My Training Session at Amphenol Procom, Leaders in Radio Connectivity technology.
In late 2018, I had the great pleasure of attending an Amphenol Procom training course in their lovely head office which is just a short drive from Copenhagen. The head office features impressive research and developments, factory and warehouse facilities
The company hold two to four product training courses a year where those in sales and engineering functions get to learn about the extensive Amphenol Procom product range and the technology behind it. The training courses are important for the company and provide an excellent way to keep good communication with customers and distributors and to teach the theory behind the products.
Walking around you notice that all the employees are relaxed despite a large group of visitors attending the two-day training course. The warmth of the welcome is truly Scandinavian, and throughout the day the training is thorough, friendly and professional.
I had time to sit down with Adnan Ahmad who is Director of Engineering at Amphenol Procom. I asked him what makes the Amphenol Procom brand and product range so strong? He said, ‘Product reliability, customer focus and the extensive range of products makes us stand out in the market place…we essentially provide a one-stop shop of connectivity solutions for our customers. The Procom, Skymasts and Jaybeam brands are much known & established in the market and with our customers.’
‘Our huge product catalogue including our antenna, filter and combiner products is a vital part of our brand value. Although the basic technology hasn’t changed in decades, there will be a need for new Mission Critical standards coming into force in the next decade where After a short introduction from the presenting team, the day was divided into presentations about core products and future growth areas. Subjects covered included antennas, filtering equipment, combiners and DAS equipment. We even got a bespoke session with one of their engineers about their new TETRA CSR-DMT 380 / CSR-DMT 410 channel selective digital repeater…which is a very impressive piece of equipment.
During each afternoon we had hands-on training to ensure that what we learnt in the classroom stayed with us when we left. It was quite impressive seeing the test facilities that that ensure that the quality of product that leaves Denmark is as good as it can be. It was good to see so much of the equipment on display and the craftsmanship behind them.
Amphenol Procom is making great strides into new DAS (Distributed Antenna Systems) and IoT (Internet of Things) marketplaces. I asked Adnan what is taken into consideration when designing this type of equipment.
He said, ‘Passive Intermodulation (PIM) is always an issue on DAS, and we see that as a requirement for many customers today. PIM is always taken into consideration on new developments within DAS whether it regards antennas, couplers, power splitters or tappers. Other than that, we try to push the limits on bandwidths (the more significant the bandwidth, the more applications and different types of communications/technologies can be incorporated. You want to future proof the product you are developing so the larger the bandwidth, the better.’
‘From a performance point of view, on the Passive component side, we want the performance to be best in class as well as having the quality and durability that is expected from the group's reputation.’
Walking around the factory, you get a sense of an empowered and motivated workforce. Adnan said, ‘ Our success comes down to the quality and the dedication of our team. If they see something wrong, they will speak up and put it right. We are always looking at improving everything we do.’
He added, ’we try to maintain a high level of knowledge so that we stay ahead of the competition. We have good cooperation with our suppliers looking to improve the processes/technologies we share with them. Another way we stay ahead is when new technology is emerging, we ensure we attend external courses. We also encourage our engineers to attend customer meetings because it is the best way of learning and experiencing what our customers are facing. We also attend seminars and courses.’
So after a good two days of training and sharing experiences with like-minded delegates from across the industry I came away with a higher level of knowledge and a greater appreciation for the work that goes into bringing Amphenol Procom products to the market.
As to the future, Adnan said, ‘we see our market only increasing. We see IOT technology developing which will also utilise DAS components. It is estimated that there will be 20 billion IOT devices in use in 2020.’
‘Another growth area we can see in filters is the need for high performance filters for mission critical scenarios. With LTE becoming more popular there will be a migration to higher frequencies.’
16/12/2018
