EuroWire November 2015

Reports of company open days, nancial results of the rst six months, and the ongoing ght against counterfeit cables all feature heavily in this issue of EuroWire . There is also one eye being kept rmly on preparations for wire 2016 in Düsseldorf next April, with many businesses already planning ahead for the week-long exhibition. More than 630,000ft 2 has already been reserved by exhibitors for the largest exhibition in the industry. See the latest from the organisers, Messe Düsseldorf, on page 10. Düsseldorf is also hosting the CabWire World Conference on 3 rd November this year, with industry experts travelling from around the world to attend. The conference, organised by the IWMA, ACIMAF, IWCEA, WAI and CET, also gives attendees the option of a plant visit to ArcelorMittal’s site in Duisburg, on 4 th November. More details are on page 21. Construction product regulations regarding re reaction come into force from 1 st December, and Nexans is doing all it can to make this as smooth as possible for its customers. The full story is on page 20. Werkzeugfabrik Albert Krenn has strengthened its own position in the industry, acquiring the steel cutter and testing press division from Kamax Tools and Equipment, based in Homberg, Germany. The move has enabled Krenn to expand its product range with cutting tools. Kamax, founded in 1935, produces high-strength fasteners for the Industry is already gearing itself up for Düsseldorf

* US$33 purchase only Front cover: EuroalphaRM s.r.l See page 88 for further details

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November 2015

Regulars

9

8 Diary of events 9 Corporate News 26 Transatlantic Cable 30 Technology News 42 Feature: Compounds, coverings & extruding machinery 88 Editorial Index 88 Advertisers’ Index

Copyright -Esteves Group

30

42

Deutsch Inhalt 53 Neuigkeiten 88 Inserentenverzeichnis

60 Ηο 88

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Next Issue

Technical Articles

49

Fire Risk and Safety Philosophy in Indoor Cabling By Jörg Bör Brandrisiko- und Sicherheitsphilosophie in der Indoor-Verkabelung von Jörg Bör

Getting Technical: Technique for precise

concentricity measurement of a conductor in the insulation and relevant parameters of cables and wires

55

Feature wire Düsseldorf 2016 - show preview

62

Subscribe Now!

69

Philosophie du risque d’incendie et de la sécurité dans le câblage intérieur Par Jörg Bör Filoso a del rischio d’incendio e della sicurezza nel cablaggio interno A cura di Jörg Bör Riesgo de incendio y losofía de la seguridad en el cableado interno Por Jörg Bör

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Indice Español 81 Noticias de Mercado 88 Indice de Anunciadore s 7

Sommaire Français 67 Nouvelles du Marché 88 Index des Annonceurs

Indice Italiano 74 Notizie del Mercato 88 Indice degli Inserzionisti

Cabwire Conference 3 november: Cabwire Conference – düsseldorf, Germany Organisers : iWMA, WAi, AciMAF, ceT iWceA

dates for your diary . . .

2016

April

Fax : +44 121 781 7404 Email : info@iwma.org Website : www.cabwire.com

4–8 April: wire/Tube Düsseldorf – trade exhibition – düsseldorf, Germany Organisers : Messe düsseldorf Gmbh Fax : +49 211 45 60668 Email : wire@messe-duesseldorf.de Website : www.wire.de

May

11–14 May: Lamiera – trade exhibition – Bologna, italy Organisers : Ucimu-Systems Fax : +39 0226 255 894 Email : lamiera.esp@ucimu.it Website : www.lamiera.net

June

8–9 June: Wire Expo – trade exhibition – Uncasville, connecticut, USA Organisers : Wire Association international Fax : +1 203 453 8384 Email : sales@wirenet.org Website : www.wirenet.org 26–29 September: wire China – trade exhibition – Shanghai, china Organisers : Secri and Messe düsseldorf (Shanghai) co Ltd Fax : +86 216 169 8301 Email : shanghai@mdc.com.cn Website : www.wirechina.net 5–7 october: wire India – trade exhibition – Mumbai, india Organisers : Messe düsseldorf india Pvt Ltd Fax : +91 112 697 1746 Email : info@wire-india.com Website : www.wire-india.com 25–29 october: EuroBLECH – trade exhibition – hanover, Germany Organisers : Mack Brooks exhibitions Ltd Fax : +44 1727 814 401 Email : info@euroblech.com Website : www.euroblech.com September October

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november 2015

bigstockphoto.com "Schlosstrum inDüsseldorfAltstadtGermany", Copyright:MadrugadaVerde

Corporatenews

PhotocourtesyMesseDüsseldorfGmbH©

Countdown to wire 2016 ▲ Exhibitors have already reserved 630,800ft 2 of exhibit space for wire 2016

exhiBiTor registrations for wire 2016 in düsseldorf, Germany, next April are strong, with more than 900 exhibitors from 46 countries reserving 630,800ft 2 of exhibit space. The 741 companies from 41 nations at Tube 2016 occupy 516,700ft 2 . Both events will he held concurrently from 4 th to 8 th April 2016 at the fairgrounds in düsseldorf. As in the past, countries with particularly strong exhibitor participation at wire 2016 are italy, Belgium, France, Spain, Austria, the netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, Sweden and Germany. A large number of registrations have also been received from USA, South Korea, Taiwan, india, Japan and china.

