Lubrication & Filtration

WIREE JOU JOURNAL

JANUARY 2016

速

INTERNATIONAL

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

n o i t a F r t l i &

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

WIREE JOU JOURNAL

INTERNATIONAL

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

Volume 49 | Number 1 | January 2016  Report to Members

Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

FEATURES

 R2016 Officers

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Industry News. . . . . . . . . . . . 10 !

!

Industry Profile. . . . . . . . . . . 17 Patent Report . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

Asian Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Fiber Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

!

Report to Members . . . . . . . . . 28

Fastener Update . . . . . . . . . . 27

WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll and 2015 WAI President Bill Reichert discuss the past year, and look at goals for 2016.

WAI News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Chapter Corner . . . . . . . . . . . 34

John Gross, editor/publisher of The Copper Journal, shares his thoughts on the volatile copper market.

Products! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Lubricants & Filtration. . . . . . . 40

Technical Papers . . . . . . 64-81 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

This story presents a range of observations fromsuppliers in the lubrication field as well as primer on filtration, followed by a feature-related Products section.

Career Opportunities . . . . . . 85

TECHNICAL PAPERS

Advertisers’ Index . . . . . . . . 87

Application of new technologies in the drawing of coated wire and subsequent insulation with high-temperature materials Enrico Conte. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Next issue

February 2016

preview: wire Düsseldorf

Authentication and traceability in wire and cable Sean Bernhardt and Craig L. Shoemaker Ph.D.. . . . . . . 70 Impact of adverse cable handling on lifetime of optical fiber Sudipta Bhaumik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Cover: The essence of what lubricants do has not changed, but changing rules related to safety and chemcal restrictions have made it a challenging field for some applications.

JANUARY 2016 | 3

CONTENTS

&Filtration

CONTENTS

Proton Products International/U.K.

At Interwire, Proton Products International showcased the company’s InteliSENS SL series speed and length gauges, which noted areFOR savingTHAT cable manufacturers THERE’S A itPATENT TOO . . . 18 serious money every day around the world.

As cable manufacturers purchase raw materials by the ton and then sell by length, it’s extremely important to make sure that when you sell a reel of cable at 1000 ft, its is not 1003 ft or 1005 ft, essentially giving away 0.3% or 0.5% for free, which can be typical in many production facilities. The InteliSENS SL Series gauges are calibrated to 0.03%, and with no moving parts to wear and non-contact operation eliminating slippage, we are extremely proud to work with our customers and provide a gauge that truly helps save money and improve profitability.

The DGK Series of gauges have no moving parts and measure the diameter an amazing 10,000 times per second, axis.

Available as either a of dualor triple-axis Thisper issue marks the intoduction Patent Report, a gauge, the Super Fast Processing Technology monthly listing of recent patents that are eitheranalyzes directly upindirectly to 30,000related measurements per second to display and or to the industry.

What’s surprising communicate diameter, ovality, lumps and neckdowns. is how many patents there are for the field, some for Theand company also showed full range of names, productsbut wire cable products fromavery familiar including testers, capacitance gauges, and others fromspark “downstream” applications, fromlump crossneck detectors, & length bows for hunterspre to heaters, guiding speed a surgical cable.gauges and

the hugely popular combined Diameter and Flaw Detection Gage DGK SuperFast Series. ”We’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all who visited (us) at Interwire 2015.

IS COPPER’S SWOON OVERSTATED?. . 42 The Copper Journal Copper Price & Inventory Comparison 1999 - November 2015

Price

MT

$5.00

1,350,000

$4.75

1,275,000

$4.50

1,200,000

$4.25

1,125,000

$4.00

1,050,000

$3.75

975,000

$3.50

900,000

$3.25

825,000

$3.00

750,000

$2.75

675,000

$2.50

600,000

$2.25

525,000

$2.00

450,000

$1.75

375,000

$1.50

300,000

$1.25

225,000

$1.00

150,000

$0.75

75,000

$0.50

0 1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Cx & LME Inventories - Metric Tonnes

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Comex Monthly Average Price

2013

2014

2015

JE Gross & Co., Inc.

Per the Latimer, above chart, it’sProducts. not surprising that copper’s Grant Proton pricing nosedive has shaken the confidence of more than a few buyers and doubt sellers.our Butbusiest one copper guru and believes It was without exhibition our full that, while “hope and fear seem to be driving the team of agents and employees were on hand to martake care kets the current Grant marketLatimer, is not so managing unique. Anddirector, of now,” our customers.” from a historical perspective, there’s good reason to g.latimer@protonproducts.com. believe that the red metal will recover.

JUNE 2015 | 73 4 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

FEATURE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

EDITORIAL EDITORIAL

Focusing on challenges and opportunities As I start my 36th year in the wire industry, I am honored to serve as WAI president, and to be a part of the growth and progress of this dynamic association.

I wish the industry backdrop was better, but the wire and cable industry faces relentless price pressure from imports and the continual slump of prices for metals and commodities. In the last two years, prices for basic raw materials have plunged, some to 10-year lows, due to the global economical slowdown, and overproduction of metals and commodities. 2016 may be a year of exceptional challenges.

So much for the bad news. Now, for the good news!

First, the worst of the price collapse for metals and commodities is behind us. The struggle is not over, but prices will stabilize and eventually rise. Second, the last two years of price weakness will no doubt lead to some consolidation. Weaker players will exit certain markets. Larger, publicly traded entities will shift their focus from “underperforming sectors,” which may help smaller, private firms. 2016 may be a year of exceptional opportunities.

The immediate challenge our industry faces is seeing how quickly and successfully we can react to the dramatic drop in our top-line revenue, while simultaneously managing the increasing operational costs of labor, benefits and regulatory/compliance issues. At this point in the current business cycle, the visionaries among us will press forward and position their companies to capitalize on the opportunity that comes from hard times. This is the time to learn, grow, reinvent ourselves and move forward, and WAI is an excellent resource to do that.

The Association provides opportunities for industry personnel to collaborate, learn and sharpen their skills as executives, managers, engineers and technicians. It offers a wide array of technical papers, webinars, presentations, networking and direct interaction with professionals at its Operations Summit & Wire Expo and Interwire events. I encourage you to join WAI, both to support its ongoing mission to serve the industry, and for you to take full advantage of what it can do.

Another positive is that you’ll see more content in WJI, which will now present new monthly columns (recent patent advances and a company profile), an added element for the technical papers, and more.

I wish I could say that I expect 2016 to be a great year, but that’s too much of a stretch, but I do feel that for those who are forward-looking—those who will look for possibilities—it has the potential to be a turnaround year, and from there anything is possible.

Andy Talbot/Mid-South Wire WAI President

6 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

WIRE JOURNAL

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

®

Quality in its purest form.

With passion, we develop future-oriented inspection and sorting devices for the quality assurance of plastic pellets, such as the PURITY SCANNER. A so far unique solution, which combines X-ray technology with an optical inspection. A technological progress significantly increasing the quality of material and end products and saving costs.

– detects contamination from 50 μm inside the pellet and on its surface by X-ray and optical cameras – purest material and highly qualitative end products due to automated sorting – efficient production without time-outs and scrap – suitable for different applications independent of material and color

www.sikora.net/purityscanner

Visit us from April 4-8, 2016 at the wire/tube in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Hall 9, Booth A41

CALENDAR

CALENDAR April 4-8, 2016: wire Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Germany. This biennial event will be held at the Messe fairgrounds. Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America, tel. 312-781-5180, info@mdna.com, www.mdna.com.

May 11-12, 2016: Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. To be held at the Wisconsin Center. Contact: Expo Productions, tel. 800-367-5520, www.electricalwireshow.com.

June 7-9, 2016: WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo Uncasville, Connecticut, USA. This WAI event, to be held at the Mohegan Sun, will include its trade show, technical programs and WAI’s 86th Annual Convention.

Jan. 28, 2016: New England Chapter Annual Meeting Uncasville, Connecticut, USA. See p. 41.

June 7-9, 2016: WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo Uncasville, Connecticut, USA. See main listing.

May 9-11, 2017: Interwire 2017 Atlanta, Georgia, USA. See main listing.

Sept. 26-29, 2016: wire China 2016 Shanghai, China. The 7th All China International Wire & Cable Industry Trade Fair will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC).

Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America, tel. 312781-5180, info@mdna.com, www.mdna.com.

Oct. 2-5, 2016: 65th IWCS ConferenceTM Providence, Rhode Island, USA. To be held at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Contact: Pat Hudak, IWCS, tel. 717-993-9500, phudak@iwcs.org, www.iwcs.org.

Oct. 5-7, 2016: Spring World 2016 Rosemont, Illinois, USA. To be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Contact: CASMI Office, tel. 630-359-4273, info@casmi-springworld.org.

WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

Oct. 18-20, 2016: ITC Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico. Details to follow.

June 12-14, 2016: 17th Guangzhou International Platemetal, Bar, Wire, Metal Processing & Setting Equipment Exhibition Guangzhou, China. To be held at the China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou.

Contact: Julang Exhibition Co., Ltd., tel. 86-20-3862 0771, expo@julang.com.cn.

Oct. 5-7, 2016: Wire & Cable India Mumbai, India. This event will be held at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Center. Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America, tel. 312-781-5180, info@mdna.com, www.mdna.com.

May 9-11, 2017: Interwire 2017 Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This WAI event, which will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center, includes its trade show, technical programs and 87th Annual Convention, www.wirenet.org.

T H E W I R E A S S O C I AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L , I N C . P R E S E N T S

& EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

| WIRE & CABLE PRODUCTS • SUPPLIES • EQUIPMENT

UNCASVILLE, CT, USA

CONVENTION: JUNE 7-9 EXHIBITS: JUNE 8-9 It’s fast.

It’s free. 16.COM WWW .WIREEXPO

8 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

20 16

INDUSTRY NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS Leviton acquires Brand-Rex Ltd. Leviton announced that it has acquired Brand-Rex Ltd., a developer of cabling solutions for network infrastructure and high-performance industrial applications.

A press release said that Brand-Rex’s proprietary cabling solutions and robust European market presence are a natural complement to Leviton Network Solutions’ existing network infrastructure systems offerings and strength in the Americas.

“This acquisition...will enable Leviton to offer truly end-to-end global solutions to our customers,” said Leviton President and COO Daryoush Larizadeh. “The natural synergies between Leviton and Brand-Rex allow for a pure growth opportunity as we strengthen and expand our geographic and vertical industry presence.”

Brand-Rex will provide cabling to complement Leviton’s connectivity solutions in Europe, the Middle East, Mexico, Latin America and Asia. Over time, Leviton will use this new expanded geographic presence and logistics infrastructure to offer a wide range of Leviton products in these markets. Leviton will continue its existing cable supplier partnerships to meet the unique needs and specifications of customers in the U.S. “The merging of the two solutions will be welcomed by the growing number of customers that seek quality, standardized and global network infrastructure. It will allow customers to access a broader set of services and solutions with local support worldwide,” said Ross Goldman, executive vice president and general manager at Leviton Network Solutions, who will oversee the business.

Brand-Rex will join the Leviton Network Solutions division and will continue to be managed by Martin Hanchard, reporting directly to Ross Goldman.

Leviton and Brand-Rex will maintain their separate sales and distribution channels, as well as existing manufacturing operations. Brand-Rex products will continue to use the Brand-Rex name following the acquisition. “I could not be more thrilled about the opportunities this acquisition will provide, and we welcome Brand-

Rex to the Leviton family of companies,” said Leviton CEO Don Hendler.

“Our long-term goal for Brand-Rex has always been to join a large multinational industry group that shares our core values,” said Brand-Rex CEO Martin Hanchard, “We ... look forward to our customers realizing the benefits of this acquisition.”

Per its website, the company, established in 1972, in Glenrothes, Scotland, where its head office remains, today employs over 300 staff and has 10 global offices and a presence in over 50 countries worldwide.

Prysmian reports buying a majority interest in Oman Cables Industry The Prysmian Group, which had a 34.78% stake in Oman Cables Industry (SAOG), reports that it has paid approximately €100 million to attain a majority position.

The Prysmian Group now has a majority interest in Oman Cables Industry.

A press release said that Prysmian now owns approximately 51% of SAOG, which has annual revenue of about $793 million. The company, has more than 800 employees in two plants, is a top cable manufacturer in the Gulf Cooperation Council region and is listed in the Muscat Securities Market.

“We consider our investment in Oman Cables Industry of strategic importance to our presence in the Middle East region” said Prysmian’s Group CEO, Valerio Battista. “We believe that the company has already demonstrated to be able to succeed in the market and it is now well positioned to seize new growth opportunities.”

Per the release, SAOG is active in the development and manufacturing of a totally integrated variety of electrical cables and conductors for diverse applications. The company has positioned itself as a soundly-reputed cable manufacturer, complying with international standards and requirements to ensure the highest quality levels for its customers.

The closing of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions precedent.

Got news? E-mail it to the WJI at editorial@wirenet.org.

10 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

U.S.-based Carris Reels, Inc., has purchased the remaining interest in J. Hamelin Industries, a Canadian reel company that it has worked closely with since it bought half of business in 2008.

A press release said that addition of J. Hamelin, which has been serving wire and cable customers throughout Canada and northeast U.S. for 77 years, is a major plus for both companies. “We welcome J. Hamelin to the Carris family, and look forward to future growth and operating at a ‘best of industry’ (level),” said Carris Reels CEO David Ferraro. manufacturing reels, J.Dean Hamelin operAtIntheaddition ShanghaitoHOSN booth at Interwire, Zhang, l, ates extensive recycling and Edison repair Qin, network chief an of North American sales, and chief throughof South out Canada, with facilities in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta American sales, point to machines sold to the Americas. and Saskatchewan offering wood and steel reel repair/ recycling, said the release, noting the following. J. With its specific personnel servicing the U.S. and Hamelin also has U.S. assembly facilities in Marion, other markets in the American continent, HOSN is Indiana, and Enfield, Connecticut. In 2010, the compacommitted to supplying high-efficiency drawing and ny launched a significant investment and now operates stranding equipment to the wire and cable industry in a highly efficient and automated nailed wood reel plant the Americas. in St. Jerome. In addition to automated production At Interwire, HOSN displayed photos of its JLK lines, unique material handling practices have been series rigid stranding machine with bottom loading or employed, yielding a state-of-the-art facility. side loading system. This unique machine is suitable Ferraro said that J. Hamelin CEO Harold Stotland for producing large-length, compact/round bare Al/Cu will remain actively engaged in the organization, both wire, ACSR and aluminum alloy wire. The machine is as a stakeholder in Carris Reels and as vice president of driven by individual motors for the rotating cage and the manufacturing for three Carris nailed wood manufacstranding pitch can be adjusted freely. Another featured turing sites (St. Jerome, Quebec; Enfield, Connecticut; product was an aluminum breakdown machine used for and Madera, California. He noted that Stotland, who drawing aluminum alloy, and all kinds of shaped wires has been active on the Carris Board of Directors for the from 9.5 mm down to 1.8-5.0 mm. Many customers also past six years, “will continue in that governing role.” showed strong interests in HOSN’s drum twister which “Harold and his teams complement our talented is used for cabling low, medium and high voltage power employee-owners, as our collective experience and will cables and for applying armoring and screening wires. assure we are meeting our customers’ needs for custom www.hosnglobe.com. packaging and solutions,” Ferraro said. “This acquisition strengthens our competitive position by expand-

Ultimate Automation, Ltd. U.K.

At Interwire, Ultimate Automation displayed the latest version of the company’s ULTIMAT UMW-100, 2D wire forming and welding machine, which incorporates faster drives and control systems.

The UMW can be combined with the UCW-100 model to create an integrated forming and welding cell for the production of shelving products. The frames are produced on the UMW-100 and then transferred into the UCW-100, where the frame support/brace wire is fed direct from coil, and welded into the frame. Further options include press stations forHamelin’s post-forming andStotland, secondary bend headsReels for formJ. Harold l, with Carris CEO ing loops and eyes.

