Battery Packs and Wholesale Batteries: Powering Life in the Digital Age

In the “digital age,” batteries are all around us. They are found in everything from our remote controls and battery backups to a whole host of electronic devices in our homes and places of business. As important as batteries are, however, most people don’t really know how these power storage units work. This post provides an overview of batteries, battery packs, and wholesale batteries.  Understanding Batteries Batteries are free-standing sources of a type of electricity called direct current (DC). With DC power, the voltage remains constant. This is different from the alternating current (AC) power that we have in our Read More

From Battery Packs to Wiring Harnesses: Building Quality Into the Product

When people talk about producing “high-quality” products, there is often a perception that this simply involves conducting tests at the end of a manufacturing process to ensure that the products coming off the assembly line have achieved or exceeded any applicable standards for their functionality, appearance, etc. However, at Rapport we’ve found that in order to produce everything from battery packs to wiring harnesses that are of the highest caliber, we must build quality into our products at every step.  Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control in Battery Pack and Wiring Harness Production In discussing the quality of battery packs, wiring Read More

Just-in-Time Manufacturing: Used on Everything from Wiring Harnesses to Battery Packs

Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing is a strategy focused on aligning the receiving of raw materials with manufacturing production schedules. The goal is to ensure that wiring harness and battery pack assembly teams have what they need, when they need it, but without materials or end product remaining in storage for extended periods. More Efficient Production of Wiring Harnesses and Battery Packs at Rapport At  Rapport, in most cases we manufacture to a JIT delivery plan. Components are purchased once the customer places their order, and the manufacturing process takes place after all components are received. Then, we ship to the customer Read More

Our CEO Reflects on Rapport’s 40 Years as an Innovator and Leader

  As Rapport hits a major milestone of 40 years as a leading provider of wiring harnesses and wholesale batteries, employees have been talking about the company’s origin and how it got to where it is today. Someone who has been involved from the very start is company President and CEO Kent Lehman. He recently shared some memories about the early years and observations on how the company has evolved. Bluebirds and the Blue Wirecutter in the Hall Rapport was founded by Kent’s mom, Sherry, in 1979. As the company grew, Kent’s dad, Dale, got involved. The couple worked hard Read More

Rapport Celebrates 40 Years as an Electronics Manufacturing Leader

Rapport is thrilled to announce that this year the company is celebrating 40 years in business! Appropriately for what was, at the time, a woman-owned sole proprietorship, Sherry Lehman founded Rapport on Mother’s Day 1979. Little did she know that her company would evolve into a leader in wiring harnesses and wholesale batteries. The Early Years Sherry initially worked as an electronic manufacturer’s rep for printed circuit boards. She had to wear multiple hats in that role, selling the boards to OEMs both through inside sales (taking orders from customers) and outside sales (making sales calls). It was hard work Read More

Cells and Batteries: Powering Up With Custom Battery Packs

A battery pack is a group of connected batteries designed to produce a particular voltage, power density,  and capacity. Typically developed using one size or type of power source, a battery pack can be created from a wide variety of cells and batteries. Battery packs contain interconnects that channel the power through the series or string of batteries. How the batteries are linked plays a role in the performance characteristics of the group. Rechargeable batteries can be used to create a battery pack. When that is the case, the configuration typically contains a sensor that detects when the charging cycle Read More

Alkaline Batteries: What Battery Suppliers Consider Their Advantages

The proliferation of energy-hungry handheld devices has increased the need for lighter cells and batteries that have more energy and are rechargeable. In many cases, this means lithium chemistry. However, there is definitely still a need and many use cases for alkaline batteries, as battery suppliers will attest. Alkaline cells and batteries derive and deliver energy from the reaction between zinc metal and manganese dioxide. These batteries have a positive anode (the zinc end) and a negative cathode (the manganese end). Also called electrodes, these parts of a battery are the site of chemical reactions that occur due to their Read More

Battery Myths vs Battery Facts

Batteries are an intrinsic part of our everyday lives, from powering our cars to our laptops to our phones. Just like with anything we have been using for hundreds of years, there are some old wives tales floating around out there that we really need to debunk once and for all. Here are 5 of the most common battery myths we’ve encountered, where they came from, and the true facts you need to know to get the most power out of your device. Read More