innovations in measurement, control and test engineering. The trade fair will occupy halls 9-12, 16 and 17, featuring wire, cable and glass fibre machinery, wire and cable products as well as wire and cable trade. innovations in metal forming will be shown in hall 15, and hall 16 will house mesh welding machinery and spring making technology. Metal forming will occupy hall 5, while halls 6 and 7a will feature tube-processing machinery. Mechanical engineering and construction will be presented in hall 7a. halls 1 to 7.0 will also include profiles for a wide range of applications. The special show PTF will be presented in hall 7.1 Messe Düsseldorf GmbH – Germany Website : www.wire.de

wire 2016 will feature machinery for the production and finishing of wire, tools and auxiliary materials in process engineering as well as materials, special wires and cables. it will also cover ▲ More than 900 companies have registered as exhibitors for the event

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News Corporate

Corporate

Open day for worldwide guests ▲ ▲ Guests at the Friedrich Kocks open day

in China, is the drive concept where every roll has its own motor. In addition, the computer-aided pass and guide adjustment system CAPAS was shown together with a detailed demonstration of its calibration and operation. This system guarantees the absolute correctness of the adjustment of the rolls in the stand allowing the operator to obtain the first bar in tolerance. of thermo-mechanical rolling with water boxes was presented to show the water cooling line automation. The delegates could also see the KMS-Kocks Microstructure Simulation software in operation, predicting and visualising the temperature distribution along the mill line with resulting microstructure and mechanical properties. This cooling line technology is currently applied in two customers’ sites in Taiwan and China. Friedrich Kocks GmbH & Co KG – Germany Website : www.kocks.de Finally, an online simulation acquisitions (one per cent). Adjusted for these effects, operating sales in the first six months of 2015 were down by one per cent, and therefore slightly below the strong previous year’s level. “Demand momentum in our markets did not live up to our expectations in the first half of 2015,” said Dr Matthias L Wolfgruber, chief executive. “However, Altana is very well positioned for further profitable organic growth.” Altana AG – Germany Website : www.altana.com

Friedrich Kocks organised an open day to present to the industry some of its main products at the manufacturing facilities in Bremen, Germany. More than 50 delegates from some of the most renowned companies in the world made the event a great success. For the first time the latest milestone in reducing and sizing technology for SBQ products, the newly developed RSB SCS® and its newly developed dynamic modular drive concept, were shown in workshop assembly. The delegates could also visualise the difference compared to the well-known C-Module design, as an assembled RSB® of that type could be seen at the same time. Both machines were consequently shipped to their respective customers’ sites in China and Turkey after the event. Further highlights of the event were two three-roll stands for SBQ production: one with a nominal roll diameter of 370mm and one of 500mm for the so far largest RSB® that Kocks has ever made. A special feature of this 500mm heavy-duty block, which is in the process of being installed The speciality chemicals group Altana increased sales by nine per cent to €1,070 million in the first half of 2015 (previous year: €985 million). At €210 million, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) almost reached the high level of the previous year (€212 million). At 19.6 per cent, the EBITDA margin was below the previous year’s margin (21.5 per cent), remaining, however, at a high level. The company’s sales growth mainly resulted from positive exchange rate effects (eight per cent), but also from

Rise in sales in first half of 2015

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November 2015

News Corporate

The CCCA can be used as a source for science-based information, from the dangers of non-compliant and/or counterfeit products, to the most effective use of structured cabling in the data centre, to collaborations on best practices for the design of sustainable cabling infrastructure projects. For more information about the CCCA, visit www.cccassoc.org Reelex Packaging Solutions Inc – USA Website : www.reelex.com Joining CCCA in fight against counterfeit cables It’s all about satisfaction!

Reelex Packaging Solutions, a provider and licensor of the Reelex® tangle and twist-free package for wire and cable industry, is now an active member of the Communications Cable and Connectivity Association (CCCA). Timothy Copp, vice president of business development for Reelex, said: “As the first thing installers see when they purchase cable, the package can also be one of the first indications that an end-user might be dealing with suspect cable quality. “By joining CCCA, Reelex is honoured to be part of the organisation leading the charge against counterfeit and non-compliant cabling, much of which is typically supplied in knockoff Reelex look-alike packaging. Since many of our licensees are already CCCA members, it is only natural that Reelex joins in the fight against counterfeit and substandard cabling.” Earlier in 2015, the company began an anti-counterfeiting campaign aimed at educating installers and manufacturers alike about the perils of fake Reelex packaging and substandard cabling. Besides frequent knotting, tangling and poor package performance, fake packages can cause cable damage, leading to significant performance degradation, and are typically an obvious sign of substandard quality. The Communications Cable & Connectivity Association (CCCA) is a non-profit association comprised of leading manufacturers, distributors and material suppliers. CCCA is a resource on timely topics affecting the structured cabling industry – to help ensure the safety, quality and performance of communications cable and connectivity products.