Dave Ferraro. ing our geographic footprint across North America.

Hamelin has a track record of delivering value enhanced packaging programs through innovation in process, automation and reel tracking systems. We have an exciting future as we leverage our shared experience and knowledge to drive profitable growth. As part of the negotiation, Harold will have an equity position in Carris, further aligning our future objectives.”

Stotland described the deal as win-win for both parties. “We saw an opportunity to better align our companies to achieve shared growth objectives,” he said.

“Together we are stronger and can leverage new opportunities.”

Carris Reels, based in Proctor, Vermont, manufacUltimate Automation Sales Director Martin Smith by a tures plywood, nailed wood, wood/metal, plastic, and UMW-100 model stamped metal reels and spools, with 550 employees in 12 locations in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. Ultimat manufactures the UMW 2D wire forming & welding machines, UTW Automatic Ring Machines General Cable The lands largest portion and UCW T-Welders. company has a machine to suit everyone’s requirement from the manufacture of of 3-year Canadian cable contract POP displays, lampshades, supermarket shelving and Canada’s Hydro-Québec has named General Cable as automotive components, etc. www.ultimat.com. its main cable supplier for the next three years, awarding it a contract valued at an estimated $108 million.

54 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2016 | 11

INDUSTRY NEWS

FEATURE

Carris Reels buys remaining interest in Canada’s J. Hamelin Industries

INDUSTRY NEWS

A press release said that the remainder of the supply will be shared between Prysmian (Ontario) and Southwire (United States), which were awarded contracts that are respectively worth $17 million and $56 million.

The release from the utility company said that the contract for the cables, which are an indispensable for the numerous projects to come or for repairing the grid during failures, were split between the three companies. “For reliability and safety reasons, Hydro-Québec cannot depend on a single supplier for such an essential product. It noted that, from 2009 to 2014, the Québec cable market has gone from having four suppliers with five plants to a single supplier (General Cable) with two plants (Saint-Jérôme and Shawinigan).”

Per a report in the Montreal Gazette, General Cable employees had actively encouraged the utility company to make the deal. “In September, General Cable employees demonstrated outside Hydro’s office in Montreal, saying they feared for their jobs if they did not get the contract. Their union, Unifor, denounced Hydro’s decision to extend the deadline of its call for tenders, warning that the Ste-Jérôme facility would be in danger if foreign companies got the contract.”

Hydro-Québec noted that, in 2014, goods and services purchased reached $3.3 billion, of which 94% was from Québec-based companies.

New headquarters for Niehoff Germany’s Maschinenfabrik Niehoff GmbH, a leading manufacturers of machinery for the wire and cable industry, has moved its headquarters to a new address in Schwabach.

“With the move of the administrative departments to the new office building on the new site the factory building project has been completed,” a press release said. “All Niehoff facilities in Schwabach are now accommodated in the new plant which has direct access to the European highway E 50.”

Niehoff’s new headquarters in Schwabach, Germany.

New dog, new tricks

WIRE STRAIGHTENERS

•

STRAIGHTENER ROLLS

12 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

•

WIRE PULLERS / WEDGE GRIPS

Precision Wire Technologies has been bought by local investor group Precision Wire Technologies has been acquired by The PWT Group, a group of local investors in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who formed the holding company to operate the business.

A press release said that David Faust, the group’s managing partner, will assume the role of CEO of PWT. The company is a manufacturer of specialty wire in a wide variety of alloy materials, including resistance wire, music wire, lighting wire and mechanical wire.

“We’ve been part of the local landscape for a long time and are thrilled to have our roots firmly planted here for the long-term,” Faust said of the new ownership group. “Fort Wayne has been a great place for us to do business and we believe this acquisition provides

us the resource and expertise to grow and thrive in this community. “ The release said that PWT “differentiates itself in the market by providing industry-leading service and value-added support to our customers. Our goal is to become an extension of your company—a true partner as opposed to just another supplier. Rather than merely selling spools of wire, like our competitors, this strategy has positioned us to work closely with our existing customer / partners and has in turn provided both PWT and our customers alike greater value-added opportunities, better margins and less exposure to low cost overseas competition.”

Liquid Sea plans 10,000 km subsea cable linking Africa to Middle East Liquid Sea, a subsidiary of Liquid Telecom, has started a project to build a new subsea cable linking Africa to the Middle East with onwards connectivity to Europe.

A report in CET News said that Liquid Telecom Group CEO Nic Rudnick confirmed bids have been called for to supply submarine cables for the project, which will be connected to Liquid Telecom’s African terrestrial network. The goal is to provide reliable and affordable international connectivity service to landlocked and coastal countries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.

Safety that works harder The new Sjogren wire puller does more than look different: it makes a difference in the safety and productivity of your operation.

No other puller does so much to improve spindle uptime.

Design innovation built on shop floor insight: Sjogren builds productivity.

SJOGREN.COM

WIRE GUIDES

•

MAGNETIC BRAKES & CLUTCHES

•

TESTING & HANDLING JANUARY 2016 | 13

INDUSTRY NEWS

The factory, located at a street named Walter-NiehoffStrasse 2 in memory of the company’s founder, “is visible proof of Niehoff´s future-oriented thinking and that it is and will remain a competent and reliable business partner in which customers can trust – now and in future,” it said.

The Group with nearly 800 employees worldwide is comprised of the headquarters, five manufacturing subsidiaries (in Brazil, the US, the Czech Republic, India, and China) as well as sales and service centers in Japan, Singapore and Russia.

INDUSTRY NEWS

The project is already fully funded and it is estimated that it will take two years to complete, the story said.

Liquid Sea will offer speeds of 20-30Tbps, up to 10 times the capacity of existing submarine cables in the region. The new submarine cable is expected to directly connect all coastal countries along the east coast of Africa and to provide new connectivity to the Middle East and Europe. The project will include landing stations in several ports that are currently not served by existing subsea cables.

Leoni inaugurates establishment of its 1st wiring systems plant in Paraguay Leoni, a leading European provider of cables and cable systems to the automotive sector and other industries, has officially opened its first location in Paraguay.

A press release said that facility, located San Lorenzo near Asuncion, will manufacture wiring harnesses for several customers from both the commercial vehicles and the passenger car segment.

Bekaert to buy majority share in Bridon Bekaert reports that it has entered into an agreement to buy a majority portion (66%) of U.K.-based Bridon for an undisclosed sum.

A press release said that the purchase from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will result in the formation of the Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group, a new joint venture in which Bekaert will hold a majority stake. The group, it said, will combine the ropes and advanced cords capabilities of almost 3,000 employees, 19 manufacturing entities across 11 countries, market-focused R&D, and a global sales and service network. Bruno Humblet, currently Bekaert CFO, has been named CEO of the new entity, while Andrew Caffyn, currently non-executive chairman of Bridon, has been appointed chairman of the Board.

“The intended combination will leverage the scale and complementary strengths of Bekaert and Bridon and will pursue value creation for customers and for the new group,” the release said. Bekaert has an advanced cords business and a well-established ropes presence in Latin America, Canada and Australia while Bridon has strong positions in the U.S. Europe, with a portfolio of rope wire, strand and steel and synthetic ropes. The merger will create opportunities for further growth in Asia, with the combined business earning some €600 million in sales on an annual basis.”

Primetals Technologies gets okay for OneSteel wire rod mill upgrade

Leoni’s wiring systems plant in Paraguay.

“The new plant in San Lorenzo will help us to realize further business growth in the Americas,” said Martin Gloesslein, CEO Region Americas of Leoni’s Wiring Systems Division. The company is already operating three wiring systems productions in Mexico and Brazil.

The additional plant in Paraguay will deliver its products to customer plants in Brazil and Argentina.

Leoni is investing 12 million euros in the new building and equipment, the release said. The main advantage of the investment in Paraguay is to produce for reasonable cost, have excellent logistic flows and labor availability as well as taking advantage of the Mercosul benefits as economic trade zone. With an area totaling about 28,000 sq m, and a production space of almost 10,000 sq m, the plant provides space for up to 1,000 employees when running at full capacity. Serial production has already started.

14 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Primetals Technologies reports that it has approval from OneSteel Market Mills in Australia for installed upgrades at its single-strand Laverton wire rod mill.

A press release said that the project included: a water cooling line and laying head improvements that will increase mill utilization, reduce maintenance, improve product quality; increase in speed from 90 m/s to 102 m/s on 5.5 mm rod and from 90 m/s to 100 m/s on 6.0 mm rod; reduced coil height and better compacted coil shape’ and a pipe support design that incorporates new SR Series laying head pipe technology. The upgrade is expected to boost the mill’s competitive position in the market, it said.

The water-cooling line was upgraded with a Morgan water box system, which included three traversing boxes, with split water box nozzles and a header design that ensured alignment of the pass line. Provisions were made in the layout of the water cooling line for an additional cooling box to meet future needs. The laying head was upgraded with a new design pipe support that incorporates the SR Series laying head pipe technology.

of their Chinese joint venture that Schleuniger Group processes special steel wire rod.

A press release said that Kobe wins innovation award Special Steel Wire Products (KSP) Switzerland’s Schleuniger was founded in 2007 in Pinghu, Group reports that it had great Zhejiang Province to supply cold success at the productronica heading steel wire for use in mak2015 trade fair in Munich, ing automotive bolts and nuts and Germany, where the company’s bearing products. Full-scale operCoaxCenter 6000 won the proations began in 2009, and Kobe ductronica Innovation Award Steel provides all of the special in Cables, Coils and Hybrids steel wire rod used by KSP, it said, Cluster. noting the following details.

A press release said that the Driven by automobile producCoaxCenter 6000 is the world’s tion in China, KSP has become first and currently the only the largest supplier of CH wire to machine system that enables Japanese automotive parts manmicro-coaxial cables to be proufacturers in China. KSP, which cessed fully-automatically and had 106 employees at the end of with high precision.

April, increased its production “Our DNA drives us to percapacity in 2012 to 2,500 metric fect cable processing, to even tons per month. As the Chinese better understand the current market is expected to see further growth, KSP decided to further increase capacity ahead of expanding demand to 3,500 mt per month.

KSP plans to add three wiredrawing machines to the existing five units, yielding a total of eight machines. Production capacity will increase from the current 2,500 metric tons per month to 3,500 metric tons per month.

The joint venture partners include Kobe Steel, Ltd., 47%; Shinsho Corp., 25%; Osaka Seiko Co., 10%; Meihoku Kogyo Co., 10%; Schleuniger Group staffers Metal Oneaward.

Corp., 5%; and Kyodo celebrate Shaft Co., 3%.

Experience ♦ Innovation ♦ Excellence

Clean coolant means ...

P P P P P P P

Higher production Cleaner better quality wire Fewer wire breaks Reduced die & capstan wear Longer coolant life Less tank cleaning Reduced operational costs

Filtration for drawing coolants and oil, annealer quench, caster water, cv water, other process water plus coolant disposal and oil/water separation.

Exceeding expectations since 1969 Fairgrounds Drive, Manlius, NY 13104 Tel: 315-682-8815 Fax: 315-682-8825 (Main Factory) Tel: 480-775-1111; Fax: 480-775-0604 (West Region) E-mail: info@filtertech.com, Web Site: www.filtertech.com

JANUARY 2016 | 15 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 13

INDUSTRY INDUSTRYNEWS NEWS

and future requirements of the industry, and respond Leoni to supply wire to Volvo after a catastrophic event such as a hurricane or a terrorist withbody convincing solutions,” said Schleuniger CEO EU okays Bekaert’s acquisition Leoni has entered into an agreement to supply wiring event “time-consuming, costly, and unpredictable.”

Christoph Schüpbach. “Our CoaxCenter 6000 is just harnesses for Swedish car maker Volvo, starting with of Pirelli’s steel tire cord business A resilient electric grid is designed to be “a self-healsuch a solution.” its future passenger car models.

The European Commission has approved the proposed ing solution that provides resiliency in the event that “We are happy that Volvo Car Corporation relies on 255 million euro acquisition of Pirelli’s steel tire cord busiportions of the grid are lost for any reason,” it said, U.K.’s METALUBE names U.S. reps our global footprint and high quality service,” said ness by Belgian-based NV Bekaert SA. adding that the ComEd installation would be the first Dr. Frank Hiller, a member of the Leoni Management METALUBE has named Fusion as its earA press release said the deal, whichChemical was announced commercial application of this advanced technology Board. The first order comprises the production of sevexclusive distributor in the U.S. lier this year and includes Pirelli’s steel cord facilities in in the U.S. The project is expected to take about 3 eral harnesses for the underbody, tunnel, doors, roof Fusion, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, will marItaly, Turkey, Romania, China and Brazil, was approved 1/2 years in Chicago, although AMSC expects future and bumpers. ket the METALUBE range of lubricant products. by the EU Commission, which noted the following. “The deployments to move more quickly.

Leoni, the release said, will be able to support Volvo Principals Matt East and Kuchta can be conactCommission concluded thatKarl the acquisition would not raise Cars’ growth objectives on a worldwide basis, being ed at www.fusion-chemical.com. competition concerns as the merged entity’s customers, Kobe Steel to capacities expandas well as seven propresent with R&D which are large, multinational tire companies, have counduction facilities for wiring China JV rod capacity systems in the Americas Kobe Steel, Ltd., reportedand that Asia.

It noted that, in 2014, it and other shareholders in Kobe “Leoni Steel has already won Volvo Special Wire Products Cars’ Chinese parent Industrial Liquid Filtration Systems (Pinghu) Co., Ltd., havecompany, agreed Geely, as the a new customer.” to expand production capacity

INDUSTRY NEWS

Global invites issued for meeting of industry reps for Rosendah Nextrom Keeping outside staff up to date is essential, and for Rosendahl Nextrom, that covers a lot of turf, as the company has seven units, with some 40 representative offices on six continents.

regularly brought up to date regarding the latest stateof-the-art technologies and trained in a professional fashion. In October 2015, representatives for the various markets were “schooled” in the latest developments concerning both theory and practice. The trainings for the representatives took place directly in Pischelsdorf and Vantaa, “right where ideas become reality.”

By means of special trainings and live presentations on location at the production lines, Rosendahl Nextrom offers its representatives and, in turn, its customers the utmost in service, the release said. To this end, the ideal infrastructure has been laid down at the newly established Technology Center.

WCMA reports 2016 award winners Some of the Rosendahl Nextrom staffers who gathered for the meetings in Austria and Finland.

Per a press release, the collective “satellites” hone their radar in on Pischelsdorf, Austria, for Rosendahl, and Vantaa, Finland, for Nextrom. Within the scope of a meeting of representatives, partners and colleagues are

16 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

The Wire & Cable Manufacturers’ Alliance (WCMA) announced eight recipients of its 2016 Distinguished Career Award, all of whom will be honored at the 32nd annual Awards Dinner and Investiture Ceremony that will take place on May 7, 2016, in Hartford, Connecticut, at the Connecticut Convention Center.

A press release said that the recipients include: Doug Brenneke, Vice President R&D, Chief Technology Officer, Belden; Peter Chase, Executive Chairman, Chase Corporation; Tom Jordan, President & CEO, T & T Marketing, Inc.; Mike Mennone, Vice President/ General Manager-Nuclear Division, RSCC Wire & Cable; Michael Monti; Vice President of Manufacturing, Industrial, Construction, & Specialty Products, General Cable Corp.; Rahul Sachdev, Executive Vice President, Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp.; Carlos Sanchez, Vice President and General Manager, Electrical Wires Division North America, Nexans Canada; and Peter Schlichting, President, Quirk Wire Company, Inc. The WCMA continues the over 30-year tradition of recognizing industry professionals, started by the late Dick and Harriet Callahan, the organization founders. For more information about WCMA or the Distinguished Career Award, contact Deb Mathiasen, Executive Director, at tel. 860873-2311, mrcdm@snet.net, www.wcmainc.org.

