WCA July 2011

Industry news

China’s prime minister demands commodity savings

combination with the display and control device ECOCONTROL 6000, the measuring system provides information for the optimum control of the production line in automatic mode. The X-RAY 6000 offers a variety of technical innovations that set new standards regarding precision, long operation time and efficiency. Precise measurements are achieved under all line conditions. The technology of the X-RAY 6000 allows a fast centring of the extrusion tools and control of line speed or extruder rpm in consideration of the minimum values. The X-RAY 6000 is able to measure and control up to three layers of different materials.

consumption and to protect the environment. The insulation of cables is made of plastic, which in turn is made of crude oil. With the integration of measuring equipment in their lines manufacturers avoid wall thickness oversize. This means less plastic material is needed to produce the specified cable, and the technology assures quality during the complete production process. Scrap rate will be eliminated, commodities saved and productivity increased. The following provides an idea of the amount of material and thus crude oil that can be saved in practice. From 1kg of crude oil, around 500g of polyethylene can be recovered (source: German Federal Environment Agency 08/2010). As energy is also needed for cable production, you can calculate with the relation 2:1, so for 1kg polyethylene you need 2.5l crude oil. Assuming that a production line runs 275 working days (6,600h/yr) with an extruder output of 600kg/h, over a year this makes up 4mn kg polyethylene. With, for example, an X-RAY 6000 (for wall thickness, eccentricity, diameter and ovality measurement), claimed material savings of at least 5% can be achieved. As a result, 200,000kg of material can be saved. If the price for 1kg of polyethylene is €1, this amounts to a saving of €200,000 per year with one X-RAY 6000. Taking all cable manufacturers together, with the use of Sikora measuring and control technology they could achieve savings of approximately 1.5mn tons crude oil per year, solely through the reduction of material consumption. This number is equivalent to 6 ultra large crude carriers with a carrying capacity of over 250,000 tons. For quality control and energy saving at insulating and jacketing lines Sikora offers the X-RAY 6000, the successor of the proven and successful X-RAY 2000 series. The new system fulfils the industrial need for an accurate measurement of wall thickness, eccentricity, diameter and ovality. In

IN March Chinese Congress adopted the new Five Year Plan in Beijing. The plan aims to restructure the Chinese economy, and part of this plan is that China wants to spend less energy in order to save commodities and to protect the environment. China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, announced that energy consumption should be reduced for every earnt Yuan by 16% until 2015.

Sikora AG – Germany Fax : +49 421 48900 90 Email : sales@sikora.net Website : www.sikora.net

China enjoys tremendous economic growth but simultaneously faces high inflation. Commodities and producer prices are rising steadily. Another consequence of the economic upswing is the great demand for labour force, which in reverse leads to an increase of labour cost, followed by higher sales prices. Therefore, Wen Jiabao’s request for dealing carefully with natural resources comes at the right time. The saving of commodities such as crude oil contributes to a reduction of manufacturing costs and strengthens China’s competitive capability. In cable production lines, measuring and control technology offers an opportunity to reduce material m m The X-RAY 6120 helps cable manufacturers to assure quality and to reduce material consumption

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2011