sovis, PKC NA President
Supplier Magazine Editorial Staff: Congratulations Mr. Sovis!
PKC Group North America really deserves this award. PKC was awarded the Daimler Supplier Award 2020 by Global Procurement Trucks & Buses for Innovation. With state-of-the-art cable harnesses and new design methods, you convert flexibility into speed.
What is your secret to success?
Frank Sovis:The real secret is that there is no success secret, because we focus as a team to see the opportunities for continuous improvement instead of focusing on the word “success.” Claiming success requires a rearward-looking focus where past events and results are considered and evaluated. While this is an important step in the leadership process, the real value is in what comes next, identifying the opportunities to become better and pushing the energy of continuous improvement Forward.
This keeps our focus forward-looking and actively focused on next steps instead of a passive focus on what has already been done. This has been key for us in meeting our key customers’ evolving needs in a challenging market and time.
Can you tell us more about your design process?
The 1st and most essential step in our design process is capturing the voice of the customer.Accurately and completely understanding the customer’s needs is vital in designing and developing products. This is accomplished by establishing business partnerships with our customers where our design team acts as an extension of our customer’s design team.Working alongside our customer’s, we incorporate industry knowledge, global best practices and lessons learned into the products we develop. We strive to meet and exceed the demands of a market that require solutions that are robust, cost effective and have a relatively short design and development cycle.
What does speed mean in facts?
In a nutshell, speed means nothing less than the entire sustainability of a business. The entire “lean enterprise” approach that has been the focus of businesses for decades has the simple over-arching objective of lead time reduction, or speed to market. Why is this so important? The answer is simple; business speed maximizes our relevance to our customers. With speed, new innovations are not obsolete by the time they hit the market, design cycles are shortened to capture and even anticipate customer needs, and the right value is added at the right time. So, speed enables relevance. For any business, staying relevant to customer needs drives future opportunities, which is the cornerstone to both sustainability and long-term customer partnerships.