JAMES MONROE WIRE & CABLE CORPORATION

Wire was his higher education

LANCASTER MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY

David Fisher President James Monroe Wire & Cable Corporation

James Monroe Wire & Cable Corporation (JMWC) President David Fisher tel. 978-368-0131 jamesmonroewire. com FOCUS Founded in 1977 by Martin Fisher, JMWC produces a wide variety of common and custom wire and cable products at its 100,000-sq-ft plant.

The company has been in an expansion mode, including a 2014 investment that saw it double capacity.

OF NOTE David Fisher, the son of Martin Fisher, had a humble start in the family business. At age 10, he swept floors, manned the warehouse and emptied the garbage: basically, he did whatever needed to be done. At age 19, his highly spirited self was asked to leave college.

Following that reality check, he started working full-time for his dad, a partnership that would last 25 years. He believes that those life lessons, plus his desire to seek out win-win deals when it comes to customers, vendors and staff, has been a key to the continued success of JWMC.

WJI: How much an influence did your dad have on how you run the company?

Fisher: He had a big influence. He showed me what it takes to succeed. To a degree, it’s about technology, but a bigger element is motivating staff, to get them to want to do what you need them to do.

Money matters, but people also want to be recognized, and it’s important that you show that you value them. I love to come to work every day, and I want our employees to feel good about it too.

WJI: How has the company most changed since you became president in 2005?

Fisher: You need a feel for how the industry once did business to understand this.

In past generations, there was more focus on succeeding for yourself. It wasn’t that you didn’t want your customers or vendors to succeed, because you did, but your primary concern was on making a sale and delivering what was ordered.

Today, we are all about quality, but we are also about win-win relationships. First and foremost, we want to be part of our customers’ success. To do that, we have to be able to give them what they need. We offer a lot more products now—from elevator to industrial cables to custom/specialty cables—and we continue to look for other opportunities.

WJI: You made a major investment two years ago: how confident were you that the expansion would prove worthwhile?

Fisher: We didn’t have a choice. We were running out of space, and our advisors and business model made it a no-brainer. You

can’t be passive in this industry. That overall expansion project cost about $2 million. It’s worked out well for us, and we added 14 jobs last year, and those additions have made us more efficient.

WJI: How does the future look?

Fisher: We’re not done growing yet.

We bought 14 acres across the street, and someday we could put up a 200,000-sq-ft plant. That’s long term, but in the short term we will add 3,000 sq ft more office space. I see the business as a living entity.

We fight for all our orders. We know we have to do right for our customers and we know we have to continue to improve, and that is a good thing. This business matters to us all, and that includes the families of our 96 employees. We never forget that.

WJI: Are you looking forward to serving as the president for WAI’s New England Chapter this year?

Fisher: The wire industry has been good to me, and the New England Chapter is a great group of contemporaries. I am glad to do this because it’s important to give back.

WJI: Is there a third JMWC generation to follow your lead?

Fisher: There could be. My wife, Susan, has been great at understanding my being on call 24-7. And if someday my daughters, Madelyn, 12, and Allyson, 10, want to see what it’s like, they’re welcome to join me like I joined my dad. They could find out just how easygoing a guy I am.

JANUARY 2016 | 17

PROFILE

WIRE & CABLE CORPORATION

PATENTS

Patent REPORT Technical advances are a necessity for any industry, and to that end, companies invest considerable resources in R&D. This new monthly section will list the abstracts of recently approved U.S. patents. Many are direct to wire and cable while others are related to a range of “downstream” applications.

Long distance subsea can bus repeater cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,203,640 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: June 3, 2014 Assignee: Teledyne Instruments, Inc., U.S. Inventors: Huijiang Xi, Michael C. Green, Alan McCleary Messages on controller area network (CAN) buses are communicated over subsea links. Repeaters couple CAN buses to each end of a subsea link. The subsea link may be, for example, a twisted pair or a single wire with a sea ground. The repeater detects a direction of transmission, that is, whether a signal began on the CAN bus coupled to the repeater or on the subsea link coupled to the repeater. Signals from the CAN bus are conditionally transmitted to the subsea link depending on the detected direction of transmission.

Signals from the subsea link are conditionally transmitted to the CAN bus depending on the detected direction of transmission. The repeater can operate at the physical layer without analyzing contents of the CAN bus communications.

Method for locating fault of submarine cable, repeater, and communication system U.S. Patent No.: 9,203,510 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: March 22, 2012 Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., China Inventors: Sen Zhang, Zhiyong Feng A method for locating a fault of a submarine cable, a device, and a communication system are provided. A light pulse output by a Repeater (RPT) is incident to a location of a fault as a probe light pulse. The RPT obtains a time difference between the probe light pulse and the reflected probe light pulse, and sends the time difference to a terrestrial Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) so that the SLTE may easily locate the fault according to principles of an Optical Time Domain Reflector (OTDR). Compared with the prior art, the method may locate the fault of the submarine cable more quickly and accurately, so that maintainers may maintain the submarine cable in time.

18 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Device for guiding a cable in a medical dosing apparatus, dosing device, treatment apparatus, as well as method U.S. Patent No.: 9,203,227 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Jan. 31, 2012 Assignee: Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland GmbH, Germany Inventor: Stefan Oesterreich The invention pertains to a device for guiding at least one cable for use in a medical dosing apparatus, which features at least one movable section, characterized in that the device is connected or at least designed to be connected to the at least one movable section of the dosing apparatus permitting movement in tandem. It pertains further to a dosing apparatus, a treatment apparatus, a method for position detection as well as a method to enable or carry out position detection.

Security loop cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,203,185 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Feb. 3, 2014 Assignee: Paige Electric Company, LP, U.S. Applicant: Mark D. Ahlers A multi-segmented security loop cable has a plurality of electrical conductor segments, each having a male connector on one end and a female connector on the other end, the connectors being joined by an electrical cable. Socket contacts and pin contacts are crimped to the stripped ends of individual wires in the cable. The contacts are embedded in a male or female body to form either a plug housing or a receptacle housing. The housings have a compression ring installed thereon to retain the contacts in the body.

The housings have a strain relief member over-molded thereon to complete the connectors by chemically bonding to the connector body, exposed wire insulation and the cable outer jacket to form an integral unit of these elements for electrical and mechanical protection. A method of using the security loop cable is also disclosed.

Cable component with non-flammable material U.S. Patent No.: 9,202,610 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Dec. 6, 2012 Assignee: General Cable Technologies Corp./ General Cable Corporation Inventors: Robert S. Gould, David M. Fausz, David P. Camp, II, Scott M. Brown, Brian P. Skocypec A cable component that comprises a main body where at least a part of the main body is formed of an insulation material, and at least one non-flammable portion is disposed in the insulation material of the main body. The non-flammable portion forms at least about 25% by volume of the cable component, is flexible, and reduces the amount of the insulation material of the main body, thereby reducing the fuel load in the cable component.

Cable having core, jacket and polymeric jacket access features located in the jacket U.S. Patent No.: 9,201,208 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Oct 23, 2012 Assignee: Corning Cable Systems LLC Inventors: Michael John Gimblet, Julian Latelle Greenwood III Cables jacket are formed by extruding discontinuities in a main cable jacket portion. The discontinuities allow the jacket to be torn to provide access to the cable core. The armor cables have an armor layer with armor access fea-

-

Patent Facts Below are some tibits from assorted sources.

Someone had to be first

The first U.S. Patent, No. 1X, was “Method of producing pot ash and pearl ash,” issued to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790. However, patents were recognized by states long before that.

Massachusetts gave Joseph Winslow a patent to make salt in 1633, the first in North America.

A patent unto itself does not equal success Per a 2013 Brookings report, 16% of patents are allowed to expire by the 4th year, due to unpaid maintenance fees (based on company size) at the 3.5-year mark, and 50% by the 12th year (11.5-year mark).

The ‘X’ factor in patent numbers

Following a disastrous 1836 fire that destroyed patent office records, new ones were numbered, starting with U.S. Patent No. 1. The previous destroyed patents of 1790-1836 were reconstructed as well as possible and retroactively recorded with “X” numbers. Therefore, U.S. Patent No. 1 is not the first U.S. patent. U.S. Patent Nos. 1X through 9,957X precede it.

Driven to get more patents per mile

As of Dec. 22, Ford Motor Co had applied for a record 5,872 patents—up 36% from the 2014— for areas such as autonomous cars, wearable devices and ride sharing. Those related to electrified vehicles have almost tripled in the past five years, including more than 400 last year.

Ford has 275 U.S. patents alone for its EcoBoost engines, more than any other automaker for gasoline turbocharged direct-injection technology, and an additional 200 patents are still pending.

JANUARY 2016 | 19

PATENTS

Electrical cable connector U.S. Patent No.: 9,203,166 Approval: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Nov. 28, 2013 Assignee: Auto-kabel Management GmbH, Germany Applicant: Jens Schumacher Electrical connection system, in particular of an underground cable, with a first connecting piece which can be connected to an end of a first cable, wherein a longitudinal axis of the first cable determines a first longitudinal axis, and a second connecting piece which can be connected to an end of a second cable, wherein a longitudinal axis of the second cable determines a second longitudinal axis, wherein the first connecting piece has a seat formed for a protrusion of the second connecting piece, and the second connecting piece has a protrusion corresponding to the seat, and wherein the protrusion can be arranged in the seat to form an electrically conductive connection between the connecting pieces. A particularly simple installation in the region of the underground cables is possible because the seat extends parallel to the first longitudinal axis, the protrusion extends parallel to the second longitudinal axis, and the protrusion can be pushed into the seat parallel to the first longitudinal axis.

PATENTS

tures arranged to work in combination with the discontinuities in the cable jacket to facilitate access to the cable core.

Crossbow cable saver U.S. Patent No.: 9,200,863 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Jan. 6, 2014 Assignee: Hunter’s Manufacturing Co., Inc. Inventor: Richard L. Bednar One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for a cable saver device that can be selectively engaged with one or more cables of a crossbow, which may mitigate premature cable wear, and/or provide smoother cable movement during bowstring draw and/or release. A device for mitigating premature cable wear can comprise a selectively removable crossbow cable saver, which can install on one or more cables of a crossbow. The crossbow cable saver can comprise a selectively closable top configured to enclose a top portion of one or more cable saver guides disposed in a bottom portion of said cable saver, when the top portion is closed over the bottom portion.

Braided wire manufacturing method and braided wire manufacturing apparatus U.S. Patent No.: 9,200,389 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: July 25, 2013 Applicant/assignee: Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd., Japan Inventor: Eiji Kobayashi Provided is a braided wire manufacturing method and a braided wire manufacturing apparatus which can produce a braided wire accurately braided without distortion.

In a braided wire manufacturing apparatus, a plurality of conductive wires fed from a wire feeding mechanism are braided into a braided wire from a convergence position after passing through a mesh hole die, and the braided wire after passing along a guide roller is wound up using a capstan unit. The guide roller has a guide width for horizontal direction restriction so that movement of the braided wire in the horizontal direction falls within a predetermined restriction width from an ideal center position. The guide roller is provided at a height of a braid pitch of the braided wire in the perpendicular direction from the convergence position as a second feature.

Bi-tapered spool for wire braiding machines U.S. Patent No.: 9,200,388 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed March 15, 2013 Applicant/assignee: Fort Wayne Metals Research Products Corporation, U.S. Inventors: Jeffery L. Gallmeyer, Mark S. Michael, Jason W. Ferens

20 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

A spool for use in a wire braiding machine, for example, which has a “bi-tapered” design including a central cylindrical section and a pair of tapered (e.g., frusto-conical or parabolic) flanges having surfaces that slope inwardly toward the cylindrical section. In this manner, the spool provides a progressively widening wire fill area, as measured along a direction parallel to the rotational axis of the bobbin, as the wound wire advances progressively radially outwardly from the cylindrical section. This widening wire fill area aids in preventing the formation, propagation and buildup of wire winding defects, such that the wire is more likely to unspool or pay-out from the spool without losing tension, snagging or breaking.

System, composition and method of application of same for reducing the coefficient of friction and required pulling force during installation of wire or cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,200,234 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Jan. 8, 2014 Applicant/assignee: Encore Wire Corporation, U.S. Inventors: William Thomas Bigbee, Jr., Sheri H. Dahlke. Ronald A. Raedeke, Jason Drew Gillen, Melvin Glen Debord, Melvin Glen A composition and method for reducing the coefficient of friction and required pulling force of a wire or cable are provided. A composition of aqueous emulsion is provided that is environmentally friendly, halogen free and solvent free. The composition is compatible with various types of insulating materials and may be applied after the wire or cable is cooled and also by spraying or submerging the wire or cable in a bath. The composition contains lubricating agents that provide lower coefficient of friction for wire or cable installation and continuous wire or cable surface lubrication thereafter.

Actuation cable having multiple friction characteristics U.S. Patent No.: 9,198,729 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: Nov. 15, 2010 Assignees: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. Applicant/inventor: Theodore W. Rogers A surgical device includes a first cable portion that engages a first component such that a first friction exists between the first cable portion and the first component. The surgical device includes a second cable portion having a first end operatively coupled to a first end of the first cable portion.

The second cable portion engages a second component such that a second friction exists between the second cable portion and the second component, such that the second friction is greater than the first friction. (cont’d. on p. 82)

ASIAN FOCUS

ASIAN FOCUS Chinese company to supply/run power line for very controversial power plant China’s State Grid Brazil Holding (SGBH) was chosen to build a gigantic transmission line for the Belo Monde hydroelectric dam, located deep in the Amazon rainforest, as well as to operate the entity, which has been a source of controversy.

Per a report in chinadaily.com.cn, last year SGBH was the winner at an auction at the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, where its subsidiary made the lowest bid by offering to operate the dam’s second power line in exchange for $309 million. “As the winner, SGBH has committed to finish building in 2019 and to begin operating the power line in 2020 and will maintain the concession for 30 years.”

The second transmission line will run for 2,250 km and will connect the Belo Monte dam, located in the northern state of Para, to the town of Nova Iguacu near Rio de Janeiro, the story said. The project is expected to create 16,800 direct jobs in the states of Para, Tocantins, Goias, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. The construction, estimated to cost $2.19 billion, will be spread across five Brazilian states.

Once fully operational, Belo Monte is designed for a maximum capacity of 11,233 Mw, and reportedly will be the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam. The country’s goal is to get 66% of its electrical energy from dams by 2030.

SGBH Vice-President for Operations Ramon Haddad said in the story that the scale of the project means that the Chinese firm will be seeking a partner in Brazil to help. Construction on the Belo Monte dam began in March 2011 but has faced regular opposition by indigenous communities, farmers, fishermen and ecologists, who maintain the project will have a devastating environmental impact on the Amazon.

A rendering of the proposed Belo Monte Dam.

22 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Executive Vice President and Deputy General Manager of State Grid Corporation of China, Yang Qing (C), hammers a gavel to close the trading session with members of his company at Brazil’s BM&F Bovespa Stock Market in Sao Paulo on July 17, 2015.

Per multiple media reports, work on the dam, which is slated to be completed by January 2019, has seen regular interruptions due to judicial reversals, strikes by workers and protests. Belo Monte will dam the Xingu river, a tributary to the Amazon, and is set to flood 506 sq km of the jungle.

Some 300 people occupied the Belo Monte Dam, standing together to form the words “Pare Belo Monte” or “Stop Belo Monte.” They oppose the $11 billion dollar mega-dam because they say it threatens the environment and people living along the Xingu River where it’s been built. Critics say that the reservoir of the completed project could displace as many as 20,000 people, both individually as well as whole tribal cultures.

Protestors literally spell out their opposition to project.

CHINA

“the growth of any country is possible only if the number Furukawa establishes JV ined,Vietnam of employed persons grows” is satisfi India will be the territory that we must serve intensively with our fornext power transmission components equipment and technology. course, the basic infraJapan’s Furukawa ElectricOf Power Systems (FEPS) structures are presently not suffi cient and not adequate has teamed up with Vietnam’s Power Engineering Joint to permit the harmonious thisventure, giant. Carmelo Stock Company (PEC) to growth create aof joint Vietnam Maria Brocato, Continuus-Properzi.

