About ECL

Electrical Contacts, Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of discrete electrical contacts and contact assemblies for electrical equipment OEMs around the world. With unparalleled quality systems and technical support, ECL has developed a reputation as the premiere supplier of electrical contacts for multiple major global OEMs. Our contacts are primarily used in electrical distribution controls like circuit breakers, electromechanical relays, and switches, where reliable performance is not only important, but necessary.

ECL was founded in 1970 in Hanover, Ontario as a manufacturer devoted exclusively to the production of contact materials. Our Leadership Team continues to promote the concepts embodied in total quality management that our founder had originally embraced in the company’s earliest days.

The values, mission, and vision statements of the company represent our foundation for continuous improvement, employee engagement, and customer focus. Our ISO certified management system has strengthened the organization since its introduction in 1996. With the support of our employees, the introduction of Lean/Toyota Production System concepts into the enterprise has further strengthened ECL’s ability to support our customers.

Product quality remains the key focus of the enterprise because contact materials are at the heart of our customer’s products and their success. The continual focus on product and system improvement is what has allowed ECL to grow its market share in the North American market and advance its position into the global market place. Technical support related to our customers’ new designs and the ongoing improvement of their products is the seed from which ECL grows.

The original product line of discrete sintered contact materials continues to be well accepted and our market share continues to grow in the low voltage circuit breaker markets we serve. ECL’s sintered contact materials are applied in both the residential and molded case circuit breaker industry. These materials are also well received in the medium and high voltage fields of application. We have expanded our capabilities to include brazed and welded contact assemblies using sintered contacts, and to a lesser extent wrought contact materials. ECL produces assemblies through furnace brazing, induction brazing, as well as resistance and torch brazing techniques.

ECL also produces laminated contact overlays and inlays. The laminating process is based on a proprietary hot-bonding method developed at ECL more than 30 years ago. From overlay contact materials, profiled contact tapes and contact buttons are produced, either in bimetal or trimetal configurations. Contact rivets, in both solid and bimetal configuration, are also supplied by ECL.

Throughout its 50+ year history, ECL has been able to maintain a responsiveness that is unsurpassed in the industry today. Delivery programs designed to maximize inventory turns for our clients are a distinguishing feature of our client partnerships. They also form part of our supplier partnerships as well. The low inventory levels that our client-partners are striving for are possible because of ECL’s ability to deliver consistently high-quality products through our production environment. Process controls and engaged employees ensure the consistency of supply of contact materials to our customers.

Our markets include the electrical distribution business, as well as the industrial, automotive and appliance control businesses. Manufacturers of circuit protection apparatus, switchgear (low, medium, and high voltage), thermal protectors and thermostats, as well as motor controls and mechanical switches form our customer base. ECL’s client-partners include large corporations such as Schneider Electric, ABB, Siemens, General Electric, Eaton Electrical, Cooper Industries, and S&C Electric.

After 50+ years of operation, our objectives remain simple: provide the best quality products and customer service to our clients; deliver real, tangible value, so that our client-partners become more successful manufacturers.