In the first quarter of 2015 EuroMadem Spain conducted a customer satisfaction survey with 18 wire and cable manufacturing customers from seven countries. EuroMadem received ten (56 per cent) responses from customers polled in three categories: bad, regular and good, with 85.55 per cent of responses falling into good categories and zero per cent in the bad categories. EuroMadem polled the following services: claim response, quantities shipped X received, documentation, deliveries, quality inspections, performance, and packing. “We are very proud of our customers’ feedback and pleased with the results of the survey; we will continue to increase customer satisfaction,” said Roger Santasusana, general manager. Madem Reels – Brazil Website : www.mademreels.com

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News Corporate

Tecnofil spoolers, cooling systems and decoilers

straightening

machines

or

other

• Dancer for inlet speed adjustment (servo-assisted four ways dancer with ceramic covered pulley) • Switchboard Tecnofil’s static payoff with motorised rotating platform for winding balancing is designed for coils/spools decoiling and avoids jams during the steel wire payoff process. The line is suitable to take up wire at the entrance of steel wire cutting/

Tecnofil is a prominent market player in the wire industry, manufacturing low-medium carbon steel wires and producing machines for steel wires and wirebands. The company is in overall control of production and the possibility to deliver tailor-made solutions, starting from the specific needs of its clients. The machinery division engineers, produces and tests every single part of the machine, from high precision mechanics to electrical equipment and software, thanks to its 20 years’ direct experience in wire manufacturing. Tecnofil is specialised in the realisation of horizontal and vertical spoolers, designed to spool wire on different reel typologies, with an electronic stratification system. This guarantees the correct winding, the full adjustability of the pace and the possibility to realise traditional as well as special spooling (eg conical, bi-conical). The line is equipped with a wire straightener unit and pulleys that can be personalised in order to meet customer requirements. It also features a switchboard with inverter, PLC and a touch screen panel to set working parameters and display alarms. Tecnofil designs static winding machines for single or multiple winding, for wire working lines. The plant is composed of: • Weldedmetal carpentry • Pulling wheel (depending on type of material) • Motorised coiling system with lateral rollers

wire-working machines.

The system is composed of: • Payoff pedestal with transfer pulleys • Rotating platform that can be synchronised with the machine used • No-jam unit with pulleys • Electrical equipment and control sensors for wire breakage and jam Tecnofil SpA – Italy Website : www.tecnofil.net

▲ ▲ Tailor-made solutions from Tecnofil

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News Corporate

New chief executive Dr Christian Frank, a

member of the board since 2013, took over as chief executive of Sikora in April. He replaces Harry Prunk as chairman. However, Mr Prunk, who has successfully fulfilled the role of CEO since 2011, will continue as a member of the board. of reorganisation, Dr Frank is now responsible for human resources, controlling, research and development, business In the course

▲ ▲ Dr Christian Frank, new chief executive

development/strategy and operations. Furthermore, he is in charge of the plastics sector for all departments. Mr Prunk is now managing sales, marketing and service and is interdepartmentally leading the divisions of wire and cable, hose and tube, and optical fibre. Dr Frank brings his expertise for new markets to the lead position of the executive board. For the new CEO, the objectives of the company are clear. “Our main focus is on finding solutions for our customers, to optimise the production processes and the end product itself, with innovations and the possibility of reducing costs at the same time,” said Dr Frank. “We want to continue to expand, and therefore we want to use the vast technical potential of Sikora in order to develop new products for new markets but without losing sight of inherent markets.” Sikora AG – Germany Website : www.sikora.net Clean room in operation

The Purity Scanner laboratory and developing area at Sikora was extended by a new clean room in January this year. Due to the constantly filtered air and the slight overpressure in the room, plastic materials can be tested for impurities under clean room conditions.

Sikora

provides

good

conditions reliable detection and sorting results by the Purity Scanner. for

▲ ▲ Klaus Bremer, project manager, Purity Scanner

The new clean room was positively tested and perceived by many customers. Further material tests are also planned for the second half of the year in Bremen and can still be requested. When purchasing the device, charges for material tests are refundable. Sikora AG – Germany Website : www.sikora.net

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News Corporate

▲ ▲ The Alloy Wire team celebrates securing the OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 quality accreditations

A UK manufacturer has invested more than £700,000 in a bid to increase its global customer base. Alloy Wire, which makes round, flat, shaped profile and electrical resistance wires in a range of exotic nickel alloys, has set its sights on reaching £10mn of annual sales by 2016, after it boosted its capacity across two sites in the West Midlands and Yorkshire. The company, which is 100 per cent owned by its staff, recently put the finishing touches on an investment drive that has seen it install three Zwick tensile and hardness testing machines, PMI material X-ray guns, fully automated multi-spindle spooling machine, a 5m strand annealing furnace and a bespoke wire finishing line. This has given the firm the ability to double its capacity, improve accuracy and extend its capability to produce wire from 0.025 to 21mm. “We’ve had a really good time since the global recession, boosting turnover from £4.5mn in 2009 to its current £8mn level,” explained Mark Venables, managing director and leader of the management buy-out two years ago. “Our success has been down to our ability to take on small batch quantities, fast response times and the fact we can manufacture in more than 60 different alloys, including Inconel, Nimonic, Incoloy, Hastelloy and Ni-Span C902.” Alloy Wire’s extensive stockholding of materials, ability to provide small batch quantities and two- to three-week lead times have helped it establish a global reputation that sees its products sent to more than 45 countries around the world. Angus Hogarth, sales director, said, “A lot of growth is coming from clients supplying into high value engineering, which is currently enjoying renewed investment. “We are looking to build on our market share in nuclear and oil and gas, two industries which demand safety critical components that can withstand high temperatures and corrosive environments – ideal for what we supply.” Alloy Wire – UK Website : www.alloywire.com AlloyWire targets £10mn sales

