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Linking the world From basic support to heavy-duty maintenance, wires and cables play a significant role in everyday life
It can be frustrating to find wires and cables in an impossible bind, sort out your knots with these simple tips Farhana Chowdhury
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ires and cables are an integral part of our daily lives as it connects most devices we use on a daily basis. These come in various forms, length and thickness. With a prominent presence in industries such as telecommunications and electricity, wires and cables are also applied to almost every use under the manufacturing spectrum.
No more tangled mess
These provide industrial strength where they are used in the construction, support and balance. The data and telephone cables consist of wires made out of aluminium, copper, nickel and steel. Electrical wiring helps provide power in buildings and structures. Cables also cater to insulation needs. A good number of people still tune in to television channels to watch their favourite shows. The co-axial cable transmits radio frequency signals that are later received by a television antenna on the television. When looking at recent innovations in the information technology field, a modem/router comes to mind. Optic fibre cables play an important role in Internet speeds. Linking up computers, terminals, devices, and local area
networks, the wires and cables play a significant role in broadband technology. Cables keep wires intact and protect it from external damage. It binds them together and keeps them untangled. We tend to take these items for granted without realising there are companies who manufacture these wires and cables, and ensure they are absolutely safe to use and offer long lasting durability. There is a lot of emphasis on development and implementation of world-class technologies in manufacturing of wires and cables as there is growing need to meet the evolving energy needs of today’s economy and provide the infrastructure necessary to support tomorrow’s growth in the UAE. An integral part of the cable and
wire industry is the Cable Management System (CMS) as this plays a very important role during the development, design and set stage of a project for safety and to last for a very long period of time. CMS is necessary in many areas, such as IT, communications, power supply, facility electrical wiring, local area networks, etc. The objective of cable management is to assist the cables while being routed throughout the building from one point to another point, and to create subsequent management of the wires and cables. UAE has always had state-ofthe-art cable manufacturing facilities in different emirates and certain brands have made a mark internationally with their quality, the manufacturing facilities and their range of products.
et’s face it, cables are prone to getting tangled. No matter how many times you sort them out, some magical troll seems to bind them into a fix. While thicker cables may be easier to untangle, the thinner ones are more of a challenge that have you pinching your nails off. Besides the aesthetic clutter, a home or office full of cables can also pose a hazard to others in its surroundings. People may trip over it or walk over often, which can cause cable damage in the long run and risk exposing its internal wires that may result in electric shocks.
trail in a professional environment just doesn’t sound like a good idea. Mark your cables with tags or opt for an inexpensive roll of masking tape to label it accordingly for easy identification.
Use a twist-wrap: These are light and flexible but sturdy black, white or coloured pieces of thin wires in a plastic casing that hold the cables of your newly purchased products. Simply bundle up your cables, place the tie string in the centre of the wrap and twist it around. Usually three twists will suffice.
Get it off the floor: As mentioned earlier, your enormous collection of links can pose as a death trap for a wandering soul — be it at home or in the office. Choose to take the cable off the floor and defy gravity for the sake of security. A simple set of holders such as a cable corral can provide the perfect framework to organise cables and keep them out of sight. That means no more kicking cables to the corner under your desk.
Label them: Homes may not have hundreds of cables running across rooms but offices tend to do. In a busy workplace, the eco-conscious or shockcautious among us still prefer to unplug a recently used electrical device from the wall socket. Sometimes finding the product’s right end can be a tedious process, and tracing the cable’s
Paper binder clips: If it can hold a thick pile of papers, why not use it to sort and hold your nest cables? Paper binder clips are versatile, regardless of its size. Besides neatly sealing your well-coiled cables, you can clip the binders to the edge of a table and run a cord through the metal hoop. Problem solved! — farhana@khaleejtimes.com
Wires & Cables
khaleej times / ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
Copenhagen Electrical and Hardware Trading
Complementing services with quality The wire and cable major is a “one stop shop” for all types of cable management systems Copenhagen Electrical and Hardware Trading, a specialised trader of armoured power cables, flexible wires and cable management systems, is a global leader in
the sector. Set up in 2003, the company has operations in the UAE, Gulf, African and European countries and serves customers across industries such as oil and gas, commercial, industrial, electric utility, telecommunications, marine, military, government, retail, electrical and communications. Catering to a thick order book, Copenhagen maintains one of the biggest inventories of cables and accessories in the region and is a “one stop shop” for all types of cable management systems. These include cable tray system,
ladder type system, trunking system, under floor solution, wire basket tray system, framing system with fasteners, electrical conduit pipes and fittings, even all types of cables and wires. Singularly driven, Copenhagen Electrical and Hardware Trading has focused on the best services to customers and works in close cooperation with a wide range of commercial contacts across the country and abroad, including manufacturers of cables, cable support systems and electrical accessories. Its bouquet of clients includes leading companies from contracting, developing, trading, oil and gas, and marine industries. Some of the noteworthy projects are namely Dragonmart, Ski Dubai, numerous buildings in JBR, Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Carrefour in Al Ain etc. On the expansion front, Copenhagen Trading has plans to open one branch in Abu Dhabi and reach out to markets in Qatar, Yemen and CIS countries. Copenhagen Trading has been an authorised stocking distributor for electrical solutions and cable management, providing pivotal services to the industry in securing data, electrical, and other types of cables. Copenhagen recognises the demand in cable management. Its sister concern, Electraking UK, has dedicated resources to create the most innovative and useful products for this industry. The wire and cable major has complemented logistic expertise, outstanding customer service with a unique extensive product range, which helps it deliver products, efficiencies and results as per the requirement of the companies.
