Belden tests innovation centre concept for networking solutions

Networking supplier Belden has opened the company’s first of five planned Customer Innovation Centers (CIC) in Stuttgart, Germany.

The centre provides an ecosystem for Belden customers to work with sales and product engineers to develop, test, document, and deploy proven solutions.

The Belden CIC model was developed to address certain areas of customers’ operations including safety, automation, quality and productivity, all tested to simulate challenges and stressors a network may face.

Digital automation consultants at the centre study customers’ existing networks and recommend opportunities for enhanced digitization and data flow management, solutions consultants work with customers as architects of the network, and service engineers provide implementation and post-sales support.

The Belden CIC, alongside 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.

“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,” says Dr. Ashish Chand, executive vice-president, industrial automation at Belden. “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.”

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 Santa Clara, Calif., Chicago, Ill., Pune, India, and Shanghai, China.

To get a closer look at the facility, register for the virtual grand opening on May 12, which will offer a 3D experience, guided tours, networking and a live performance.