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News Corporate

Quality excellence award for Nye

Nye Lubricants Inc has won Webasto’s 2014 Quality Excellence Award. This distinction is given in acknowledgement and appreciation for Nye’s effort, hard work, time commitment and technical expertise. Its dedication to being a superior supplier contributes to Webasto’s success of achieving quality performance, and has helped to establish its valued customer as an industry leader for convertible roof systems. Nye supplies lubricants, such as Instrument Grease 794A and Uniflor™ 8172, to several sunroof manufacturers, including the Webasto Group, a supplier to the automotive industry for more than 75 years. John Evans, Nye’s director of business development in North America, said: “We are pleased to be recognised by the Webasto Group, and many other manufacturing leaders, as the standard for quality in our industry. This distinction by Webasto is a testament to the outstanding job that my associates at Nye perform on a daily basis.” Nye Lubricants, Inc is a privately held formulator and manufacturer of high-quality synthetic oils, greases, speciality fluids, and index-matching optical gels. Founded in 1844, Nye services customers in a broad range of industries including the top 25 global automotive parts suppliers, the world’s largest aerospace and defence contractors, name-brand appliance and power tool companies, pre-eminent medical device manufacturers, and several leading in-vacuum equipment producers.

▲ ▲ The award presented to Nye

With 170 employees and 28 international channel partners on six continents, Nye is in business to redefine product performance, leveraging its technology, engineering expertise, and core competencies in synthetic lubricants to its customers’ benefit. Nye Lubricants Inc – USA Website : www.nyelubricants.com

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Acıbadem - Zerrin sok. Akman Apt. No:11/A 34660 Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey

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News Corporate

Open day friendship and hospitality

of Tratos, said: “Tratos open day is one of our main challenges of the year. We bring together our shareholders, customers, suppliers, friends and competitors to re-engage with us, and all that makes us different. “It is neither an exhibition nor a conference, as at Tratos we invite our stakeholders to enjoy our hospitality, our friendliness and gain a better understanding of the company’s true character. The London open day was particularly challenging this year as we shared the platform with a subject which is close to our hearts, the roles of men and women at work, brought to life on the day in the paintings of Jean François Millet. “At Tratos it is about investing in people through better training and development in order to bring real culture change in an organisation, and this is something that we have been working hard to deliver, especially in the UK. We develop innovative solutions yet we maintain our original values that are at the heart of our company.” Tratos SpA – Italy Website : www.tratos.eu

Super-size container ships, offshore oil and gas activity and collaborative business relationships. These were a few of the topics discussed during Tratos’s July open day which attracted a prominent gathering of UK cable and sector industry figures. The event, at London’s Haberdasher Halls, attracted more than 200 UK and European delegates, including the Italian Consul General, Dr Massimiliano Mazzanti. The day also aimed to provide a better understanding of the culture of Tratos and its business philosophy as the company approaches its 50 th year. Those attending had a particular interest in energy and telecommunication issues and represented many industry sectors, including rail and mass transit, oil and gas, renewables, ports, solar PhV, electrical contracting, consulting, construction and utilities. Specialist seminars were held throughout the day with presentations by Approved Cables Initiative (ACI), British Approval Service for Cables (BASEC), Italian Chamber of Commerce, Oil & Gas UK, Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA), Project

▲ ▲ Maurizio Bragagni, managing director of Tratos

Management Institute and UK Trade & Investment. Abigail Clark, senior business analyst from Oil & Gas UK, provided a UKCS 2015 overview; Robin Hopkin from the Rail Alliance spoke about BS11000 for Collaborative Business Relationships; and Ottonel Popescu, president of Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) and CEO of Cavotec SA, spoke about super-size container ships in his 2015 port activities presentation.