Japan Power Systems Co., Ltd. (VJPS), that will supply power transmission components for the country as well China is and will remain the most important BRICS as other regions. member country, despite slowing growth. Brazil is lookA more press like release saidmired that VJPS, which will have about ing India, in corruption scandals, while 100 employees by 2019, will produce power transmisIndia at this point under a new regime holds the most sion components in Vietnam.

That, it promised said, includes both promise.

Again, whether the reforms by the PEC’s under-220 in kVIndia power transmission components new government lead to rapid growth remains business and “technical knowledge acquired over many to be seen.

Russia will continue to have problems and it years by FEPS” to establish the manufacture and sales will take several years to recover from Western-imposed of 220 kV Not and much above has power transmission distribusanctions. been heard from and South Africa, tion components. though it is now officially a member. theythe willBRICS work are to meet ofbe therelevant.

I“First think that goingthe to demands continue to While the Vietnam pace of GDP growth slow for awill fewalso years domestic market, but may in the future due political and socio-economic factors or sanctions, servetoas a manufacturing base for the Out-Out needs of etc., these remain temporary at best.

As 40% the ASEAN sectors and the roadblocks Out-In needs of Japan,” the of the world’s in these is release said. Itpopulation noted thatresides in recent years,countries, Vietnamithas inevitable that at its some point market in the future they will produce been expanding electric in keeping with its and consume the majority of the world’s output. Rahul economic growth.

“In particular, the establishment of Sachdev, Wire & Plastic Machinery. the electric power grid has rapidly advanced, and the demand for power transmission components, such as Russia faced economic and and overhead political distresses in 2014 transformer components transmission and but now the situation may be back to normal in a very distribution components, is increasing. In Vietnam, all

SOUTH AFRICA

short time. India is a huge country, a place with a multitude of religions/cultures, and from an industrial point of view it’s not possible to generalize into a single evaluation. What is certain is that India is a land that has thousands of opportunities, as does—to a lesser extent and all the differences considered —South Africa. CompaBellina nies in South African are focusing on quality and innovation and our Group is laying the groundwork for a big market development there.

Brazil, world’s sixth largest economy—even From l-r:the PEC V.P. Le Dang Thuan; PEC Pres. Lethough Minh it is very far from Italy and presents some Investment customs clearHai; EVN (PEC’s parent company) Capital ance and trade policies issues—is a market increasingly Dept. Mgr. Vu Manh Hung; FEPS Pres. Michio Okuno; important for our strategic framework.

FEPS Sr. Exec. Dir. Shigeru Matsumoto; and VJPS Pres.

One other thought: the BRICS acronym was originally (planned) Yasuhiro Fukuhara, now FEPS Dir. used to defi ne countries characterized byEx. a developing

economic situation, a strong growth in GDP, a large popof the more reliable power transmission components for ulation, a vast territory and abundant natural resources.

220 kV and above are dependent on imports from forIn 2015, we can’t talk of them any more as “developing eign countries, the demand for local production countries” but and as superpowers that,the together with the G7 incountries, order to achieve stable power supply is growing.” dominate the worldwide market.

Fabio BelliFEPS willGroup. be the majority owner of VJPS, with a 64% na, TKT share, the remainder PEC.

JANUARY 2016 | 23 MAY 2015 | 37

ASIAN FOCUS FEATURE

DIA

PEOPLE

PEOPLE Southwire Company announced that Rich Stinson has assumed the role of the company’s president and CEO, becoming the company’s fourth president in its 65-year history. A veteran of more than three decades in the electrical industry, he joined Southwire on Oct. 15 as the company’s president, following his retirement in September from Eaton Corporation. There, he was responsible for a large business group with seven divisions. The group offered a comprehensive portfolio of services for every stage of a power system’s life cycle, including design, build and support. As a vice president, he Stinson managed Eaton’s power distribution assembly, industrial controls, electrical assembly and power distribution divisions. Prior to Eaton, he worked at Westinghouse’s Manufacturing Development Program for projects in Puerto Rico, serving in multiple disciplines such as engineering, manufacturing and supply chain.

Stinson succeeds Stu Thorn, who led the company’s day-to-day operations for 16 years. “Stu has done a great job of finding those growth opportunities and capitalizing on them,” said Southwire Chairman Roy Richards, Jr. “Rich brings a unique perspective on our industry, along with an intimate knowledge of our products and customers.

Together, those provide strong platThorn form from which he will lead our company as we enter a new area of delivering power throughout the world.”

Based in Carrollton, Georgia, USA, Southwire Company, LLC, is North America’s largest wire and cable producer. The company and its subsidiaries manufacture utility wire and cable, building wire and cable, industrial power cable, OEM wire products, SCR® copper and aluminum rod and continuous casting technology.

P & R Specialty, Inc., has named Dave Ziegler as vice president of sales, responsible for all sales functions, including marketing strategy development. He has extensive executive sales leadership experience in multiple industries, most recently serving as senior branch manager at MSC Industrial Supply, where he was responsible for both sales and distribution functions. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and holds a BS degree in general engineering. He replaces Vince Reidy, who is retiring in the first quarter of 2016. Reidy’s career to date stems nearly a half century, including 29 years with his first industry employer, 24 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Standard Register, where he was vice president of sales & marketing. He joined P&R Specialty four years ago, and in between served in a range of sales positions for companies that included AcuTemp, NCR, Paxar and Bosma Machine & Tool as well as being the principal of his own consulting company. Based in Piqua, Ohio, USA, P & R Specialty, Inc., manufactures fiberboard spools, plastic spools and plywood reels for multiple industries, including welding wire, fine wire, magnet wire, hose and cordage.

Dr. Frank Hiller will head the Wiring Systems Division of Leoni AG. A member of the company’s Management Board (MB), he had been in charge of the Wire & Cable Solutions Division. He will continue

Dr. Frank Hiller, l, with Dieter Bellé. to manage the solutions division, jointly, with Dieter Bellé, who currently serves as both CFO and CEO, until a successor is appointed. Hiller has been managing the company’s Wiring Systems Division, with Bellé since November 2015. Leoni’s Supervisory Board also decided to end the dual position of CEO and CFO. Bellé, who took over as MB chairman last May, while continuing to serve as CFO, will concentrate on his CEO duties in the future. The Supervisory Board will appoint a new CFO, who will be the fourth MB member, as soon as possible.

Based in Germany and founded in 1917, Leoni AG is a global supplier of wiring system and cable technology, with some 75,000 employees in 31 countries.

Bruno Humblet has been nominated CEO of the Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group. He is currently CFO of the Bekaert Group and Executive Vice President of Bekaert’s Latin American operations. He will continue for the time being in these roles. Humblet began his career his career at Procter & Gamble in 1989 as a business analyst. He built up 17 years of international finance and business experience in different areas including supply chain management, international market analysis, information systems, audit and treasury. In 2000 he became Director Finance for the

OMCG SpA Italy Erik A. Macs has been named

At Interwire, OMCG NorthofAmerica director sales forshowcased Wire and the company’s technology for wire, tube and strip forming Plastic Machinery Corp (WPM). projects in the formsHe of has systems with modular Servaxis more than 25 years of and Multislide forming capabilities thatand provide experience in wire cablesolutions to reduce costsmachinery critical to profi salestability. at previous The company displayed its CNC Minimalist 6 model. sales and marketing positions It features a feed thatfor is Progressive very close toMachinery, bend tools,Inc., which reduces wire torsion Fine effect.

The model, which uses International Corp., and simple tooling, has multi radii bend capability.

The Thermoplastics Engineering CNC unit was shownCorp. with Prior CAD to to that, machine capability he had been Macs that allows easy programming while the machine is in involved with ebeam crosslinked production.

It also uses IGES and STEP file importwire materials research at Judd Wire; blown film packing to machine and machine controllers, via the “Easy aging manufacturing at Union Camp; extrusion and Program” that creates the program and can simulate injection molding processing at Dennison; and Teflon forming 3D animation on the screen.

It can indicate film heatwith sealing and thermoforming research with ifAmerican there is any interference between part and machine, Durafilm. He has a degree in mechanical all part of thefrom simple and effective “WhatCollege. you seeAis engineering Central New England what you get” philosophy.

Other pluses include member of the WAI since 1991, he was the 2013remote wininternet diagnostics and controller program ner of itsmachine Donnellan Memorial Award, which honors updating. an individual’s contributions to the Association. He

50 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

also received the WAI’s President’s Award in 2014 for extraordinary volunteer service. He served two terms on the Association’s board of directors, and is still a member of its education, member relations and paper awards committees. A former member of the board of directors of the New England Chapter of WAI, he served as that body’s president in 2000. He has also chaired the WAI’s Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing program since 2007, frequently serving as a course moderator and presenter. Based in Bristol, Connecticut, USA, Wire & Plastic Corp. is a major supplier of used wire and cable equipment that operates out of eight warehouse locations in North America, including the Northeast, North OMCG North Carolina andAmerica Texas. President Bob Sears with the company’s CNC Minimalist 6 system.

WAGO reported two personnel OMCG offers CNC systems for processing wire Juliano Matias was forms from 0.040 in.additions. to 0.700 in. with its unique, and named national sales manager for standard, eccentric bend head. Complementary options Canada.

He previously was nationavailable: robots, welding, grooving, cold heading, al marketing manager for assembly Phoenix chamfering, threading, stamping and forming, Contact, where he instrumental and Multislide operations. For progressive strip forming in developing projects, OMCG’s Servaxis and Multislide machines regional have blanking capacities up todeal120 ton and strip width er networks to +80 mm. www.omcg.com. for a range of industrial comSAMP USA, Inc. U.S. ponents and Matias SAMPSISTEMIelectronics.

Italy The company also the named Joe Stirpe division of Italy’s At Interwire, SAMPSISTEMI as its regional sales manager for including the SAMP exhibited several machines, upstate New York.

He has a diverse DM80.2x8.22 (16 wire, 22 dies) multiwire line, the background+ in technical sales pay-off, and BM-630-D SV800 motorized the latter will be Stirpe business development with Also a focus in operation during the show. a single PVC horizontal on control and electrical products extruder model TE60-25 for automotive application will be and applications. Over the last several decades, he has displayed. held position in business development The leadership DM80.2x8.22 represents the latest generation and of management at Siemens, Invensys Eurotherm and KJ SAMP multiwire design to improve production versatilElectric Corp.output Basedand in reduced Germantown, ity, increased energyPennsylvania, consumption.

USA, WAGO suppliers spring pressure connection The line offers increased energy efficiency and with aas well asfactor interconnect, interface and automation solutions power ≥ .95 enables the drawing line to have lower technology.

JANUARY 2016 | 25

PEOPLE

FEATURE

This timely innovation will benefi t customEuropean household care busiers who make high volume complex parts, as he ness in and Switzerland.

In 2002 NUMALLIANCE is was the sole CNCInternal wire bending Director Audit of machine manufacturer ableand to was offerappointed a complete range of P&G Director equipment from simple 2D feed and form and hard Treasury (Europe, Middle East, tool bending solution for Africa) wire, tube, spring flat-stock. in 2004.

Heand joined Bekaert There is no need to produce high volume and simple as Chief Financial Officer and memshape parts at exotic ber destination.

Jobs are coming back, of the Bekaert Group Executive and multi-slide benders are the solution. in 2006, andpreferred took on additional Until now, Italy hadresponsibility OMCG, America Nilson, for thehad Specialized Germany had Biehlerfilms and activity France platform. had Latour.

All those As of 2013, Humblet cam-driven mechanical multi-slide come with a major he combines his responsibilities as drawback: set upoftime.

That Operations is why NUMALLIANCE CFO with those Regional Management came with a concept of servo drivena commercial camless multislide, of Bekaert Latin America. He holds engiable to harbor tooling inSchool an all-electric neering degree most from of theexisting Solvay Business of the environment.

The NUMASLIDE is yours to discover.

Brussels University.

The Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group is www.nummalliance.com. a joint venture between Bekaert and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan that combines the ropes and advanced cords businesses of Bekaert and Bridon.

OMCG North America U.S.

FIBER WATCH

FIBER WATCH Bell Labs reports plans to shatter the capacity limits of standard optical fiber Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent, reports that it has made a breakthrough in its ambition “to shatter the capacity limits of optical networks as they strive to meet the explosion in traffic expected from 5G and the Internet of Things.”

Per reports of a study from Bell Labs, the company, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent, notes that it has achieved breakthrough prototoype technology that “will increase optical network capacities by more than tenfold and overcome the capacity threshold set by ‘the Shannon limit’ on standard fiber.”

Bell Labs said that it has demonstrated a world’s first prototype technology, a 6x6 real-time optical MIMO transmission system, that will push the limits of optical transport network capacity to meet future traffic demands. “Using the MIMO-SDM technique, Bell Labs aims to overcome the non-linear Shannon limit of currently deployed optical fiber.

During the 6x6 real-time MIMO transmission technology experiment, crosstalk from multiple signals on a special fiber supporting six parallel optical signal paths was removed for the first time using real-time processing. This breakthrough brings the technology a step closer to reality compared to previous experiements using off-line processing.”

The MIMO-SDM technique has the potential to increase current fiber capacities to a Petabit-persecond — enough capacity to allow two-thirds of the U.S. population to simultaneously stream HD movies over a single optical fiber, Bell Labs reported.

Antietam to to create the 1st privately funded ‘gigabit city’ in Maryland Hagerstown, Television Inc., announced plans for a $3 million 1-gigabit fiber network to be made available to more than 3,200 homes and businesses in Hagerstown’s central area in Maryland.

Per an article at herald-mail media.com, Antietam Cable President Brian Lynch said that construction is slated to begin in early 2016 and should be completed by summer. The result, he saoid, was this will be the first privately funded “gigabit city” in Maryland.

“We’re hoping this will be an impetus to higher participation (in high-speed broadband use) for businesses downtown,” Lynch said, noting that the network is designed to be an economic development tool for the city. “We’re building it ourselves, but there’s no benefit unless tremendous growth happens,” he said.

ISO9001 REGISTERED

DESIGNERS & MANUFACTURERS OF PAYOFF & TENSION CONTROL EQUIPMENT FOR WIRE & CABLE

Need a special pulley?

Got tension control issues?

Looking for the perfect pay-off?

Wyrepak Industries has the answer for all of your manufacturing needs!

For more details on any of our manufacturing product solutions, call us at 800-972-9222 or email sales@wyrepak.com WYREPAK INDUSTRIES — A Huestis Industrial Company • www.WYREPAK.com

68 Buttonwood Street, Bristol, Rhode Island 02809-0718 USA • tel: 800.972.9222 or 401.253.5500 fax: 401.253.7350 2C_WYREPAKHuestis_NeedASpecialPulley_WJI_halfHoriz_VariousCombos_withShowInfo_v3_03092015_press.indd 1

26 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

12/14/15 6:35:33 PM

Alcoa flies high with $2.5 billion Boeing contracts for fasteners and seat tracks...

Alcoa Inc. reports that it has won two contracts from Boeing Co. worth $2.5 billion to supply fasteners and seat tracks for the aircraft maker’s passenger planes.

Multiple media reports said that the Boeing orders, which represent the largest-ever contract for aerospace fasteners, are part of the company’s strategy to boost profits by expanding its business with aircraft makers.

Alcoa Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said that the order from Boeing for aerospace fasteners to Boeing, the world’s biggest plane maker, is the largest such deal ever made. The fasteners, used to hold together plane parts, would be made from a range of materials, including aluminum, advanced titanium, and nickel-based superalloys.

Chicago-based Boeing will buy titanium, stainless-steel and various alloy fastening systems for all its airliner platforms, said Alcoa, which will manufacture the products at seven factories around the globe.

Boeing is introducing new models of its 737 single-aisle plane and 777 long-range jets and has been renegotiating supplier contracts as part of the process. “We are pretty much, with our fasteners, on every Boeing platform and this contract secures that also going forward onto their new and revamped platforms,” Kleinfeld said in an interview.

