Electric heavy equipment manufacturers operate in a demanding industry where product reliability and safety are paramount. When one of our key customers, a global leader in electric heavy equipment, faced quality issues that threatened their reputation, they turned to Plexus for help. We addressed their challenges through a combination of engineering services, contract manufacturing and supply chain solutions. Through a relationship built on proven expertise and open collaboration, Plexus has partnered through expanded solutions to accelerate our customer’s business goals. Solution Spotlight Customer: Global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment Product: Power inverters for hybrid wheel loaders, midlevel bulldozers and full electric vehicle for underground mining Solutions: Product Design & Development, Supply Chain, New Product Introduction, Manufacturing Maintaining Product Reliability in Electrified Equipment As our customer expanded into electrification of their heavy equipment products, they required the highest level of reliability to protect the safety of their end users and reinforce their storied brand. The company faced issues with the incumbent contract manufacturer, so they turned to Plexus to analyze and address one of their main pain points: circuit board failures in the field. Leveraging nearly 50 years of experience in designing and building thousands of PCBs, Plexus utilized our Failure Analysis Lab to diagnose problems in design and assembly. The Failure Analysis Lab was able to analyze issues at the board, sub-assembly and system level. By conducting root cause analysis, we were able to identify and resolve the issues that were resulting in the failures, ensuring the highest product performance. In another case, a product experiencing water ingress required an immediate solution. As our team evaluated the product design, we also identified an opportunity to improve our customer’s seal designs. The Plexus team applied our knowledge in manufacturing products for rugged environments, including for defense, aerospace and numerous other industrial end markets. The team recommended changes that would ensure water-tight seals to protect sensitive electronics and guarantee zero failures in harsh conditions. Supporting Expansion Into New Technologies As we worked more closely with the customer and established our credibility with their product technologies, Plexus became an extension of their R&D department. Our work on the initial PCB project and experience with printed circuit board design led to new opportunities to redesign other boards for improved efficiency in next-generation equipment. We also helped the customer accelerate timelines by providing quick-turnaround designs for the integration of custom power supply systems. This enabled our customer to meet the product launch schedule for that product, which was critical in a quickly-evolving electrification industry. A High-Reliability Supply Chain to Ensure Quality As a global OEM, our customer came to us with a robust network of suppliers. However, they needed a new board component source with demonstrable process control and quality that would ensure zero failures of critical circuits. We partnered with our customer to evaluate suppliers from each of our networks and ultimately selected a Plexus partner as the best option. We were also able to meet the customer’s high finishing requirements, such as Class A paint standards, for custom components to ensure their brand remained resilient as products were used in severe environments for years to come. Global Footprint and Scalability As we’ve addressed new ways to partner with our customer, collaboration across our global sites has been crucial to our successful relationship. With locations across the globe, we manufacture different products as close to our customer’s end markets as needed, managing costs and ensuring timely delivery. We now serve our customer across our global regions through a central point of contact, keeping communication streamlined for them while ensuring worldwide support. Partnership in Heavy Equipment Electrification Plexus delivered a combination of engineering, manufacturing and supply chain solutions to address quality concerns that threatened our customer's reputation. Due to our open collaboration and consistent successful outcomes, our customer has entrusted us with additional product design and development projects to accelerate their business growth. This partnership and transparent collaboration has been key for our contribution to our customer’s journey of sustaining global leadership in the electrified heavy equipment industry. Ultimately, this provides their end customers with leading-edge, high-performing electrified equipment that reduces emissions and sound pollution for a positive global impact. Plexus’ Commitment to Industrial OEMs At Plexus, we understand the complex challenges faced by heavy equipment OEMs. Our engineering expertise, manufacturing capabilities and global supply chain solutions are designed to help our customers overcome these challenges and win in their end markets. We build strong partnerships with our customers, based on trust, collaboration and a shared commitment to excellence. If you are a heavy equipment OEM looking for a contract manufacturing partner to help you deliver outstanding quality and speed to market, contact Plexus today.