QUEINS Machines GmbH
Superior Cables The company makes a range of machines not only for production of classical cables but also for special products Cable production depends very much on the use of adequate machines. All cables like overhead lines, high-tension cables, sea cable or even ordinary installation cables needs special machinery for their production. QUEINS Machines GmbH has chosen the manufacturing of such machines as its specialty. The company offers its machines not only for the production of classical cables but also for special products such as CTC (continuously transposed conductors) required for manufacturing of high capacity transformers or umbilicals which are used as supply lines between shore and offshore platforms. The umbilicals are not only composed of power cable and communication cable but incorporate many different supply mediums like stainless steel tubes for sweet water supply or hydraulic pipes for long distance control of heavy valves. The configuration of the umbilicals can vary extremely so the machines needed to manufacture such special products have to be very versatile. The world of cable is unendingly diverse. New demands on cable such as transport medium for electrical current have been developed recently through wind parks and new energy resources. The transport distances between place of electricity generation and consumption become longer and longer. Correspondingly the machines to manufacture cables are continuously requested for longer cable lengths. The demanding performance requirements of the cable industry represent the challenge for QUEINS Machines GmbH to offer the best high tech quality solutions. The company is continuously striving to offer suitable solutions for all sophisticated requirements.
Ducab
Taking the
right step
Ducab is pitching for regulation of cable retail market to curb the import and sale of poor quality products Ducab has initiated a campaign to weed out substandard flexible cables from the UAE building wire marketplace. “We reckon 60 per cent of all flexible cords imported into the UAE are substandard,” says Colin McKay, General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Ducab. McKay feels that the blame squarely lies with the middlemen who knowingly import cheap but unsafe products into the UAE, exploiting the country’s free market economy. There is an absence of mandatory approvals in this space. Flexible cords should be regulated as fire survival cables are at present. Last year, Ducab collected samples of 70˚C flexible cables randomly from the market and analysed them against BS specifications and those of Ducab. Sadly, 50 per cent of the samples failed to make the grade, variously attributable to low copper content, extra insulation to build up the diameter and lesser outer sheath thickness.
Colin McKay “The UAE market tends to be British standard-based, so customers order flexible cords to BS6500 and assume that’s what they are getting. But they don’t have thirdparty method of testing to verify that,” said McKay. McKay believes regulation of the retail market for flexible cables will go a long way to curb the import and sale of poor quality flex. Strict punishment should be met out to middlemen who import and sell substandard flexible cords. Meanwhile, Ducab is working with authorities to initiate a training scheme, wherein it trains their people to recognise the products, while Ducab tests the samples for compliance. McKay said: “The only testing being carried out at present is by our in-house labora-
tories. We are going to try and work with government and get them to provide us with samples; and we will get them the results.” Ducab is also organising roadshows to educate contractors about risks associated with substandard cables. After targeting distributors, suppliers and contractors, Ducab is now taking the fight against substandard flex into the DIY market by the launch of BASEC approved ‘Tuff DuFlex’ suitable for 105˚C operating temperature. McKay said: “You see people buying four to five metres of flex and putting them in their kids’ bedrooms, for instance. If the conductor or the insulation doesn’t meet the standards, you can imagine the consequences.”