Alcoa will also be sole supplier of titanium seat track assemblies for Boeing’s 787-10, the latest model of the Chicago-based plane maker’s Dreamliner, the reports said. “Alcoa has positioned itself to win in a multi-material aerospace industry, and these deals are the latest proof points that our strategy is working,” CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said.

Last October, Alcoa won a $1 billion contract from Boeing’s rival in France, the Airbus Group, for fasteners, including high-quality bolts, screws and rivets, that are used to hold or join airplane panels and components.

The media reports said that the aerospace industry is a fast-growing and profitable market for Alcoa as airlines seek to modernize their fleets. As of November 2015, Boeing had a backlog of 5,648 planes on order, according to the company’s website.

Other recent orders include China’s biggest airline, China Southern Airlines, which plans to buy more than 100 jets in a deal worth about $10 billion. That order includes 30 Boeing 737 Next Generation jets and 50 737 Max aircraft, while its Xiamen Airlines unit is buying 30 of Boeing’s 737 Max jets. n

Innovation meets Tradition

FAMILY BUSINESS for STRANDED CONDUCTORS from 0,2 up to 2.500mm²

Type SE 1

www.strecker-limburg.de www.streckerusa.com

Type SE 130

Type MK 800

Type MK 1200

WE SUPPLY THE MISSING PIECE FOR YOUR PRODUCTION!

JANUARY 2016 | 27

FASTENER UPDATE

FASTENER UPDATE

REPORT

TO MEMBERS

It has been an honor to serve as the Wire Association International’s President during the past year. Six years on the overall board and three years on the Executive Committee have gone by quickly. There were a lot of people who have helped me throughout, and I am truly appreciative of their assistance to not only discuss my initial involvement, but also help in guidance along the way. I would like to recognize Dick Hall (CEO of Champlain Cable) and express my sincere gratitude for his support during my time on the board. Dick understands the importance of giving back to our industry and the time was right in my career.

While I hope that my contribution was positive, it is not without the experience of working alongside so many dedicated volunteers. I have sat in on and 2015 President Bill Reichert, center, at the Board served on my committees and those committee memof Directors’ meeting at Interwire. bers are working diligently to make the Association a resource for the membership and the industry. Those tions, and WAI has certainly grown my understanding volunteers, including authors and presenters, total 250 and perspective of this diverse industry. annually and there is nothing but value that they add to Thank you to all of those volunteers for their time, the organization. expertise and passion. It has been a career highlight to I am also grateful for the opportunity to expand my work with you and serve our industry. network in the electrical sector as well as the ferrous side of the business. While my role at Champlain is Bill Reichert, Immediate Past President across the entire organization, my background is operaPresident, Champlain Cable

In many ways, 2015 was a very good year for WAI

By Steve Fetteroll, WAI Executive Director

The following information provides both Wire Association International (WAI) members and Wire Journal International (WJI) readers with a summary of activity from the Association, including its subsidiary operation, WJI. Variations of this Report have appeared in previous January issues to communicate about the organization’s activity over the past year.

M MEMBER PLATINU

REPORT

2015

REPORT

Past President Reichert points to volunteers as essential

ctor steel se

The past year was an active one for WAI, as it was an Interwire year, but there were many other projects and initiatives that served to keep the Association moving forward. The Member Relations Committee maintained its focus on growing the numbers of

28 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

members, with a full campaign during Interwire. While the results were still short of the ambitious goal, commendable gains were achieved by the volunteers who spearheaded the project. Supporting this initiative was the publishing of the second annual Platinum Member Report, and the production of three webinars during the past year.

®

INTERNATIONAL

WIREE JOU JOURNAL FEBRUARY 2015

®

INTERNATIONAL www.wirenet.org

2015

www.wirenet.org

WIRE JOURNAL MARCH 2015

®

INTERNATIONAL

WIRE JOURNAL APRIL 2015

®

INTERNATIONAL www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

update

Global Steel Overcapacity

update

INTERWIRE 2015  IWCS

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

Preview

GLOBAL CONTINUOUS CASTING FORUM

wrap-up OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

The Interwire trade exhibition remains the most visible activity of the Association. It is the gathering place for the industry and this was truly the case with the 2015 show that attracted 4,080 wire and cable professionals from 53 countries.

A key part of the success of Interwire 2015 was the second production of the Global Continuous Casting Forum. This forum, which was started by Encore’s Gary Spence in 2011, was expanded to include the aluminum sector. The organizing committee put together a great program, including a special evening at the Atlanta Aquarium.

The opening reception, which represents the outstanding networking value of the entire event, was

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

held at the College Football Hall of Fame, and the attendees truly enjoyed this new interactive venue that was around the corner from the Georgia World Congress Center. Other Interwire highlights included a strong educational conference, record-breaking attendance at the Fundamentals Workshop, the Abrashoff keynote presentation, and the tour of Southwire’s rod mill.

While the Association is pleased with the overall event and the large number of wire and cable manufacturing operations represented, attendance was flat comparable to the previous show, and the focus is now on generating even more industry participation for Interwire 2017.

WAI President Bill Reichert thanks event sponsors prior to the start of the Opening Reception.

JANUARY 2016 | 29

REPORT

WIRE JOURNAL JANUARY 2015

WIRE JOURNAL MAY 2015

®

INTERNATIONAL

REPORT

www.wirenet.org

WIR WI IR REE JOU JOUR RNALL JUNE 2015

®

INTERNATIONAL

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

WIRE JOURNAL JULY 2015

® ®

INTERNATIONAL

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

WIRE JOURNAL AUGUST 2015

® ®

INTERNATIONAL

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

Ancillary equipment ...and

... more

BRICS update

Interwire Wrapup n

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

Testing & Measuring

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

Wide-ranging support from volunteers, suppliers, wire & cable manufacturers As past president Reichert indicated above, the volunteer contribution to the organization impacts all activities and levels in the organization. There are 140 volunteers that serve on the Board of Directors and the 10 management committees, while an additional 70 deliver papers at multiple events during the year. Another 40 volunteers manage the three scholarship programs, and the five industry golfer tournaments that the WAI chapters’ sponsor. Clearly, WAI could not operate without the volunteers that produce events, manage financials, review and rate papers, and provide the administrative function for WAI. If volunteers are critical to the success of the operation, then the supplier group is essential. Their support is clearly evident on the show floor, where some 400 companies exhibited at Interwire. Not only are they are also a large segment of WAI membership, they are the show! Also, some further support the Association through their generous sponsorships, presenting technical papers, and for volunteering for just about everything WAI can think of.

John Scott speaking before winding the WAI clock on October 13, 2015.

30 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Equipment erwire at Int

Preview

 wire Russia wrapup OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

Back Story: Association planning The Board of Directors has identified five operating principles that serve to focus the efforts of the volunteers and staff. The principles, which are summarized below, are strategic in nature and from these principles, the Board of Directors and staff identify specific objectives that are intended to keep the organization moving forward.

• Strategic Review of Shows: This critical activity of the Association is important forum for the industry and the Association. It needs to be continuously improving to ensure it meets the expectations of attendees and exhibitors.

• Strategic Review of the Wire Journal International and wirenet.org: The evolution of digital content delivery is rapidly changing the landscape of publishing. The Wire Journal International and wirenet.org are critical activities and components of the Association’s brand.

Tom Siedlarz and Joe Snee joined WAI staff at headquarters for the Points Meeting for Wire Expo 2016.

OCTOBER 2015

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

WIRE W WI IR IR REE JOU JOUR JOURNAL RNALL

WIREE JOURNAL JOU

NOVEMBER 2015

® ® ®

DECEMBER 2015

®

INTERNATIONAL

® ®

INTERNATIONAL

www.wirenet.org

Manufacturing focus

INTERNATIONAL

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

www.wirenet.org

Green

REPORT

WIRE W WI IIR REE JOURNAL R JOU JOUR R N AL WIR IRE JOURN RN NA

 preview:

CabWire 2015

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

• New Product Development & Revenue Generation: The strength of the organization is directly connected to the creation of new products and the identification and deployment of revenue generating strategies.

• Project 3,000: The target of 3,000 members will need expanded support targeting new opportuni-

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

ties beyond the Platinum Membership Program, while the existing volunteer group will need to continue recruiting to offset normal attrition.

• Improved Utilization of Resources: The Board of Directors and staff are continuously seeking to improve the utilization of all resources, including technology, volunteer, financial assets and staff.

Who’s who at the home office of WAI? Below is group photo of the WAI staff. Many of these individuals you know through the events and some by interaction over the phone. Now you can put a name with a face.

PAUL STREETO Media Production Manager MARC MURRAY Technical Department

MARK MARSELLI Wire Journal Editor

LIVIA JACOBS Events Planner

BOB XELLER Sales Department

NICHOLE & SAMANTHA SZYMASZEK Part-time Office

CINDY KIRMSS Accounting Department

JANICE SWINDELLS Marketing Department

ANNA BZOWSKI Sales Department

DAVID LAVALLEY Accounting Department

CHUCK SZYMASZEK Director of Technology

STEVE FETTEROLL Executive Director

JANUARY 2016 | 31

WAI NEWS

WAI

NEWS

Andy Talbot to serve as WAI president in 2016 Andy Talbot, Mid-South Wire Co. Inc., will serve as WAI president for 2016, succeeding William Reichert, Champlain Cable Corp. The other 2016 officers are 1st Vice President David R Hawker, Nexans Energy Cables North America, 2nd Vice President Richard Wagner, Insteel Wire Products; WAI Executive Director/Secretary Steve Fetteroll and WAI Treasurer David LaValley.

The WAI officers are key to the direction and planning for events, products and services to serve the WAI’s more than 2,300 members.

President: Andy Talbot Andy Talbot, vice president and general manager of Mid-South Wire Co. Inc, in Nashville, Tennessee, is a 36-year veteran in the ferrous wire industry. Mid-South Wire is one of the largest independent steel wire producers in the U.S., with plants in Nashville and Scott City, Missouri.

Prior to joining Mid-South Wire in 1999, he served as Plant Manager of the Metrock Steel & Wire Plant (now

2016 WAI organizational chart Following are the committees/boards and chairmen that will help direct the WAI’s activities this year.

Executive Committee President: Andy Talbot Mid-South Wire Co. 1st V. P.: David Hawker Nexans Energy Cables North America 2nd V.P.: Richard Wagner Insteel Wire Products Member: Richard Baker General Cable Corp.

Jan Sorige Enkotec Co., Inc. Immediate Past Pres: William Reichert Champlain Cable Corp

32 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Leggett & Platt) in Montevallo, Alabama. Before that, Talbot held the position of Plant Engineer for Elco Industries/Anchor Wire Division. He worked for several years as an independent wire processing consultant, traveling to Russia, China, Peru and various parts of Europe and the U.S. Talbot joined the Wire Association International in 2010. He has been a member of the Conference Programming Committee since 2011. He holds a joint patent for an innovative retail package used in the point-of-purchase nail and fastener market.

1st Vice President: Dave Hawker Dave Hawker is Vice President and General Manager of Nexans Energy Cables North America. With operations in both Canada and the U.S., the division manufactures a wide range of products that include residential, commercial, industrial and utility cables. He previously has served in engineering, manufacturing and commercial roles at different Nexans cable plants. He attended the University of Waterloo where he earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering.

Hawker has been a member of the Wire Association

Board of Directors Richard Baker, General Cable Corp.

Eric P. Bieberich, Fort Wayne Wire Die, Inc. W.T. Bigbee, Encore Wire Corporation Steven Bonnell Brian Burr, Sumiden Wire Products, Inc. Anthony De Rosa, Frigeco USA, Inc. David Ferraro, Carris Reels, Inc. Dave Hawker, Nexans Energy Cables N. America Allen Lindholm, ArcelorMittal Long Carbon N. America.

Richard R. Miller, Southwire Company George “Jay” Munsey, S&E Specialty Polymers Patricio G. Murga, Conductores Monterrey SA de CV William Reichert, Champlain Cable Sheldon Scott, Whitney Blake Co. Jan Sorige, Enkotec Co., Inc. Jeffrey Stafford, Sonoco Reels and Spools Division Andy Talbot, Mid-South Wire Co., Inc. Mark Thackeray, General Cable Corp.

Richard Wagner, Insteel Industries

2nd Vice President: Richard Wagner Richard Wagner is Vice President and General Manager at Insteel Wire Products, the nation’s largest manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. He started with the company in 1992, and prior to that was Division Manager FWC Supply, for Florida Wire and Cable Company, where he worked from 1977 to 1992.

Wagner holds a BBA degree in management from the University of North Florida. The WAI member is beginning a second term on the Board of Directors. He is a co-chair of the Member Relations Committee, and has served on the Conference Programming Committee since 2012.

Executive Committee and Board of Directors for 2016 This year, the WAI Executive Committee will consist of Andy Talbot, Mid-South Wire Co. (President); David Hawker, Nexans Energy Cables North America (1st Vice President); Richard Wagner, Insteel Wire (2nd

Bylaws Committee Paul Pawlikowski, Delphi Electric Electric Systems

Conference Programming Committee

Vice President); William Reichert, Champlain Cable Corp. (Immediate Past President); and members Richard Baker, General Cable Corp., and Jan Sorige, Enkotec Co., Inc. WAI’s full Board of Directors includes Richard Baker, General Cable Corp.; Eric P. Bieberich, Fort Wayne Wire Die, Inc.; W.T. Bigbee, Encore Wire Corporation; Steven Bonnell; Brian Burr, Sumiden Wire Products, Inc.; Anthony De Rosa, Frigeco USA, Inc.; David Ferraro, Carris Reels, Inc.; Dave Hawker, Nexans Energy Cables North America; and Allen Lindholm, ArcelorMittal Long Carbon North America.

Also, Richard R. Miller, Southwire Company; George “Jay” Munsey, S&E Specialty Polymers; Patricio G. Murga, Conductores Monterrey SA de CV; William Reichert, Champlain Cable; Sheldon Scott, Whitney Blake Co.; Jan Sorige, Enkotec Co., Inc.; Jeffrey Stafford, Sonoco Reels and Spools Division; Andy Talbot, Mid-South Wire Co., Inc.; Mark Thackeray, General Cable Corp.; and Richard Wagner, Insteel Industries.

Member Relations Committee Steven Bonnell, and Richard Wagner, Insteel Wire Products

Andy Talbot, Mid-South Wire, and Dave Hawker, Nexans Energy Cables North America

Nominating Committee

Education Committee

Oversight Committee

Brian Parsons, Dekoro Wire & Cable

Exhibition Planning Committee Joe Snee, Joe Snee Associates

Finance Committee Richard Miller, Southwire Company

Memorial Awards Committee Tom Moran, National Standard Co.

Dane G. Armendariz, Chemetall

David Hawker, Nexans Energy Cables North America

Paper Awards Committee Bhaskar Yalamanchili, Gerdau Ameristeel

Publications Committee Dane G. Armendariz, Chemetall

WAI Chapters India, Italy, Poland and U.S. (Mid-South, Midwest, New England, Ohio Valley, Southeast and Western)

JANUARY 2016 | 33

WAI NEWS

International since 1994, and currently serves on the Board of Directors as well as the Conference Planning Committee and the Finance Committee.

Join WAI at the Sun for the best wire networking setting under the sun.

& SAVE THE DATES:

Convention: June 7-9 | Exhibits: June 8-9, 2016 Mohegan Sun Casino Resort | Uncasville, CT, USA Look directly to the Sun and the Wire Association Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2016 for the brightest ideas in wire and cable manufacturing, supplies, and equipment. Two full days of exhibits, wire industry insight, and practical information. Nothing beats a front row seat at a Wire Association conference to eclipse the competition.

Travel to this regional oasis is simple and convenient. And who knows? Yours may turn out to be a win-dough seat.

