There is magic in every beginning. The inventor Otto Dunkel quickly recognized the magic behind an everyday observation – and used it to develop the world’s first spring contact.
His observation
Otto Dunkel experienced one of his most profound flashes of inspiration when he observed a man sweeping leaves with a twig broom. This moment was nothing less than the birth of the springwire contact.
The idea
Analogous to the individual brushwood branches of the broom, Otto Dunkel divided the contact surface into individual feathers, resulting in a multitude of contact points.
The result
The result was a revolutionary contact – characterized by consistent contact resistance and pressure. Thanks to the new connector, a major shortcoming of the message transmission equipment in use at the time, namely the unreliable plug‐in contacts, had finally been overcome.
1942 ODU in Mühldorf
Founded by Otto Dunkel
1985 ODU in the USA
Founding of the subsidiary ODU USA
1987 ODU in the United Kingdom
Founding of the subsidiary ODU UK
1996 ODU in France
Founding of the subsidiary ODU France
2001 ODU in Shanghai
Founding of ODU Shanghai Manufacturing
2006 ODU in Romania
Founding of the subsidiary ODU Romania
2012 ODU in China
Founding of the Product Development Center (PDC) in Shanghai, China
2014 ODU in Denmark
Founding of the subsidiary ODU Denmark
2014 ODU in Italy
Founding of the subsidiary ODU Italy
2015 ODU in Japan
Founding of the subsidiary ODU Japan
2016 New overseas production facility: ODU Mexico
ODU opened a new production facility near Tijuana, Mexico. The background to this was the successful American project business, which involved both application‐based and customized products. As in Europe, fully assembled connectors are increasingly being distributed in North America.
2018 New production facility at ODU Romania in Sibiu
The new production building in Sibiu was completed on schedule in September 2018. The new 48,000 m² building offers the company’s 550 employees additional production space (+30% in Phase 1), shorter lines of communication, and a clear structure that provides plenty of flexibility and room for further expansion. Thanks to its high‐quality production processes, the company also continues to develop as a center of excellence for connector and cable assembly in Sibiu.
2019 ODU in Korea
Founding of ODU Korea Inc.
2020 ODU in Hong Kong
Direct sales in Taiwan, South East Asia and New Zealand via ODU Hong Kong
The history of ODU Connectors
1955 ODU SPRINGTAC®
Otto Dunkel GmbH receives the patent for producing the „spring‐loaded plug pin“ – inspired by a twig broom – known today as „ODU SPRINGTAC®“.
1969 ODU CARD
ODU now also develops electronic connectors. The ODU CARD series is added to the product range.
1975 PCB connector
Foundation of ODU Steckverbindungssysteme GmbH & Co. KG as a marketing and sales company. The first PCB connectors are produced.
1986 ODU‐MAC®
The ODU‐MAC® Modular Rectangular Connector System takes off and quickly becomes an important pillar of the product range.
1992 ODU MINI‐SNAP®
The ODU MINI‐SNAP® Circular Connector series celebrates a successful market launch.
2010 High-current connectors
Just 6 years after ODU Automotive GmbH was founded, the company’s first high‐current connectors for eMobility are developed.
2011 ODU AMC® Circular Connector system
The new ODU AMC® Circular Connector System is launched.
2020 Mass interconnect system
ODU unveils its proprietary mass interconnect solution – the ODU‐MAC® Black‐Line.