We are all familiar with shops own v branded products they are everywhere including the electronics and cable assembly industries. The questions I am going to be asking today is how do you know when it’s ok to go own brand/generic and does it make any difference anyway?
Let’s take a look at the basic principles involved. We all know that when doing the weekly shop that the shops own branded products are significantly cheaper than the branded ones. Sometimes you can’t tell the difference for example I would challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference between Tesco’s Diesel and BP’s!!! However, try and give me anything other than Heinz Baked Beans and we are going to have trouble!
There is a serious point here which is how can you tell if the generic connectors or cable are being used are of sufficient quality for your products?
The questions you have to ask is:
What is the life expectancy of your product?
How many Mating Cycles do you expect?
What electrical characteristics must you have?
Do you require approvals for international markets such as UL
Here is a good example of a unbranded USB connector next to a branded one so we can see the difference:
Un-Branded
Current rating : 1A AC/DC
Voltage rating : 30V AC/DC
Maximum contact resistance : 20mO
Minimum insulation resistance : 1,000MO
Withstanding voltage : 750V AC for one minute
Operating temperature range : -40°C to +105°C
Approvals: Unknown
Mating Cycles: Unknown
Branded
Current rating : 1A AC/DC
Voltage rating : 30V AC/DC
Maximum contact resistance : 30mO
Minimum insulation resistance : 1 G
Withstanding voltage : 750V AC for one minute
Operating temperature range : -55°C to +105°C
Approvals: UL
Mating Cycles: 1500
While the above look very similar as they should since they are the same connector type you can see from the specifications that they do not have the same properties. This is not necessarily a problem it all depends on the end product.
If the end product has a short life span and is designed for the European market then the unbranded connector is just fine however, it’s no good if the product is going to be sold to the USA as it does not carry the appropriate approvals.
It’s all in the detail and I can’t stress this enough that just because the connector is unbranded does not make it bad by default only if your are trying to get away with using lower cost components where the specification is insufficient for the one you are required to meet.
No one likes to pay more than is needed so it is always best to take professional advice and ask the experts as this is what we do! Happy Shopping!
A Blog on Branded v Generic Connectors
We are all familiar with shops own v branded products they are everywhere including the electronics and cable assembly industries. The questions I am going to be asking today is how do you know when it’s ok to go own brand/generic and does it make any difference anyway?
Let’s take a look at the basic principles involved. We all know that when doing the weekly shop that the shops own branded products are significantly cheaper than the branded ones. Sometimes you can’t tell the difference for example I would challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference between Tesco’s Diesel and BP’s!!! However, try and give me anything other than Heinz Baked Beans and we are going to have trouble!
There is a serious point here which is how can you tell if the generic connectors or cable are being used are of sufficient quality for your products?
The questions you have to ask is:
Here is a good example of a unbranded USB connector next to a branded one so we can see the difference:
Un-Branded
Branded
While the above look very similar as they should since they are the same connector type you can see from the specifications that they do not have the same properties. This is not necessarily a problem it all depends on the end product.
If the end product has a short life span and is designed for the European market then the unbranded connector is just fine however, it’s no good if the product is going to be sold to the USA as it does not carry the appropriate approvals.
It’s all in the detail and I can’t stress this enough that just because the connector is unbranded does not make it bad by default only if your are trying to get away with using lower cost components where the specification is insufficient for the one you are required to meet.
No one likes to pay more than is needed so it is always best to take professional advice and ask the experts as this is what we do! Happy Shopping!
Nicab blog
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