TE Connectivity can mean a lot of different things. A small signal switch, an industrial switch family like Infinity Pro, a sensor, a relay. So there isn't one correct way to buy from them. The right path depends on your situation. I manage purchasing for a 90-person manufacturing company—roughly $70,000 a year across 8 vendors—so I've learned to separate buying from troubleshooting.
Three scenarios, three different answers
After ordering TE Connectivity parts for five years, I've found that almost every request falls into one of three categories.
Scenario 1: you need production quantities and legal traceability. Contact the TE Connectivity corporate office or an authorized distributor. If you're setting up a vendor account, you need the full legal name. The parent company is TE Connectivity Ltd., and in the U.S. you'll often see TE Connectivity Corp. or TE Connectivity Corporation on invoices. This distinction matters for compliance and finance—our AP team once rejected a purchase order because the W-9 didn't match the invoice.
Scenario 2: you need a specific part or a replacement quickly. That's a distributor conversation. For example, when I need a switch for a machine line, I call with the part number, not the product name. In my first year, I ordered a switch that looked similar and got one with the wrong contact rating—a $400 mistake on a $12 item. If you're comparing an Infinity Pro switch against a standard industrial switch, ask for the datasheet and verify voltage and current ratings before you commit.
Scenario 3: you have parts in hand and need to verify them. That's where a multimeter comes in. This is the situation where I save the most time and money.
What the TE Connectivity corporate office can and can't do
If your question is what official address to put on a vendor form, the answer is the corporate office: TE Connectivity Ltd. in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. According to TE Connectivity's website (te.com), they are a Swiss-based company with global sales and engineering operations. If your question is which part number fits your application, the corporate office isn't the fastest route—an authorized distributor or an applications engineer is.
Testing TE Connectivity switches: How to use a multimeter to test voltage
I started doing basic incoming checks after a bad batch of switches nearly stopped production in 2023. The switches looked fine, but they measured open when closed. A $15 multimeter caught what a visual inspection couldn't.
Here is the short version of how to use a multimeter to test voltage on a TE switch or an Infinity Pro switch:
- Turn the dial to voltage. For DC, choose the V with a straight line. For AC, use the V with a wavy line.
- If the meter isn't auto-ranging, set the range above the expected voltage.
- Plug the black lead into COM and the red lead into V/Ω.
- Touch the probes to the test points. For a typical switch, that's the common terminal and the normally open terminal.
- Read the display and compare with the rating on the TE datasheet.
For an Infinity Pro switch (or any industrial Ethernet switch), check the input power pins. DC-powered devices are usually marked with + and -. Reverse voltage is a common cause of failure (ugh, that happened to us once). Measure the supply voltage before you assume the switch itself is bad.
Safety matters: wear insulated gloves, don't touch bare probes to each other, and verify the meter on a known source first. I'm not an electrician, so for anything beyond a basic voltage check I call one. My comfort zone is the receiving desk, not the panel.
Five minutes of voltage testing is cheaper than one hour of production downtime.
How to know which scenario you're in
Use these three questions as your branch:
- Do you need repeat volume, traceability documents, or a master agreement? Go to the TE Connectivity corporate office or an authorized distributor and set up the account.
- Do you need one switch or one Infinity Pro part this week? Call a distributor with a full part number and ask for a datasheet.
- Do you already have the part and it isn't working? Learn how to use a multimeter to test voltage and continuity before you order a replacement.
This approach works for us, but our situation is fairly predictable: a mid-size OEM with repeated SKUs and established vendors. If you're a field service technician dealing with different equipment every day, your routine will look different. The point is not to find one universal answer—it's to use the right process for the problem in front of you.
That same respect for boundaries applies to suppliers. TE Connectivity is a specialist, not a magic factory. They make excellent engineered products—switches, connectors, sensors, relays—but they aren't the right choice for every component. If a distributor tells you this is out of TE's scope, that's a sign of good judgment, not bad sales. I'd rather trust a specialist who knows its limits than a generalist who promises everything.