Belden this week announced a new campaign to relaunch the company brand that includes dropping the "CDT," expanding its product catalog and introducing a new brandline: "Belden--Sending All the Right Signals."
Peter Sheehan, president of Belden-Americas says the time was right for renaming the company name. "We just feel as though the `CDT' doesn't bring any commercial value, but our studies showed that the Belden brand does. It's what we're going to lead with on Main Street and Wall Street--it just resonates better with the community." Sheehan was a former executive with Cable Design Technology (CDT) and joined Belden after the two companies merged three years ago.
The company is also issuing the 2006 edition of the Belden Master Catalog (in print and online). Besides offering its lines of copper and optical fiber electronic cables, the 2006 Master Catalog incorporates new product/system solutions, including data network connectivity, structured cabling systems and services, enclosures and racks, surface raceway systems, cable management accessories and Power of Ethernet (PoE) systems.
The new name and expanded catalog are just part of a long-term restructuring plan taking place at the St. Louis, Mo.-based company, which manufactures signal transmission products for data networking in media, industrial, security and aerospace. In the past 2 years, the company discontinued manufacturing operations in Sweden, sold off its Manchester, U.K. operations and announced earlier this year that it would close its plants in Tompkinsville, Ky. And Fort Mill, S.C. and build a new production facility in Nogales, N.M. The changes in the North America manufacturing setup are expected to save the company approximately $12 million per year, starting in late 2007, according to the company. Sheehan says Belden is also expanding operations in Asia and China.
"We're looking at everything from expansion into our portfolio and vertical markets that we try to penetrate with fiber," Sheehan said. "In addition, we have a full line of fiber connectivity products, which is very important from a standpoint of signal loss. So we're expanding."
In its most recent quarterly report, issued this week, the company announced revenue for the second quarter, ending June 26, 2006, was $409.6 million, up 31.5 percent from the same period last year.
