June 4, 2001 Delphi Automotive Systems (www.delphiauto.com), renowned as an automotive and transportation industry supplier of connection systems, has opened a high-speed manufacturing facility in Cortland, OH that the company hopes will propel it into the telecom and datacom markets.

"Delphi is broadening its definition of the connector business," says Kevin Heigel, business line executive for Delphi Connection Systems. "We want to take the manufacturing and engineering expertise…and translate these practices into growing our business in the high-tech world of telecom and datacom."

The new precision injection molding center in Cortland is intended to solidify the company's leadership in the automotive and transportation sectors. As a prototype for its venture into telecom, Delphi says its new facility will manufacture plastic parts and housings for automotive connectors and connection systems, running 120 molding presses in 24/7 continuous operation, with as few as 18 operators per day. The company says its plant can produce 1 billion of Delphi's annual global production of more than 6 billion plastic parts.