INDUSTRIAL INFO-TAINMENT
• Wire Wisdom
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• Growing your Business: Part 1
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• SEC Conflict Mineral Reporting
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a • Beyond Expectations A-620 Rev B
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F • Making Sense of New Conflict Minerals Rule
• Wire Harness Industry: Three Decades of Change
Wiring Harness News NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 1
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
2012
Northwind Electronics
Flexibility and responsiveness are key to their growth
By Fred Noer
__________________________________
espite the complexities of
owning and operating a busi-
ness in the wiring harness
industry, Phillip Berry strives for simplic-
ity each time he handles a matter per-
taining to Northwind Electronics, his
company in Indianapolis, Ind.
D
Phillip Berry, CEO
Northwind Electronics
“Less is more,” Berry, 43, said. “I’m a
big believer to scale a business by being
smart. You’ve got to know when to shift
gears, and the business will tell you. Be
patient. You’ll know when it’s right.”
Berry’s straightforward approach to
business management coincides with
his personal philosophy, which is
embodied in four tenets: 1. Follow the
signs. 2. Leave it better than you found
it. 3. Be a good steward. 4. Make a differ-
ence.
About the first tenet, Berry said: “If
it’s too tough or difficult, you’re proba-
bly going in the wrong direction. You
have to be in harmony with your capa-
bilities, the timing of the market and the
people around you. You need to settle
down long enough to listen to what the
signs are.”
For Berry, leaving something better
than you found it is illustrated best by
his purchase in late 2010 of a building in
Anderson, Ind. The structure was empty,
vacated three years earlier by General
Motors after it shuttered a large com-
Beyond Expectations
IPC/WHMA A-620 and the Launch of Revision B
By Joe Tito
Wiring Harness News
__________________________________
t’s been ten years since the initial
release of IPC/WHMA A-620
Requirements and Acceptance of
Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies. The
specification was an immediate success,
and has become the single most signifi-
cant document in support of process
I
and inspection for the industry. Now
available in seven different languages, A-
620 is being used by the industry world-
wide. Over 1000 companies have at least
one in-house IPC Certified Trainer, and
that number continues to grow at 18%
annually. There are now over 1100 com-
panies, in 42 different countries, with at
least one IPC Certified Application Spe-
cialists. Annual growth there is at 25%. It
________________Continued on page 10
Steve Fox of Northwind Electronics monitors the wire runing through one of
the wire processing machine.
plex of buildings used for manufactur-
ing. With the prospect of a new cus-
tomer placing large orders, Berry bought
the facility and planned to increase his
workforce of 10 by 100. He spent more
than $100,000 on improving the build-
ing, but the customer backed out,
prompting Berry to sell the building. “It
was an eyesore, but now it looks nice,”
he said.
In Berry’s view, good stewardship is
using his gifts and talents to “be the
absolute best I can be. It means giving
back to the things you support, too,” he
said. “I was called upon to pull together
businesses, and I see it as my personal
mission.”
Making a difference is related to leav-
ing something better than one finds it.
Berry stated Northwind Electronics is
his vehicle for making a difference in the
lives of his employees, customers, family
members and people in his community.
________________Continued on page 22
SEC Final Rule on Conflict
Mineral Reporting
By Joe Tito
Wiring Harness News
__________________________________
n the November/December 2011
issue of Wiring Harness News,
we outlined Section 1502 of the
Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010, and its
specific implications to the wire harness
industry. The legislation offloaded the
actual rules for conflict minerals report-
ing to the Securities and Exchange Com-
mission. At that time, the SEC set up a
work group of representatives from
industry and NGOs to design a frame-
work for reporting requirements and
rules. Using those recommendations, the
SEC issued its final rule on reporting
requirements on August 22 of 2012. This
article highlights some of the major
aspects of the final rule, and fills some of
the gaps left by the original SEC inter-
pretations of the law.
Basically, the rule covers any entity
that files reports with the SEC in accor-
dance with Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It
covers corporations who manufacture,
or contract to manufacturer a product
containing a conflict mineral that is nec-
essary for the functionality of its prod-
uct. This includes domestic companies,
I
foreign private issuers, and smaller
reporting companies. Obviously, private-
ly owned manufacturers will be affected
as downstream customers pull for the
necessary information.
For the purpose of this article, tin, tan-
talum, tungsten or gold are referred to as
conflict mineral. It is important to note
that the term conflict mineral refers to
these metals without regard of how or
from where they were sourced.
This disclosure requirement will be
will be made on the new Form SD (spe-
cial disclosure). Initial special disclo-
sures are to be due annually beginning
May 31, 2014 for the calendar year 2013.
The Form SD special disclosure will be
“filed”, rather than “furnished” based on
the SEC's interpretation the law. The dis-
closure will cover products that have
been manufactured to completion in the
previous calendar year. At the publica-
tion of this article, the SEC has not
released the Form SD.
The rule exempts conflict minerals
that were “outside the supply chain” or
stockpiled prior to January 31, 2013.
This exemption is limited to minerals
that have already been smelted, or are
located outside the covered countries; as
________________Continued on page 16