Maurizio Bragagni, managing director

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News Corporate

Nexans preparing for incoming regulation

From 1 st December, product certification bodies can issue certificates for the cables, allowing Nexans to ship 
CE-marked cables that are classified according to the CPR and their DoP. During the year-long transition period, both CPR and existing regulations will co-exist. After this period, DoPs according to the new regulations will be mandatory. Dario Giordani, European product manager fire safety at Nexans, said: “Nexans has been actively keeping up to date with the Construction Product Regulations to ensure our products will be compliant with the regulations and to help specifiers, installers and wholesalers keep up to date.” Nexans – France Website : www.nexans.com Leoni’s sales and earnings up Group-wide, Leoni generated a year-on-year sales increase of over 13 per cent to €1,155.7mn in the second quarter of 2015. In the first half of the year as a whole, the amount of business was up by 11 per cent to €2,264.5mn, with the company generating growth worldwide. After taxes, the company recorded consolidated net income of €51.8mn for the period from January to June 2015. Leoni AG – Germany Website : www.leoni.com

The Construction Product Regulations (CPR) regarding fire reaction will come into force for cables on 1 st December 2015. Nexans is fully prepared for the implementation of the standard, EN50575:2014, and will support specifiers, installers and wholesalers with compliance over the one-year transition period. Standard EN 50575:2014, Power, control and communication cables – cables for general applications in construction works subject to reaction to fire requirements, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), is the umbrella standard for cables. It details the fire requirements for cables used in construction works, allowing a declaration of performance (DoP) to be made so the CE mark can be fixed to cables. • EN 13501-6: Classification using data from reaction to fire tests on electric cables • CLC/TS 50576: Electric cables – extended application of test results • Test methods EN 50399, EN 60332-1-2, EN 61034-2 and EN ISO 1716 Publication of standard EN 50575:2014 will allow local legislative bodies to define the performance classes required for cables in different situations. Product certification bodies and testing laboratories can also begin certification. The related standards and test methods were also published:

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News Corporate

Vast range of solutions

Eurolls SpA occupies an important position among manufacturers of drawing/cold rolling wire production lines and wire treatment lines. The company has committed itself to the development of its engineering sector, through which it can offer complete production plants, fully developed in-house, with its own technologies and following criteria of high technological content, low environmental impact and extreme flexibility. The high performance and high quality levels required by all wire production lines are strictly linked to the ability to unwind and rewind the wire. This is why Eurolls has developed a vast range of solutions for each kind of application and/or production process (vertical, horizontal, motorised, multi coil pay-off, double semi-automatic or fully automatic spoolers, coilers and other pay-off/take-up systems for all format and weight requirements as well as for different wire qualities).

▲ ▲ Pay-off from Eurolls

order from a leading multinational company specialised in wire for marine applications, for whom Eurolls had developed a custom-made solution with a dedicated accumulator system to guarantee a non-stop pay-off and take-up operation for Ø26mm high carbon wire. Eurolls SpA – Italy Website : www.eurolls.com

Thanks to its vast experience and know-how in wire pay-off and take-up systems, Eurolls has installed worldwide various multi-wire static and rotating pay off and take-up systems for spools and coils for non-stop operation in conjunction with annealing, patenting, galvanising, copper coating, bead wire, etc. This year its expertise in this field has been confirmed by an important

International experts from the wire and cable industry are meeting in Düsseldorf, Germany, for a top-level exchange on 3 rd November 2015. The seventh biennial cable and wire technical conference, CabWire World Conference 2015, will be held at the Congress Centre, Düsseldorf. Following the successful event in Milan in 2013, Düsseldorf will be ‘the place to be’ again – for the second time – for all key players in the wire and cable industry. The one-day conference will be accompanied by a foyer exhibition and will conclude with an evening reception. Organised by the sponsorship organisations of wire Düsseldorf, experts from the exhibiting companies will be giving presentations on news and trends in iron and non-ferrous metals. They will include specialists from the following companies: Leoni AG, SAMP SpA (Italy), Maschinenfabrik Niehoff, SICME Italia Implanti, Sikora AG, CabWire Conference heads for Düsseldorf

De Montfort University Leicester (UK), NV Bekaert SA (Belgium), FMS Force Measuring Systems AG (Switzerland), Ceeco Bartell Products (Canada) and others. The following day, on 4 th November, a guided tour will be given at ArcelorMittal in Duisburg, against payment of a small cost contribution. The company has two plants in which it produces high-quality long products for the processing industry. Advance reservations are required. Up-to-date information about the contents and prices of the conference, foyer exhibition and guided tour of the plant can be found at www.cabwire.com. The CabWire World Conference 2015 is organised by the sponsorship organisations of wire – the IWMA, ACIMAF, IWCEA andWAI as well as CET. CabWireWorld Conference 2015 Website : www.cabwire.com

