Belden Launches Customer Innovation Centers to Advance Automation Solutions through Collaboration

Stuttgart, Germany facility is the first of five to open over the next 12 months

Belden Inc. (NYSE: BDC), a leading global supplier of specialty networking solutions, has opened the company’s first of five planned Customer Innovation Centers (CIC) in Stuttgart, Germany. The center provides an ecosystem for Belden customers to co-innovate with sales and product engineers to develop, test, document, and deploy proven solutions that drive efficiency, security and innovation.

The Belden CIC model was developed to address key business goals and outcomes that encompass various areas of customers’ operations. These include safety, automation, quality, and productivity, all tested to simulate challenges and stressors a network may face. A team of Belden technologists and application experts work together to accelerate the design and implementation of future-ready networks. Teams consist of Digital Automation Consultants who study customers’ existing networks to recommend opportunities for enhanced digitization and data flow management, Solutions Consultants who work with customers as architects of the network, and Service Engineers who provide implementation and post-sales support.

The CIC program is led by Vinod Rana, an 11-year Belden veteran, who will oversee the initiative from Belden’s Silicon Valley office. Four additional CICs are planned for the next 12-15 months, and will be located in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara), USA; Pune, India; Chicago, USA; and Shanghai, China.

“Belden CICs shift away from a focus on product, and instead, dedicate the work towards developing solutions for customers in a product-agnostic manner,” said Dr. Ashish Chand, Executive Vice President, Industrial Automation. “Working collaboratively within the CIC, we can quickly identify a solution, test it against stressors a network may face, and document how it performs and how it will positively impact the business. These solutions not only support our customers to reach their goals, but also inform next-generation product design.”

According to Chand, the CIC model is completely unique to Belden and is a reflection of the company’s commitment to operate among the leaders in the world’s transformation to Industry 4.0.

To date, the Belden Stuttgart CIC team has worked with leading companies in the industrial environment providing best-in-class consulting to transform ideas into solutions and technical support, empowering them to feel secure and maintain focus on their business objectives.

The Belden CIC, by joining hands with third-party software and application partners, is taking a step further in providing a complete solution to its customers and enabling their digital transformation journey.

“Within the CIC, it’s not just about Belden and what we can provide,” said Chand. “We know that we are a piece of a customer’s network, so we co-innovate with partners who build the solutions that sit on top of our network. It’s a seamless process, which provides Belden customers with a robust solution that will drive business results. We currently have enlisted a number of partners to work alongside us in the CICs, and welcome an opportunity to grow this existing roster in the areas of security, edge computing, data management and analytics."

To learn more about what is possible at a Belden CIC and get a sneak peek of the state-of-the-art facility in Germany, register online for the virtual grand opening on May 12.

Attendees will take a guided virtual tour, enjoy a live performance, self-discover the space using fully immersive 3D technology, and network or chat live in breakout rooms with CIC experts and others in the industry.

About Belden

Belden Inc., a global leader in high-quality, end-to-end signal transmission solutions, delivers a comprehensive product portfolio designed to meet the mission-critical network infrastructure needs of industrial and enterprise markets. With innovative solutions targeted at reliable and secure transmission of rapidly growing amounts of data, audio and video needed for today’s applications, Belden is at the center of the global transformation to a connected world. Founded in 1902, the company is headquartered in St. Louis and has manufacturing capabilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit us at www.belden.com; follow us on Twitter @BeldenInc.

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