Find details about Exhibiting, Speaking & Sponsorship Opportunities at www.wirenet.org

The Wire Association International, Inc. | Telephone: (001) 203-453-2777 | www.wirenet.org

CEO o PLT MGR o ENGR

AIM Inc. Amacoil Inc. Amaral Automation Associates American Kuhne Inc. Anbao Wire & Mesh Co. Ltd. AW Machinery LLC Aztech Lubricants LLC B & H Tool Co Inc. Balloffet Die Corp.

Bekaert Breen Color Concentrates Inc. Cable Consultants Corp.

Canterbury Engineering Co. Inc. Carris Reels Inc. Ceeco Bartell Products, Bartell Machinery Systems Cemanco LC Chemetall Clayton Industries Clinton Instrument Co. Collins & Jewell Commission Brokers Inc. Condat Conneaut Industries Inc. Davis-Standard LLC Die Quip Corp.

Direct Wire & Cable, Inc. ERA Wire Inc. Esteves Group USA Etna Products Inc. Eurobend GmbH George Evans Corp.

Fabritex Inc. Facts Inc. Fenn LLC Filtertech Inc. Fisk Alloy Inc. Flymca & Flyro FMS USA Inc. Foerster Instruments Inc. Fort Wayne Wire Die Inc Frigeco USA Inc/ MFL USA Service Corp.

Gauder Group Inc. Gem Gravure Co. Inc. W. Gillies Technologies LLC GIMAX Srl Guill Tool & Engineering Co. Hangzhou JR Exhibition Co. Ltd. Heany Industries Inc. Heatbath Corp.

HENRICH Maschinenfabrik GmbH

Rosendahl Nextrom Roteq Machinery Inc. S&E Specialty Polymers E C SAMP USA Inc. Schlatter North America Shuster-Mettler Corp.

Sikora International Corp.

Houghton International Inc. Sivaco Wire Group Howar Equipment Inc. Sjogren Industries Inc. Huestis Industrial Joe Snee Associates Inc. IDEAL Welding Systems LP Sonoco Reels Integrated Control Technologies Stolberger Inc. Joe-Tools (DBA Wardwell Braiding) Kalmark Intergrated Systems Ltd. T & T Marketing Inc. KEIR Manufacturing Inc. Taubensee Steel & Wire Co. King Steel Corp.

Teknikor Lamnea Bruk AB Thermoplastics Engineering Corp.

LaserLinc Inc. Toner Plastics Leggett & Platt Wire Group Tubular Products Co. Leoni Wire Inc. Ultimate Automation Ltd. Lesmo Machinery America Inc. United Wire Co. Inc. Lloyd & Bouvier Inc. Vandor Corp.

Loos & Co. Inc. Vinston US Corp.

Magnetic Technologies Ltd. Vision Engineering Inc. Mathiasen Machinery Inc. Vollmer America Inc. Metalloid Corp.

WAFIOS Machinery Corp.

MGS Manufacturing Inc. Weber & Scher Mfg. Co. Inc. Micro Products Co. Windak Inc. Microdia USA Wire & Cable Technology International Morgan-Koch Corp.

Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp.

Mossberg Associates Inc. Wire Lab Co. NDC Technologies Wire Machine Systems Inc. Niehoff Endex North America Inc. Wire & Cable Manufacturers OMCG North America Inc. Alliance Inc. P & R Specialty Inc. The Wire Association International, Inc. P/A Industries Wire Journal International, Inc. Paramount Die Co. WireWorld Parkway-Kew Corp.

Witels Albert USA Inc. Phifer Wire Inc. Woodburn Diamond Die Inc. Pittsfield Plastics Eng. Inc. Zumbach Electronics Corp.

Plas-Ties Co. Precision Die Technologies Inc. Premier Wire Die PrintSafe Properzi International Inc. Wire | Cable QED Wire Lines Inc. Supplies | Equipment Queins Machines Raajratna Stainless Wire Inc. Rainbow Rubber & Plastics Refractron Technologies Corp.

RichardsApex Inc. Rockford Manufacturing Group FELM

&

WAI NEWS

WAI JANUARY 2016

MEMBERSHIP

SPOTLIGHT This section introduces a new WAI member each issue.

Brian Meachum Sr. Manager Product Marketing Honeywell|Security and Fire ® Genesis Series Cable Q: What does your company do?

A: We make wire. I don’t have enough space here to tell you what Honeywell at large does, so I’ll keep it simple: Honeywell Cable (formerly Genesis Cable Systems) is a manufacturer of low-voltage signal and data transmission cabling.

Q: What is your role there?

A: I get all the jobs the GM doesn’t want to get his hands dirty doing. I lead the functions of marketing, product development, pricing, SIOP and engineering.

Q: What do you like best about your position?

A: I have been with this business for 14 years, and worn many hats from engineering through operations.

In my current role, I get to pick up each of those hats depending on the challenge facing us at the time. The best part, however, is getting into the field and getting to experience with our customers the challenges they struggle with every day, and to help them bring solutions to market that solve those problems.

Q: How has your industry most changed?

A: Wireless is a fad, wireless is a fad. That is my daily affirmation. The biggest change, I think, has been the consolidation of purpose-built wire designs to common standard products, like Cat. 5e.

Q: How does your company remain competitive?

A: As the consolidation mentioned above continues, the opportunity for a company to differentiate its wire products gets smaller and smaller. That said, we have been able to remain competitive by solving the daily challenges of our customers, with innovations like our WaveFlex jacketing and our new package design called REACT. Q: Why did you recently join WAI? A: I came back to WAI to reconnect with the wide network of wire professionals. It helps me stay in touch with how the industry at large is working to solve the challenges in the market today. Having the Midwest Chapter golf tournament in driving distance doesn’t hurt either.

36 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

The following individuals either recently joined WAI or became Platinum Members through their companies.

Donald E Craig Production Planning Manager Haynes Wire Co David Faust CEO Precision Wire Technologies

Doug P Goldsworthy Manager Haynes Wire Co

Laura Loturco CEO Trafco Srl

Ali M Shehab President Cimteq Ltd

Shang-Shu Kim R&D Department Metallink Inc.

Brian Meachum Sr. Manager Product Marketing Honeywell|Security and Fire Genesis® Series Cable

Mario Silva General Manager JG Industria Metalurgica Ltda

Samantha Krueger Associate Engineer General Cable

Kevin Ferguson Buyer Haynes Wire Co Brandon Furr Sales and Marketing Manager Haynes Wire Co

Krista Leigh Lindquist Materials & Manufacturing Engineer Northwire Inc

Valgene E Raloff Product Manager Electron Beam Technologies Inc

Gregory M Spalding Vice President Tube & Wire Haynes Wire Co

John Scott Consultant Dambuster LLC

Our great British welders are hard to beat

Visit us at

Hall 9 Stand B41 Meet Stuart, workshop foreman and cold weld expert. He’s been making and testing our machines and dies for over 15 years, helping customers improve production and reduce costs.

Whatever you’re welding, you’ll find PWM products dependable, accurate and extremely good value.

Just like Stuart.

Find out more at www.pwmltd.co.uk

All inquiries within North America for machines, spares and dies, contact: MADE IN THE UK

Joe Snee Associates, Inc. PO Box 236, Seekonk, MA 02771 Tel: 774-991-0504 Email: joe@jsnee.com

Pressure Welding Machines Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 1233 820847 Fax: +44 (0) 1233 820591 E-mail: pwm@btinternet.com www.pwmltd.co.uk

New PWM welders and dies available only from PWM or its authorised distributors.

JANUARY 2016 | 37

WAI NEWS

MEET YOUR PEERS. ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS. JOIN WAI TODAY.

Each month, WAI will present a webinar from its archives. The webinars, presented by a diverse group of industry experts, cover a wide range of wire and cable manufacturing topics as well as operational subjects. They can be accessed for free at wirenet.org by WAI members.

How well do you know your cleaning house?

TITLE: Ways

to determine root causes of issues blamed on the cleaning house

If the ferrous rod being processed through a cleaning house has a reddish hue, what simple site test can you run to determine whether the source is from the acid plating copper on the surface or from hematite scale generated in the annealing operation?

BY: Rudy Vey and Jack McAfee, Chemetall US, USA SUMMARY: Everyone talks about running an operation perfectly, but since that never happens in the real world, where do you start looking when an issue arises? This webinar briefly covers identifying the root cause of issues that can develop from a cleaning house. It also discusses determining if the source really is the cleaning house or if it is possibly from processes that come before or after that step in the production cycle. In some cases, simple tests can be run on-site to help point you in the right direction.

This information, and more, can be found in the WAI/Chemetall webinar.

Willing to share your expertise with the industry?

If so, consider doing a webinar with WAI. It’s easy to do from your office, and Association staff can guide you through the process. Contact WAI Dir. of Education & Member Services Marc Murray at tel. 203-453-2777, ext. 121, mmurray@wirenet.org, and let him know the topic you’d like to discuss.

EDUCAT

Huestis Ceramic Air Miser™ Air Wipes Our ceramic air wipes are so good, we can’t make them fast enough!

Our customers love the fact that they don’t need to check alignment and worry about damage to the body.

What’s more, Huestis Ceramic Air Wipes deliver the same efficiency as the standard Air Miser™ Air Wipe while providing prolonged life to the unit. Just install, center the product and run...it’s that simple!

Huestis Industrial machines — our performance is legendary!

PATENT PENDING

WAI NEWS

... From the WAI webinar archives

ISO9001 REGISTERED

For more details or to place an order, call us at 800-972-9222, or email us at sales@huestis.com www.huestisindustrial.com Air Wipes, Pay-offs, Take-ups, Buncher Pay-offs, Accumulators, Spoolers, Cable Jacket Strippers, Custom Machinery 2C_HUESTIS_SoGoodCantMakeFastEnough_WJI_halfHoriz_v5_12142015_press.indd 1

38 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

12/14/15 5:44:14 PM

WAI plans to return to Mexico to stage ITC on Oct. 18-20

The second leg of a two-part webinar on corrosion issues by well-known industry veteran Robert M. Shemenski will be presented at 2 pm EST on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016.

The webinar will address corrosion mitigation strategies, including material selection, modification of environment, design, cathodic and anodic protection, coatings, and inhibitors. Corrosion is essentially an economic problem because it is one of the most significant costs faced by industry, amounting to about $322 billion a year in the U.S. Mitigation is the most cost-effective solution to this large economic burden.

The first part of the program addressed the nature and impact of corrosion, including the principles of the corrosion process, characteristics of major forms of corrosion, and the effect on economics, safety, and conservation. Shemenski fielded questions on a range of topics, from what types of sealers are used to prevent corrosion between dissimilar metals to why the United States does not move to materials like stainless steel or nickel to combat the high cost of corrosion.

The webinars are free to WAI members, and $55 for non-members. For more information, members can go to wirenet.org and click on “webinar archives.”

The WAI plans will return to Mexico to stage what will be its four International Technical Conference (ITC) on Oct. 18-20, 2016.

The upcoming ITC will mark the third time that WAI has held the event in Monterrey, Mexico, to stage another International Technical Conference (ITC) there on Oct. 18-20. The WAI has held the event in Monterrey in 2010 and 2008, and in Queretaro Paolo in 2004. Mexico has proved to be a very successful location.

Each WAI ITC includes technical presentations, a keynote presentation, a plant tour, tabletop displays and a social event. More details will be available in the months to come.

Points Meeting for WAI trade show is scheduled for March 17, 2016 The Points Meeting for Interwire, where exhibitors can first select booth space per the Points System, will be held at WAI’s headquarters in Madison, Connecticut, on Thursday, March 17. Expectations are that some 150 to 200 companies will take part in the process. Contact sales@wirenet.org for more details.

JANUARY 2016 | 39

WAI NEWS

Second part of Shemenski webinar about corrosion issues set for Feb. 9

SE E AI W AT AN ST D 11 B2 1

Freeze the rate.

Love the value.

This is your chance to lock in your WAI membership at the current rate before dues increase next year.

Renew now and you’ll appreciate all the membership benefits you count on at the current rate, for up to 3 years.

❄❄❄

❄

Not a member? Join thousands who support the Association that supports their industry. You’ll unlock a world of educational resources, connections, and industry insight that are vital to your career. Learn more:

WWW.WIRENET.ORG

Renew your WAI membership.

Renew your vow to the wire & cable industry.

The Wire Association International, Inc. | Tel.: (001) 203-453-2777

The logistics are still being worked out, but the New England Chapter has come up with a novel approach for at its annual meeting, to be held Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino.

Instead of a keynote speaker or entertainment group, two or more past chapter scholarship winners are expected to briefly speak about their college experience. “We wanted to do something different,” said chapter President Bob Srubas, who explained that the concept stemmed from a brainstorming session by the chapter’s board of directors.

CHAPTER CORNER

New England Chapter’s annual meeting to have a speaker first

CHAPTER CORNER

CHAPTER CORNER

New England chapter members at their tour of Marmon Group’s Innovation & Technology Center.

“The board thought it would be good if we let everyone at the annual meeting hear from some of the past winners as to what they are doing in the real world,” Srubas said. The scholarships are offered to graduating high school seniors whose parent or guardian is a chapter member. Three years ago, the eligibility was extended to grandchildren of NEC members. Since 2006, the chapter has awarded more than $40,000 of scholarship awards to 33 recipients The chapters’ scholarship fund is supported by the its annual golf tournament, annual dinner meeting and educations events. The annual meeting will also see the introduction of new officers and a look back at 2015 accomplishments, as well as a raffle to help benefit the chapter’s Scholarship Fund.

A magician will walk about, entertaining attendees prior to the start of the program, but as ever, the real attraction is the opportunity to meet up with peers and friends in a fun, familiar setting.

Sponsorships are available for the event. Platinum is $500, Gold is $350, Silver is $250 and Bronze is $150. Tickets are $120 for chapter members, $130 for WAI members and $140 for non-members. A block of rooms has been set aside at $145/night. n

OCTOBER 2015 | 41

Copper outlook: not so fast with the obit scrap smelting no longer exists Just a little over 30 years ago, Dec. 17, 1984, to be in the U.S. exact, Business Week published a disturbing article that Given the severity of probwas entitled, “The Death of Mining (in America).” lems facing the industry in the The narrative spelled out a long list of challenges early 1980s, one would have facing the industry to include excess capacity; weak been hard pressed to disagree demand; low prices; environmental laws; foreign comwith the dreadful outlook that petition, and the high cost of labor among other issues. prevailed. Little did we know, The outlook was dire indeed, not only for copper, but however, that the seeds of all industrial metals. The commentary concluded with recovery were already being a serious warning that if another broad based recession planted when that story ran. were to hit the U.S. in 1985, or 1986, it would probably This is not to suggest that prices sound the death knell for an industry that is already perJohn E. Gross began rising immediately after manently bedridden. As an aside, Representative Morris the report came out, but rather, Udall, who was Chairman of the Interior Committee they began consolidating, instead of continuing their at that time was quoted as saying, “We need a copper decline. industry in this country, if for nothing else, (for) defense Interestingly, many aspects of that Business Week artipurposes.” There was also talk of subsidizing the mining cle of long ago could be rewritten today, with different industry. names of companies, people, as well as prices and probA few other points of interest when comparing the lems that plague the industry now. domestic copper market of 31 years ago to today: in The purpose of this paper is not to delve too deeply 1984, total production of refined copper stood at 1.63 into how, when and why the mining industry not only million short tons (ST), inclusive of 187,000 ST of recovered, but went on to enjoy an embarrassment of smelter production from scrap. Last year production The Copper Journal riches when the stars finally aligned in their favor, but of refined copper was 1.21 million ST, but regrettably, Copper Price & Inventory Comparison 1999 - November 2015

Price

MT

$5.00

1,350,000

$4.75

1,275,000

$4.50

1,200,000

$4.25

1,125,000

$4.00

1,050,000

$3.75

975,000

$3.50

900,000

$3.25

825,000

$3.00

750,000

$2.75

675,000

$2.50

600,000

$2.25

525,000

$2.00

450,000

$1.75

375,000

$1.50

300,000

$1.25

225,000

$1.00

150,000

$0.75

75,000

$0.50

0 1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Cx & LME Inventories - Metric Tonnes

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Comex Monthly Average Price

2013

2014

2015

JE Gross & Co., Inc.