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News Corporate

Leading role at Jicable 2015

Prysmian Group once again played a major role at Jicable 2015, the international conference on insulated power cables. Prysmian boasts a long-standing tradition of skilled experts’ presence and active participation in the conference, with Laurent Tardif – CEO of Prysmian Group South Europe Region – as chairman of Jicable’s steering committee since 2007, seven session chairmen and Marco Marelli, system design engineering director at Prysmian Powerlink, as chairman of the International Scientific and Technical Committee in the 2015 edition. The group was present with 19 technical papers about an impressive number of state-of-the-art topics like transition joints and other network components, electrical rating calculations, mechanical test protocols, heavy duty installations, enhanced manufacturing processes, methods and lines and CPR (construction products regulation) on medium and low voltage distribution cables. The main focus of the group’s presence was its key role in leading innovation in the cable industry, based namely on three pillars: system design innovation – with large cross section conductors for higher current and higher transmission capacity; process/material technology innovation – with P-laser and PPL for HVDC application; and services innovation – with the Pry-Cam range of services and products for monitoring and diagnostics. Jicable 2015 came at a time of important accomplishments for Prysmian’s leadership in the cable industry with the successful commissioning and hand-over of four HVDC offshore wind farm interconnections (BorWin2, HelWin1, SylWin1 and HelWin2) and two HVDC land interconnections (INELFE and Skagerrak 4), and a stable order book. Prysmian Group – Italy Website : www.prysmiangroup.com Users looking for the reel deal Reelex Packaging Solutions has signed four new licensees. According to vice president of business development Timothy Copp, the company has never welcomed so many new licensees in a six-month period. Mr Copp attributes improvements in the global economy and a successful education effort, aimed at differentiating genuine Reelex from imitators, as catalysts. Reelex technology is a proprietary method of coiling wire or cable into a precision-wound figure-eight pattern. The coil dispenses from the inside out, without twists, tangles or inertia, and is used to package low voltage cabling products. Licensees sign an agreement to use the Reelex system via equipment designed and manufactured by Reelex Packaging Solutions. Licensees are also obliged to use the Reelex trademark on their packages. The four new licensees are Zhaolong (Zhejiang Zhaolong Cable), ZTC (Zhangjiagang Twentsche Cable), Sandmartin Electronic and The Siemon Company. Reelex Packaging Solutions – USA Website : www.reelex.com

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news Corporate

Krenn looking to the future with new division

solutions for all kinds of cutting problems. innovative cutting devices for the most diverse applications are developed in conjunction with the customer. “For our customers, the acquisition of the Kamax business unit means top service from a single source,” said Krenn owner and managing director Albert Krenn. “The acqusition will strengthen our company’s development department, production and sales, and secure additional jobs, ensuring the company’s success in the long term.” Werkzeugfabrik Albert Krenn, based in neusäss in Bavaria, Germany, produces high quality special tools and devices to cut steel wire, chains and wire ropes (manually, electro-hydraulically, pneumatically or powered by battery), while also offering an extensive range of accessories. With a diverse range of steel cutters, Krenn is dedicated to the wire production and processing industry, the precast industry and the building trade. Werkzeugfabrik Albert Krenn eK – Germany Website : www.krenn.de

WerKZeUGFABriK Albert Krenn has acquired the steel cutter and testing press division from Kamax Tools & equipment Gmbh & co KG, based in homberg, Germany, in a move that will place the company in an even better position to face the future. From 1 st May 2015, all orders and repairs for Kamax products have been processed by Krenn, a traditional Bavarian company that has established itself on the international market as a specialist in cutting steel. The acquisition has enabled Krenn to significantly expand its product range with cutting tools for all requirements. Kamax, founded in 1935, produces high-strength fasteners for the automotive industry. Since 1954 it has also developed and produced high-quality hydraulic cutters and straighteners along with testing presses that perform compression tests on wire. With their strength and durability, the Kamax products fit perfectly into the demanding Krenn product range, expanding it to the advantage of customers.

Krenn and Kamax customers can now be served more effectively, with devices, consultation and repair service provided from one single source. Werkzeugfabrik Albert Krenn has made its mark with its extensive product range and its flexible ▲ The hydraulic press in twin-installation Z 100/Z 160 for a simple and safe shearing and compressing of wire samples

CabWire Wor ld Conference 2015 3 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5 Congress Center Düsseldorf, Germany 7 th biennial cable and wire technical conference

Congress Center Düsseldorf Tuesday, 3 November 2015

A non-profit technical conference organised by key industry associations, and at €175 per delegate offers incredible value for money – an unrivalled opportunity to learn about the latest industry innovations.

INTERNATIONAL WIRE&MACHINERY ASSOCIATION IWMA 7 REASONS why you need to be there: • Packed ferrous and non-ferrous programmes by industry leaders • High quality keynote speakers • Table top exhibition • Evening reception – an excellent opportunity to network • Backed by leading industry organisations • Tour of a major industrial plant to see the latest technology in action • A world-class venue in the world centre of the wire industry

CabWire 2015 has an impressive list of world-class speakers in ferrous and non-ferrous fields, headed by Dr Klaus Probst recently retired Chief Executive Officer, President and Head of Wire & Cable Division of Leoni AG and presentations from companies including SAMPSpa (Italy); Maschinenfabrik Niehoff GmbH & Co KG (Germany); SICME Italia Implanti (Italy); Sikora AG (Germany); De Montfort Leicester University, School of Engineering and Sustainable Development (UK); NV Bekaert SA (Belgium); FMS Force Measuring Systems AG (Switzerland); and Ceeco Bartell Products (Canada).

