PKC Group, designer and contract
manufacturer of wiring harnesses
and cabling, has signed an agreement
for the purchase of AEES companies.
AEES is among leading North American
wiring harness manufacturers for heavy
and medium duty trucks and it also has
a significant position in light vehicle
wiring harnesses. In addition, AEES
provides components and wires to
other contract manufacturers.
AEES’ largest customer accounts within
the truck industry are said to include
Daimler Trucks North America, Navistar
and PACCAR, with companies such as
Continental, Ford, General Motors, Harley
Davidson and Lear among its light industry
clients.
In 2010, AEES generated net sales of EUR
454 million from its operations in USA,
Mexico, Brazil and Ireland and has
around 13,800 employees.
Harri Suutari, PKC president and CEO,
said: “The acquisition hereby provides
access to new customer segments and
also offers PKC an opportunity to expand
its product and service offering via
manufacturing of components and
wires.”
PKC acquires AEES
companies
Italian manufacturer Guidetti has
expanded its range of machines for
electric cable recycling by adding
the WIRE 315. It is the smallest of this series
of machinery, said to have been revised
and improved over the larger models.
The new low-weight (1,200kg) cable
recycling plant is designed to be clean
and silent in use. According to the
manufacturer, its capacity range is
between 200kg and 300kg of electric
and electronic copper cables aims it
at medium to large recyclers with a high
industrial concept of its use.
High soundproofing, and the collection
and filtering of air used in the separation
and transport process, means that
recyclers can run the plant in any area
without creating inconvenience or health
hazard to staff or interfering with other
manufacturing processes in the same
working place.
The granulator is equipped with three
rotating blades, two stationary blades,
and transport and separation of
granulated copper from rigid cables.
A vibrating dry separator sorts the
insulation and copper content and the
WIRE 315 is completed by a de-dusting
and self-cleaning filtering system to
transport and collect the generated dust.
Small cable
recycling
nkt cables has entered into a contract
with 50Hertz Offshore GmbH for supply
to the Baltic 2 offshore wind farm.
The project will include armored high-
voltage subsea cables, accessories
and installation. The cables –
approximately 60km of 150kV, AC,
3-core – will be manufactured at nkt’s
Cologne production facility.
Baltic 2 (formerly known as Kriegers
Flak) will be situated in the Baltic Sea
approximately 32km north of the
island of Rügen. 80 windmills with
a total capacity of 288MW will cover
an area of 27km
2
. It is anticipated that
340,000 households will receive
electricity from the wind farm when
it becomes operational, sometime
during 2013.
“We are pleased to continue doing
business with 50Hertz Offshore GmbH,”
said Thomas Hofman-Bang, president
and CEO of NKT Holding, adding:
“Baltic 1 was nkt cables’ first subsea
cable project out of the new factory
in Cologne.”
nkt cables lands Baltic
2 submarine project
EUROPE NEWS
Cable manufacturer Leoni is offering an
alternative solid aluminum conductor to
the motor vehicle industry, replacing the
common copper cable. The new cable
can be shaped in three dimensions and
weighs only about half as much as the
conventional component connecting
the battery to the engine. Of the roughly
3,000mof cable that today’s motor vehicles
contain, the connection between the
battery and the engine is one of the bulkiest
single cables. The potential for saving
weight on this component is all the greater
when the battery is located in the rear
of the vehicle.
Leoni has therefore replaced the
copper battery cable with a round
aluminum busbar, which can be fitted
directly on or underneath the vehicle chas-
sis. It has a variable diameter depending
on the application and is insulated with
a halogen-free polyethylene jacket.
Depending on the type of vehicle, it
can have a length of over 4m and be de-
ployed in either a single or twin track version.
Leoni showed the new aluminum busbar
at the IAA International Motor Show in
Frankfurt recently. It weighs just 40 to 60
per cent as much as traditional copper
cable. The saving is made possible by the
fact that aluminum has significantly less
specific gravity than copper.
Automotive cables
lose weight
wiredInUSA - September 2011
wiredInUSA - September 2011
23
22