A historical view shows that volatility is not a stranger to copper prices. Chart courtesy of John Gross.

42 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

MT

Price

PERSPECTIVES

PERSPECTIVESS

Perspectives is an occasional section to present notable information about subjects that may be directly or indirectly related to the wire and cable industry. If your company has information that it believes should be included, send an e-mail explaining why to editorial@wirenet.org.

JANUARY 2016 | 43

PERSPECTIVES

to illustrate that we are in the midst of a cycle that has played out many times before. Further, although the world is very different today than it was 10, 20, or 50 years ago, the one constant that remains in the markets, is human nature, and our inherent emotions of hope, greed, and fear.

Why that is, we don’t know, but hope and fear seem to be driving the markets now, and everything we read, hear and see reinforces that negative sentiment.

To this point, a leading financial The current perception of copper’s current and future value may mimic publication recently ran an article on past overreactions. copper, suggesting that more pain was in store for the industry in 2016. It cited have returned, or are close to their long term average a list of issues that will drive prices lower, with some prices. analysts predicting that prices will fall to $1.75, if not Copper has been in a downtrend after peaking at $1.50 per pound to force necessary production cuts and $4.62 per pound in February 2011. In the very short restore market balance. term, we’ve seen copper trade to a low close of The article concluded with a forecast expecting cop$2.02 on a Spot basis, with the market falling into per to average $2.06 in 2016. As a point of reference, oversold territory. Our analysis points to a correcSpot copper is currently trading at about $2.05 on tion that could take the market back to $2.20, if not Comex, and with just two weeks to go before year end, higher by the first quarter of 2016. Don’t take this as it looks like the annual average price of copper will a price forecast, but just a reading of recent market come in at about $2.50, down 62¢, or almost 20% from movements. $3.12 last year.

Over many years of high priced experience, one of Of course, it would be very easy to concur with the the most important lessons we have learned is that pessimistic point of view, and the reality of the situation no one really knows what the market is going to do. is not very encouraging. However, a review of other Similarly, despite logical analysis and the assessinfluencing factors, as esoteric as they may be, hints ment of market fundamentals, quite frequently, marat the potential of higher rather than lower prices next kets do not respond logically. year, and if nothing else, some market history helps to Nevertheless, if history is our guide, the seeds of maintain an even keel in our thinking. recovery are now being planted, and the next turn of For example, as I write this on Dec. 16, 2015, the the cycle will be upon us.

Federal Reserve finally raised its benchmark lending rate by 25 points, representing the first increase since John E. Gross. Editor/Publisher, the financial crisis of 2008. Take a look at the long The Copper Journal term relationship of copper prices to the prime lending rate over the past 45 years. Generally speaking, higher interest rates associate with halting market declines, A past contributor to WJI, John E Gross has and often accompany rising copper prices. From a very worked with leading companies in the global metals different point of view, 2015 will be the fourth consecindustry for more than 40 years, and has written utive annual decline in the Market Price, or what used extensively about market issues and price trends. He to be called the Producer Price for copper. Over the past assists companies in the development, implementa100 years, to include the Great Depression of the 1930s, tion and overall management of price risk strategies copper never fell for more than four consecutive years. for procurement, sales, and inventory valuations.

Further, over the past 70 years, with the exception of a He recently developed a unique methodology, market disruption caused by massive fraudulent trading, “Commodities without Tears,” to assess and manage followed by the bursting of the dot.com bubble in 2000, price risk exposure to help organizations navigate copper has held above its 20 year moving average since metal and energy markets. He can be reached at tel 1945. And if one believes in “regression to the mean,” a 631-824-6486, john.gross@jegross.com. review of metal and energy markets illustrates that most

FEATURE

LUBRICATION & filtration This feature presents a range of perspectives from lubricant suppliers, followed on p. 54 by a filtration primer, then an assortment of lubricant products in the Products section that starts on p. 58.

Q&A insight from lubricants suppliers WJI: How difďŹ cult is it to convince a customer to pay more than the very lowest price offered on the market?

A majority of our customers place a premium on productivity and technical service, and take a holistic view of costs. They acknowledge that lubricant cost is secondary to productivity and reliability, particularly with newer, more sophisticated machines that demand higher performing functional uids. That said, we appreciate that customer needs vary. Bruce Calvert, executive vice president, RichardsApex.

Well, if you assume all products and companies are equal, then we recommend to our clients to buy on price. If there is value in having technical support to ensure you are getting the most for your money in your production process, then a product that is higher in price may be the best overall buy. There is nothing wrong in challenging a supplier with a higher price to show how his product will reduce costs and be more cost-effective to use. Dane Armendariz, industry manager, Chemetall, Inc.

It’s very easy, if the customer is high quality and performance-oriented, and understands that the choice of a “premium” lubricant can provide immediate production cost savings. At the same time, for a slightly higher price, the use of high-quality lubricant will result in increased die work-life, better lubrication, better drawing performance and productivity, and better quality of the finished wire. Fabio Bellina, business manager, TKT Group.

A lubricant with high reliability and consistent performance is likely to be slightly more expensive than a very basic one. Ongoing R&D often requires the use of more expensive raw materials and additives, for instance, additives to extend operating life of the product. Moreover, diminution or removal of certain substances—such as borax in soaps, in line with the HSE policy of CONDAT—can often mean an overall more expensive formulation. But customers ultimately appreciate the benefits of these lubricants through their production indicators. A supplier’s technical knowledge and experience is Séverine Tilliette invaluable. CONDAT helps customers select a lubricant that offers the best compromise between performance, cost efficiency and (increasingly important) environmental impact. Not only do we guarantee customers a reliable, consistent and high level of quality, our experts provide a full range of services to help clients improve their production processes and productivity via lubricant use on-site audits and specific training on our technologies for plant management and operators. Séverine Tilliette, wire drawing products manager, CONDAT. The customer is always seeking a product which will perform and provide trouble free running. It is false economics when a user purchases a product based on the price per drum, as often a very low priced product will not provide the desired performance. Consequently,

the cheaper lubricant can be more costly to run, also contributing to production issues.

The customer is always willing to pay more for a consistent performance product that can provide trouble-free running and have a long product life, hence reducing the overall productivity cost of the process. Stuart Stuart Duff Duff, business development manager, metal manufacturing products, Q8Oils.

Assisting our customers in obtaining maximum technical performance using suitable and, where necessary, personalized products, is our mission. In so doing we have been able to strike up a relationship of open collaboration with our customers. Trust is gained with strong business ethics, integrity and honesty. Obtaining maximum performance from our products and giving added value is key to obtain a fair price, both for us and our customers. We thank our customers who have placed their trust in us, thereby giving us the opportunity to become the respected worldwide company that we are today. Giorgio Corso, CEO, Lubrimetal Corporation.

I believe that it takes added effort to make sure the customer sees the added value. Most times there are many things that go in the making the choice. Quality, delivery, service and price are all part of that decision.

It’s the customer’s job to get the best value, no matter what the price. Jonathan Anderson, CEO, Aztech Lubricants LLC. Our products are known for their characteristic of providing superior value to the customer. They all have been developed to provide a long service life while contributing to process effectiveness. Providing value and service makes our product line a winning combination. Paul Berger, president, Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc.

Paul H. Berger JANUARY 2016 | 45

FEATURE

Not so difficult, if you can demonstrate the added benefits of your product. Price should be discussed only after field trials are performed. We try to avoid getting trapped in the “price box” and stress the benefits and uniqueness of Metalloid’s WireWorks product line.

Richard (Rick) Strapple, vice president sales & marketing, Metalloid Corp.

FEATURE

ness is no longer driven by lowest cost providers. This business is increasingly being driven by higher value service, consultative sales and the ability to develop solutions to help our customers’ improve their market position. Customers looking to improve are willing to pay for innovative solutions as long as the value proposition is equitable for both parties. Dan Howard, product manager, Blachford.

From l-r, METALUBE Director Douglas Hunt, Chris Nettle (technical) and Robert Brown (managing).

The value added component of any commercial lubricant offering can be represented in many different ways and depends entirely on the needs of the client. The sort of things that clients will pay Metalube more for include: length of service as a supplier; field support; technical service; speed of delivery allowing a reduction of inventory; and longer life from the product.

Douglas Hunt, commercial director, METALUBE. The challenge to presenting the overall cost of use versus cost of acquisition is inversely proportional to the level of sophistication of the manufacturer. Those producers who are aware of the interaction of lubricant with toll life, drawing speeds, surface quality work environment and overall productivity, generally come to realize the value of a lubricant that may not be the “least expensive.” Laboratory testing can be very helpful in assisting the end user to make an objective decision on lubricant choice. Mike Bell, vice president of technology and sales, Etna Products, Inc. This is still one of the most interesting, exciting and complicated parts of our job, particularly now that all the producers are slowly recovering from a long period of low production/crisis related to the suffering global economy. It is important to prove to customers the quality of our service together with the quality of our products. You need to show that you are aware of the issues and problems related to their production, and be able to explain that there is a reason to pay for quality.

They are aware that a better product can offer substantial improvement in the production rate or saving production-related costs. It is sometimes hard, but this is the essence of our task. Luigi Vago, vice president and managing director, Pan Chemicals SpA. It may have never been the case, but regardless of past purchasing practices, the wire drawing lubricant busi46 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Many customers recognize that the value of products is more than just the acquisition cost so it is not as difficult to convince people these days. A great example is a fully synthetic product. The acquisition cost is higher but the make-up rate is much lower. Over the course of a lubricant systems life the synthetic can be less expensive to run. Troy Carr, business development manager, Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC.

WJI: In your market area of expertise, do you see any leap forward in lubricant technology in the near future?

We see a continuing trend of replacement of naturally occurring materials (e.g. petroleum hydrocarbons) with engineered synthetic materials such as polyalphaolefins and synthetic esters. Paul Berger, Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc. We do not see anything on the horizon that qualifies as disruptive technology but view what is happening on the aluminum side of the business with water-based lubricants as challenging. Any breakthrough will require collabora-

Bruce Calvert tion with end users who are willing to try new things and provide feedback. The development of computer chips and disposable diapers exemplify this. Bruce Calvert, RichardsApex.

The future is “green technology.” I am excited and pleased that governments all over the world “finally” recognize the importance of manufacturing’s impact on the global environment. I believe lubricant technology is driv-

Absolutely yes. The market asks for lubricants that are safe and perform better at a fair price. For that reason we continue to study and test new alternative solutions to the standard lubricant types available in the market. Fabio Bellina, TKT Group.

There are a few areas that are ripe for technology advancement. We are already seeing lubricants that are aligned with some of the previously mentioned material restrictions/concerns.

Water-dilutible drawing lubricants for copper and aluminum have been designed to reduce or eliminate the need for tank side additions of biocides. For some applications, the use of lubricants without chlorinated additives has been successful. More work in this area still remains but offers an opportunity for technology advancement. Mike Bell, Etna Products, Inc. Yes. Lubricant technology will continuously evolve, to meet our customers’ needs for better products, and to respect government and environmental requirements. Dan Howard, Blachford No, but we will keep trying! Jonathan Anderson, Aztech Lubricants LLC. Leaps? I don’t think so, but I do expect to see continued improvements to give longer solution life and greener technologies. Dane Armendariz, Chemetall, Inc. We are very excited about our water-based products for the aluminum wire drawing industry. While there have been some products that worked well on smaller diameter wire, our Unopol AL Series is now being used for drawing aluminum rod and in multiwire applications. It allows a company to reduce residue on the finished wire and to eliminate the potential risk of fire with straight oil products.

Troy Carr, Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC. Raw material supply has been a problem in the past, but working closely with our suppliers, new additive technologies have largely eliminated this concern. The most recent focus is new safety legislation and changing environmental requirements of different markets. Q8Oils has fully complied with such legislation. Stuart Duff, Q8 Oils.

We are working to be the leading company for innovation so as to generate a leap forward in lubricant technology in the near future. Ask for our new generation products.

Giorgio Corso, Lubrimetal Corporation.

Even with the most advanced wire drawing machineries, soap-based powder remains the main lubricant technology.

This has been developed since the origin of wire drawing.

Up to now, it is still the cheapest and the most efficient way to produce metallic wires. CONDAT will always contribute to processing improvements with its broad expertise in terms of surface (lubrication) technology. Some of our developments have been left aside as they were requesting important processing changes and investments. The wire industry remains a complex technical environment with many variables. It is rather a step-by-step evolution based on long term partnerships among all suppliers for this industry. François Chambellant, CONDAT. The regulatory changes being brought in by governments on the use of chemical products or market changes being made by suppliers is going to force change on the industry.

Companies such as METALUBE that are thinking ahead and planning for these changes will be in a strong position once the market is forced to act and make any changes.

Douglas Hunt, METALUBE.

WJI: Please explain the role of R&D for lubricants: is this deployed only in response to specific customer requests, or is it also done proactively to develop new products?

At Metalloid, the primary objective of R&D is to develop new products that are biodegradable, biorenewable and biosustainable.

Of course, we also work closely with our customers to develop environmentally sound products based on specific needs and processes. Investments in green technology benefit not only the industry but also the world we live in. Rick Strapple, Metalloid Corp.

Most of our R&D is driven by customer needs. We have made big proactive pushes in product development when we have learned about new materials that may be adapted to our formulations. Much of our research is about gaining a better understanding of the changes that occur to our products while they are in service (such as contaminant buildup and additive depletion). We recently acquired a new piece of lab equipment that will give us better insight

JANUARY 2016 | 47

FEATURE

en by customer demand as well as environmental impact.

As a result creative formulating is essential now and in the future. The demand for green lubricant technology is here to stay because people want it and the world demands it.

Rick Strapple, Metalloid Corp.

FEATURE

into these changes. The decision to buy this unit was driven by our conviction that enhanced customer service makes our product line an easier choice for the customer. Paul Berger, Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc. R&D is a constant in the wiredrawing lubricant industry. Many new products come from a specific customer need, but we are always looking for the next great additive. No chemical companies are out developing additives for the wire industry. It’s up to us to work with our suppliers to test new additives that may work for us. That takes a whole lot of trial-and-error effort. Jonathan Anderson, Aztech Lubricants LLC. R&D is fundamental in both the role of adaptation and proactive search of improvement. For drawing lubricants it is always important to be aware of the chemical components involved in the process and always try to find alternative additives or substances that can be compatible with the varying requirements each country has. Our broad experience helps us also realize which is the direction that each different production field is taking and we invest in anticipation of their needs. Technology is always changing and it is important to be part of this change to fully understand and promote it. Luigi Vago, Pan Chemicals SpA. This is a great question and one that all businesses struggle with, from time to time. Blachford is a very R&D-oriented organization. We feel the best way for us to offer value is by continuously looking for the next innovation in our areas of expertise. To do this, we need to employ a combination of reactive and proactive lubricant development. Blachford’s low dust dry drawing lubricants were developed in response to regulatory and operational changes that we saw happening in North America. However, we also work very closely with our customers to develop customer-specific solutions. Blachford has developed very collaborative relationships with some of the world’s largest wire drawers, and all work within these relationships is driven by customer-specific projects. Dan Howard, Blachford.

At METALUBE, R&D is an on-going process that never starts or stops. There are periods of time when the process may slow or speed up depending on what is happening in the market with the product, with other products used in different market places and of course our competitors. Our aim is to always optimize the use of the talent available to match the opportunities for development in the market this is often challenging. Douglas Hunt, METALUBE.

48 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

We are constantly developing new product technologies; this is the lifeblood of a successful company. Our development projects are based on many requirements, such as increasing performance of current products, evaluating new additive technologies and responding to legislation and the requirements of our worldwide customer base. Always, the goal is to provide ever-more safety conscious products that meet the latest and forthcoming legislation, thus providing our customers the most advanced product available. Stuart Duff, Q8Oils.