To register or for more information visit www.cabwire.com C.E.T INTERNATIONAL WIRE&MACHINERY ASSOCIATION IWMA EDUCATIONAL TRUST FUND IWMA

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CableBuilder the solution for Hitachi Hitachi Cable America, performance cable systems and materials division, has selected CableBuilder as its next generation engineering solution. HCA decided to migrate its product data into the modern and powerful cable design software CableBuilder. With CableBuilder the product data will be more efficient to access and maintain. After a thorough analysis, the HCA team concluded that CableBuilder covers all its requirements in engineering, quoting and product data management processes, and contacted InnoVites with a view to using the system. John Gibson, executive vice president at Hitachi Cable America, said: “With CableBuilder we invest in a sustainable solution that helps us to capture and leverage our experience and expertise in our engineering team. “The project contributes to our objectives to become even more agile and innovative. Most importantly, we are striving to better serve our customers with our new quotation and specification capabilities. “The InnoVites team complements the CableBuilder solution with their consulting services. Their vast experience in our industry makes sure that we implement the best practices in the shortest possible time.” Albert Groothedde, CEO for InnoVites, said: “InnoVites strives to excel in delivering industry-specific IT solutions to the wire and cable industry. “We are proud to work together with Hitachi Cable America as our customer and work together with the HCA team to make the project a success.” InnoVites is partner of Cimteq, the owner of the CableBuilder software. InnoVites also delivers ERP software for wire and cable manufacturers and distributors. The InnoVites CableERP solution is based on the popular Microsoft Dynamics AX software and tailor-made for the needs of wire and cable distributors and manufacturers. The InnoVites CableERP software is fully integrated with CableBuilder.

InnoVites BV – Netherlands Website : www.innovites.com

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Transatlantic Cable

of the British-based company’s Silicon Valley operation – said, “[Delphi] reached out to all the states we were going to be passing through, just to say ‘Hey, FYI, we’re going to be making this journey.’” † Late this year, self-driving vehicle testing will begin along stretches of Interstate 95 and the Capital Beltway encircling Washington, DC. Virginia has designated 70 miles of public roads for the project, o ering to repaint roads or provide high-de nition maps for tests sanctioned by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. But cars can legally be tested statewide, said Myra Blanco, who runs the institute’s automation research. † Researchers consulted by Mr Moore say that running tests on public roads in the snarled tra c conditions of Northern Virginia is a key step in developing lifesaving and lucrative innovations. According to Lux Research (New York), driverless cars could one day eliminate the leading cause of tra c fatalities: human error. And the market for vehicle automation technology could be worth $87 billion by 2030. “On real roads is where you get your real gold standard,” Ms Blanco told the Washington Post . “What is happening when people are driving out there?” Electric vs hydrogen vehicles essentially comes down to Tesla vs Toyota, with power availability strongly favouring Tesla “By any measure, EVs are crushing hydrogen vehicles. But understanding why may show why hydrogen is paying a game of catch-up it may never win.” Travis Hoium, writing in the investment letter Motley Fool , discloses his own preference for the electric vehicle produced by Tesla Motors (Palo Alto, California). But his conviction that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) stand little chance against today’s EVs has a basis in some hard numbers. According to the electric vehicle news site InsideEVs , 320,713 EVs were sold worldwide in 2014. And sales by mid-2015 had already reached 200,000, with year-over-year growth every month of the year. By way of comparison, Toyota, which has made the biggest commitment to FCVs of any automaker, is launching its Mirai this autumn at eight lots in California. The company’s stated goal is to sell 3,000 units of the model, inspired by the Japanese word for ‘future’, by the end of 2017. (“Electric Vehicles Are Leaving Hydrogen in the Dust,”22 nd August)

Automotive

As testing of driverless cars picks up, few US states have regulations in place governing their presence on public roads “We’re having to learn on the go. It’s a signi cant investment. But, on the other hand, it’s the future of transportation.” For spokesman David Fierro of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, “learning on the go,” meant that the DMV had to dedicate nearly half of its small research division for more than a year to get up to speed on the technology of self-driving cars. Other Washington Post interviewees expressed similar views, as to both the pressure to master vehicle automation technology and the bene ts to be expected from it. But the Post’ s Thad Moore was more struck by another aspect of the autonomous vehicle phenomenon: an untypical reticence on the part of lawmakers and regulators. When self-driving cars take to the roads of Northern Virginia this year, the testers behind the wheel will not need a special licence and the vehicles will not need any special registration. “In the eyes of the law,” Mr Moore wrote, “they’ll be regular cars.” The Virginia authorities are not being irresponsible. The Google self-driving test car will be equipped with radar, laser range nders, and cameras to monitor its surroundings and dictate the appropriate response. But it has the “right” to ply the roads not because of its aptitudes but because the law does not stipulate otherwise. “Automated vehicles are probably legal,” the Post was told by Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor whose research helped advance that interpretation. “That is the default assumption.” It works for Texas. Mr Moore noted that, when Google put driverless, retro tted Lexus SUVs on the road in Austin this summer, it was the rst time the tech giant had run tests outside of California. Texas transportation o cials disclaim any involvement with the project. Also on the strength of the default argument, in March the parts maker Delphi Automotive sent a prototype driverless car on a trip cross-country from San Francisco to New York. The route took it through 15 states, nearly all of them without laws that address autonomous cars. (“As Self-Driving Cars Come to More States, Regulators Take a Back Seat,” 28 th August) This was no stealth operation, either. According to the tech news site Ars Technica, cited in the Post , John Absmeier – the director

