Sentral Group Transforms Competitiveness Using Mentor’s Next-Generation Capital Technology for Manufacturing

Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo, Milwaukee, WI, May  11, 2016 – Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced that the Sentral Group, a US-based maker of wire harnesses and specialty cables, has significantly improved its processes for preparing new harness designs for production by deploying software tools from Mentor’s Capital® suite.  This has enabled substantial automation and an unbroken data flow from design receipt to shop floor, compressing turnaround times, minimizing errors, and reducing engineering costs. 

Sentral also uses Capital software to rapidly assess which of their several manufacturing facilities can build a particular design at lowest cost.  Taken together these improvements create a significant boost to Sentral’s competitive position in an industry where fast response to design changes and low manufacturing costs are critical.

Specifically, Sentral has deployed Capital products supporting harness design, manufacturing process calculation and costing, formboard design, and the creation of production operator instructions.  This software forms an integrated suite that can also export data to adjacent environments such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), manufacturing machinery, and test equipment.

Jay Cink, Vice President of Engineering said, “Mentor’s Capital products have clearly been developed by people highly familiar with the challenges of this industry.  By leveraging Mentor’s expertise and capabilities, we have already been able to reduce our quote to start-of-production cycle time by 34 percent.  This creates a substantial competitive advantage for Sentral by enabling us to exceed our customer’s expectations and deliver superior service and responsiveness.  I am very confident this advantage will grow as we take advantage of these powerful products more fully.”

While providing a standard base, Capital products are designed to be customized to the diverse needs of customers.  Ed Lord, president of Oasis, a Mentor Graphics partner that provides specialized services to Sentral, noted, “Using Capital’s extensibility technology we have helped Sentral capture their process and costing IP very securely.  The software extensions are not only compatible with future releases of Capital; they can also be quickly adjusted as process improvements are made, such as the introduction of new equipment.  This flexibility is a great advantage: the software can deliver very specific outputs while benefiting from all the advantages of a standard product.”

Nick Smith, Mentor Graphics business development director, commented, “Sentral has secured a substantial first mover advantage within their industry segment.  Their success shows that Capital technology delivers real commercial benefit not only to the world’s largest wire harness makers but also to more local suppliers.  I warmly applaud Sentral’s vision and professionalism.”

About Capital

Capital is an advanced software suite supporting complex electrical systems challenges from product definition through electrical system design, harness manufacture and vehicle maintenance.

About The SENTRAL Group

The Sentral Group is a large privately held corporation headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL with manufacturing locations in Illinois, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mexico. The company focuses on high mix applications in a wide range of markets: HVAC, Industrial Controls, Marine, Off-Highway Vehicles, Healthcare Devices and Aerospace.  Established in 1990, the company has enjoyed continuous growth to become one of the largest privately held wire harness manufacturers in the United States.  Corporate headquarters are located at 595 Bond Street, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. http://www.sentral.com

(Mentor Graphics, Mentor and Capital are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owner.)