Image: www.bigstockphoto.com Photographer Zsolt Ercsel

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Transatlantic cable

Mr Hoium’s main explanation for the discrepancy is the same as anyone else’s: the relative availability of electric vis-à-vis hydrogen recharging infrastructure. According to the US Department of Energy there are 10,353 public electric charging stations across the country, with 26,025 charging outlets. In addition, tens of thousands of private stations are in home garages and at business locations. Mr Hoium wrote: “On the hydrogen side, California has two charging stations completed. TWO!” Toyota is hoping to have 15 stations open in California by the end of the year. But this scarcely reduces the challenge of getting around the state, still less cross-country, on hydrogen alone. Why not simply build more hydrogen charging stations? Here again it is a question of accessibility. Electricity is readily available in most of the USA, and even remote locations can use distributed energy like solar power to charge vehicles. Hydrogen must be generated from natural gas and then shipped to the charging stations. The cost of building the infrastructure needed to power hydrogen vehicles on a commercial scale would run into the billions. A $57,500 bet on the Mirai Mr Hoium makes the interesting point that a hydrogen-powered car is actually an electric vehicle with additional components. A hydrogen fuel cell does not have a direct connection to the crankshaft of the car: it produces electricity, which is stored in a battery for transfer to the electric motor that enables driving. In this respect he concedes to FCVs the advantages over EVs of a smaller battery pack and shorter refuelling time. But he holds that the components in an EV are in many ways simpler and more adjustable than in a hydrogen-powered car. He cites the Tesla Motors Model S with its batteries in the oor of the car, lowering the centre of gravity and improving performance. Hydrogen cars do not have the same exibility. Nothing daunted, Toyota is doubling down on hydrogen with its $57,500 Mirai, the rst mass-market car to run o hydrogen. Mr Hoium of the Motley Fool (its contributors call themselves Fools – one assumes in jest) terms it an uphill battle pitting a small installed base and weak infrastructure against an installed base of electric vehicles that could reach one million in 2016. He declared: “The alternative fuel debate is all but over.” † A similar view was expressed earlier in the year by Joe Romm, founding editor of the ecology blog Climate Progress . Noting that Toyota had backed away from its partnership with Tesla to build an EV, he wrote (8 th April), “For reasons that mostly defy logic the otherwise shrewd car company Toyota is placing a large bet on hydrogen fuel cell cars,” starting with the Mirai. “Toyota is going to lose this bet,” Mr Romm atly asserted. “There is little reason to believe FCVs will ever beat electric vehicles in the car market. There is even less reason to believe they will ever be a cost-e ective carbon-reducing strategy, as EVs already are close to being.” † Still another interested observer, the Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, noted that Toyota has a track record for “disruption,” having built the rst mass-produced hybrid, the Prius, from “an experimental laughing stock” into a clean and unexciting mainstream sedan. He wrote, (12 th May), “While still a niche – hybrids make up only three per cent of American car sales – the Prius became emblematic of a way normal drivers could help save the world without trying too hard.”

Mr Harwell was told by David Whiston, an equity strategist with investment researcher Morningstar: “Toyota is so big that [the Mirai] can still be a science experiment for them. If it doesn’t work out they can go back to selling Priuses and all the other gas guzzlers no one ever talks about.” † If this view of its hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle initiative commends itself to Toyota, the company isn’t saying. Elsewhere in automotive . . . † Improper wiring in a roof-mounted air bag has led General Motors to issue a global recall of 73,424 Chevrolet Cobalts. GM said on 13 th August that improper routing of a sensor wire in the driver’s-side front door could prevent the air bag from deploying after a crash. The issue a ects Cobalts from the 2010 model year. There are 59,474 of the small cars on the road in the USA, 13,950 in Canada. The Detroit-based automaker said the recall is unrelated to last year’s recall of millions of Cobalts for defective ignition switches, which could stall the vehicle and turn o the air bags. † In robot-intensive manufacturing industries, such as automotive bodywork factories, robots consume about half the total energy needed for production. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, report that smoothing robot movements can reduce energy consumption by up to 40 per cent, even as the plant’s schedule is maintained. The results were achieved with an algorithm that, by altering not the path but only the speed and sequence of operations of several robots moving in the same area, optimises their acceleration and deceleration as well as time spent at a standstill. Professor of automation Bengt Lennartson – who initiated the research together with, among others, General Motors – said on the Chalmers website: “We simply let [a robot] move slower instead of waiting for other robots and machines to catch up before carrying out the next sequence.” With higher power generation and lower installed prices, solar power in the USA is looking better all the time To Governor Jerry Brown, whose goal for California is that it receives at least 50 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy resources by the year 2030, recent news reports have been more than encouraging. As noted by James Ayre on the website CleanTechnica (27 th August), the state’s grid operator reported a new electricity generation record for utility-scale solar energy of 6.391 gigawatts (GW) of alternating current on 20 th August. That gure covers both utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) projects. It does not include the output of distributed solar energy system output (so-called “behind-the-meter” electricity generation), whose inclusion would have pushed the total even higher. By way of comparison, Boston-based GTM Research estimated the total distributed solar system capacity in California at 3.2GW for rst-quarter 2015. Energy

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