Our capability to continuously develop new formulations able to meet and sometimes to anticipate the diverse needs of customers has been and remains crucial. For this purpose investing in our laboratory facilities, fully equipped with cutting-edge analysis equipment and highly trained R&D chemists and technicians, has been and will always be strategic. Giorgio Corso, Lubrimetal Corporation.

We’re very careful to catch and anticipate proactively the market needs and also to start R&D project for a specific customer if this pioneer activity is considered a value-added plus for the future.

On a periodic basis, our quality, R&D and business development departments meet and jointly decide the strategic framework Dust test by Fabio Bellina. of new products development. About 7-9% of our yearly turnover is allocated to R&D activities, which is a source of pride for our company. Fabio Bellina, TKT Group.

Typically R&D addresses both near and long term objectives. Customer needs will always be a driving force for product development based on what they need today in order to optimize their operation. At the same time it is the responsibility of the lubricant supplier to anticipate future needs so that product offerings address such things as changes in regulatory requirements, OEM specifications, and process/equipment capabilities. Mike Bell, Etna Products, Inc. CONDAT’s expertise is to continuously improve the formulations of its range of products. This can be done for a specific customer request or for a needed improvement, but it is mainly done proactively. In recent years, CONDAT’s R&D department has mainly focused on improving the friendliness (HSE) of its products without compromising

Intense competition at the supplier and user levels is driving the pace of lubricant development. Anyone not investing proactively in R&D will be left behind. Business models are used to decide where to invest R&D resources with market-pull projects taking precedence over product-push projects. Overlaying this is the need for ongoing technical service. Bruce Calvert, RichardsApex.

For years I saw R&D groups make new products and pass them out to the sales force, which tried to sell the “new and improved” to a weary market.

Now that companies are lean we have taken a new approach: we ask the client, “Where do you want to be in 5-10 years, and what should we be working on to help get you to your goal?” We don’t get many projects but the ones we get are real. For example; the automoDane Armendariz tive industry is under pressure to lower vehicle weight. The new alloys of high strength steel and aluminum both have new lubrication needs. When we can get a two- or threeyear advance notice on such industry goals, we jump on it!

Dane Armendariz, Chemetall, Inc. R&D is utilized in response to customer issues but it is also critical to the new product development. Tolerances and specs in our customers’ processes have become so much more critical that the performance of the lubricants must continue to improve to provide a better final product.

Troy Carr, Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC.

WJI: Has the role of product quality/traceability gotten bigger? Could any of the multiple automotive recalls be linked to a lubricant misapplication or quality issue?

It’s crucial. Tecnovo has been applying a product quality/ traceability systematic method for many years, even before the advent of ISO/9001 quality certification. Lubricant quality may have a considerable affect in the automotive production process. Fabio Bellina, TKT Group.

In any industry, it is very important to have repeatability of your product’s performance. Troy Carr, Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC.

Lubricant traceability has always been important: it is also the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide a high-quality lubricant product. Those products must be supported by customer training and our best experience so customers can achieve the best possible lubricant performance and life. Q8Oils constantly works with customers to educate, assist and improve. It is more than a supplier relationship; we are an important part of our customers’ manufacturing process.

Our involvement continues on another level, industry organizations, where we are highly active. We are a founding member of: IWMA, where we serve on its executive committee; the U.K. Lubricants Association Metalworking Fluid Product Stewardship Group; and the Health & Safety Executive Metalworking Fluid Guidance Advisory Panel.

Stuart Duff, Q8Oils.

With most lubricant suppliers having third-party quality system certification, there is typically not an issue with quality/traceability. I’m not aware of any of the recent auto recalls being related to a lubricant issue but the potential always exists. Mike Bell, Etna Products, Inc. To our best knowledge, none of the automotive recalls have been linked to any lubricant issues. Product recommendation, product quality and reliability are what you are looking for with CONDAT. François Chambellant, wire drawing business unit manager, CONDAT. Absolutely! One of our clients had an issue with a fastener they provided which triggered a recall. Could it have been traced back to the lubricant? Of course. Now, in this case, the final analysis showed it was a group of fasteners from a “less expensive” foreign manufacturer.

Companies that are not ready to determine root cause and be held accountable should not be in the market. Dane Armendariz, Chemetall, Inc. Product quality has been and remains important; we are ever vigilant. Bruce Calvert, RichardsApex.

We cannot answer this question as Blachford is not directly exposed to many of those businesses, however, product quality and traceability is extremely important.

One driver for selecting a long-term supplier is confirming their ability to innovate, but also to provide a reliable consistent product for the product’s entire life-cycle.

Blachford continues to invest heavily to ensure that the product our customers buy today is the same product as last year, five years ago, next year and 10 years from now.

We believe that our products can become a foundation upon which our customers build their product quality.

And this is why Blachford is intensely focused on product quality and consistency. Dan Howard, Blachford.

JANUARY 2016 | 49

FEATURE

performance. CONDAT proposes low HSE impact technologies, such as low- or zero-borax products, minimum use of titanium dioxide and not using short- and medium-chain lengths of chlorinated paraffins. For more details on these products, see p. 58. Séverine Tilliette, CONDAT.

FEATURE

In a production system, everything is chained. Nowadays the requirements of quality in all the fields are continuously rising, as well as the competition.

It is fundamental to maintain a key role by providing a quality system that is able to track and control the distribution of products and anticipate subsequent problem in case of abnormal performance claimed by the final users. Luigi Vago, Pan Chemicals SpA. Product quality and traceability have always been paramount elements of importance for us. From what we know about the nature of recent automotive recalls, we have not seen a significant level of evidence to relate them to lubricant quality or misapplication. Paul Berger, Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc. Yes, quality and traceability have gotten more important over the years. As the wire drawing process gets more and more refined, lubricants need to be refined at that same pace. I do not know that any of the issues can be related to misapplication of the lubricants. Jonathan Anderson, Aztech Lubricants LLC. Traceability is important and will continue to gain in importance. Demands from consumers to know the provenance of the components used in the equipment that they own drives manufacturers to demand that only the most rigorous and technically compliant sub-suppliers are appointed as vendors. Douglas Hunt, METALUBE.

WJI: Has your packaging/delivery changed much in recent years, and if so, in what ways? Are your clients demanding you keep inventory for them or are they willing to buy a month in advance?

We respond to our customers’ needs, and these can vary from customer to customer, country to country. The packaging and labeling requirements are governed by legislation of which we firmly adhere to. We educate the customer on how to store the concentrates and how to mix the emulsions for best use. Our inventory levels are kept at the optimum level for each customer, we also have to agree to emergency response times, per customer requirements.

Stuart Duff, Q8Oils.

With REACH and the new and more severe GHS regulations, packaging labeling has indeed changed a lot. New pictograms have come together with new rules of regulations. Faithful to its policy, CONDAT has tried wherever and whenever possible to adapt its formulation to minimize the labeling without impacting lubricant performance. We 50 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

indeed have lot of questions from our customers to better understand this issue. With a regulatory department of five persons, CONDAT ensures its customers a safer environment for the workers and can provide expert support to customers’ questions regarding regulations, labeling, SDS. Our customers are reducing as much as possible logistic costs (custom clearance, etc.) and they are willing to keep reasonable inventory. They can rely on our capacity for quick delivery to minimize François Chambellant inventory value. CONDAT tries to reduce its environmental and transportation impact through local storage facilities. With three production sites worldwide and an international sales presence, CONDAT can promptly deliver products of identical quality to any location. François Chambellant, CONDAT. Our packaging has changed significantly in recent years, with most of our product being shipped in intermediate bulk containers and less in 55-gallon drums. It has been our long-standing practice to maintain product inventory and ship as soon as possible. Very few of our products are “make to order.” Paul Berger, Baum’s Castorine Co. Inc. Packaging and delivery are fairly constant. Where inventory is critical we offer consignment to companies with a high enough usage to warrant it. Reasons could be weather concerns or fluctuations in demand that require a “safety” inventory on site. Dane Armendariz, Chemetall, Inc. There has been a continuing trend toward one way Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC) in place of drums. Short of keeping inventory on hand, there is a need for fast lead times on orders. Our customers know our order turnaround capabilities and they plan accordingly. A lead time of one month is a thing of the past: I’m Mike Bell not aware of anyone who would accept that level of lubricant delivery service. Mike Bell, Etna Products, Inc. Packaging and delivery have not changed much, but pressure on customers to reduce working capital and adopt lean manufacturing have led to changes in order patterns and an increase in the number of rush orders. We have increased inventories of finished product and invested in reserve

QUEINS Machines GmbH KMB-Maschinenfabrik GmbH

We think that a cornerstone is the balance between these two needs. We think it is important to maintain a stock of our products, according to the request of the market, and to be always able to provide a quick supply of our goods when needed. Our salespersons are always aware of the importance and the needs of each customer and they build a prediction system to anticipate their needs. Luigi Vago, Pan Chemicals SpA. Lead times and delivery times have not really changed much in recent years. There is a need to keep inventory for emergency purposes but for the most part customer demand on products are consistent. Troy Carr, Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC. I do not think that packaging has changed much over the years. We are always looking for something new to help reduce packaging costs. Some customers have gone from fiber drums to large sacks to save money. We do carry much inventory for customers so we can ship in one-two days normally. We also try to balance usage/order frequency and shipping cost, again making sure we have the best value. Jonathan Anderson, Aztech Lubricants LLC. Our customers continue to order regularly as in the past and our longterm relationship with them allows us to foresee their needs. Furthermore, Lubrimetal is able to offer very competitive delivery times compared to the market standard.

We have seen no major changes in recent years Giorgio Corso and our customer satisfaction remains at optimal levels. Giorgio Corso, Lubrimetal Corporation.

Inventory control is essential in all industries, including lubricant manufacturing. Running out of product on the floor is not an option. Our customers depend on us and Metalloid takes this partnership seriously. Buying in advance is rare in our experience. In terms of packaging,

FEATURE

manufacturing capacity to be able to respond quickly. Bruce Calvert, RichardsApex.

Planetary strander with 0%, 100% or variable backtwist

& QUEINS - Your specialists for: CABLE & ROPE MAKING MACHINES Tubular stranders Rigid stranders Planetary stranders Power cable drumtwisters Armouring lines Bow/Skip stranders Single/Double twist bunchers Pay-offs and take-ups, all designs Belt-type caterpillar capstans Single- and double disc capstans Rotating caterpillar capstans Taping heads, all designs Transposed wire machines PRE-OWNED & RECONDITIONED We offer used or reconditioned cable and rope making machines. Please take a look at our currently available used equipment at www.queins.com Catalogue download For contacts in USA:

QMS INC.

Miami, Florida



+1 (305) 665-2523  +1 (305) 924-1742 info@qmsmachinery.com

QUEINS MACHINES GMBH Monschau, GERMANY info@queins.com www.queins.com  +49 2472 8080

STOLBERGER KMB-MASCHINENFABRIK GMBH Monschau, GERMANY info@stolberger.com  +49 2472 80816 www.stolberger.com

Your best partners for new and reconditioned machines JANUARY 2016 | 51 1_2 engl. 2015-09 fbg wire journal vertical.indd 1

20.08.2015 08:52:01

FEATURE

Metalloid is continuously improving the environmental impact in all areas of our business model. Rick Strapple, Metalloid Corp.

In recent years, there has been a heightened focus on the environmental impact of our packaging. Blachford is always searching for ways to work more efficiently and to help our customers reduce packaging waste and cost. We are actively investigating alternate packaging options that may achieve these goals. Inventory management is another area where we constantly work with our customers to optimize their inventory exposure while at the same time ensuring that critical materials are always available when needed. Dan Howard, Blachford Corporation.

The packaging depends strictly on customer needs. In recent years, more companies are adopting a “just in time” system, trying to pass the parcel to a supplier warehouse.

On the other hand customer asks more and more for quick and prompt deliveries, so we prefer to keep “emergency stocks” to be flexible even if not expressly requested by the customer. Fabio Bellina, TKT Group.

WJI: What long-term potential material restrictions are you most concerned about (i.e., raw material supply, environmental issues or government regulations)?

The lubricant industry is moving towards the elimination of certain raw materials based on existing and new government regulations in both the U.S. and internationally. Metalloid recognized the importance of eliminating petroleum oil and chlorinated paraffins a decade ago. Unfortunately, the industry as a whole is playing “catch up” and scrambling to get on board with environmentally friendly lubricant technology. Rick Strapple, Metalloid Corp.

In the current phase of the drawing market, we think that the environmental is becoming one of the main issues.

That includes how materials are disposed of as well as how their use affects a workplace. For example, we are focusing on the dust produced during the drawing process, and the evolving policy for the standards in the working place.

Luigi Vago, Pan Chemicals SpA. Raw material supply can be a concern from the past but with new additive technologies these can be eliminated.

52 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Group shot of Q8Oils staffers.

The most recent focus is new safety legislation and the environmental requirements of different markets. Q8Oils has complied fully with forthcoming legislation. Stuart Duff, Q8 Oils.

The world changes so fast. Environmental and safety issues are changing our raw materials and the way of packing and labeling our finished products. For example, for toxicological and environmental reasons, there is a growing demand for products free of borax and nitrite.

We are a leader in this field: for years almost all of our formulations have not contained these elements. Giorgio Corso, Lubrimetal Corporation.

We have a department that deals with the changing regulations and environmental issues. Their primary focus is that our products we supply to our clients meet government requirements so they don’t have to worry about our products and processes. Dane Armendariz, Chemetall, Inc. Industry-altering regulatory change and raw material supply disruptions are the new normal. R&D has kept us ahead of each tsunami. This year’s challenges include chloroparaffins and biocides. Industry associations have taken on new importance in meeting regulatory challenges.

Bruce Calvert, RichardsApex.

Since 2008, where we faced some difficult supply situations due to the fast growing demand of emerging countries, the situation has changed. There is a more stable demand and we do not foresee medium-term troubles.

Our capacity to service our customers is strong, with four production places located in the four main economic regions of the world. Our main concerns are government regulations. These are evolving rapidly and can be different from a country to another. This is getting a more and more complex issues where CONDAT’s expertise may be helpful. Some wire drawing substances that may go under the European regulations laws are borax and titanium dioxide.

With this in mind, CONDAT’s R&D and regulations teams are working endlessly to keep ahead of any possible changes to propose the safest formulation, both for the operators and the environment. Séverine Tilliette, CONDAT.

PRODUCTS & MEDIA

FEATURE

WAI OPERATIONS SUMMIT & WIRE EXPO 2014

facturing where a small scratch or nick can be an unacAir-cooled extrude ceptable defect. The result is the Surface Inspector, which alkanes is now more clearly defined. By mid-2017 In the last 20 years flowtheofEPAinsulation f comes in two models, the SI3100 and SI4100. will ban the use of mediumand long-chain chlorinated in this industry there At wire Düsseldorf, Maille The Surface Inspector provides the operator with alkanes and allow the use of very long-chain chlorihas been a continuextruder, model MXI 150, t up-to-the-second digital image feedback of only the current nated alkanes.

This family of additives is currently ous adaptation of the with aavaillow melt temperature jacket, bar or water soluble tape quality on any producable to lubricant andinformais making its way into the products and the R&D tion line. This continuous stream ofsuppliers real time market.

Mike Bell, Etna Products, Group must continue tion–especially the failure images–allows the operatorInc. to look for environto isolate causes of jacket imperfections and water solsome time, you we have been conmentally friendly raw uble tape folds. ThisFor result allows to identify the cerned about the pressure to bancomlongmaterials as well as causes of surface defects and prevents customer materials that fit within plaints or rejects. chain chlorinated paraffins from use as ingredient in can metal working lubri-of the government reguUsing the Surface an Inspector, you capture images cants. We have replacements, but they lations. I think this patyour printed cable, save the images to disk and print them are more expensive and many require tern will continue for out to include in your quality reporting both internally higher treat rates to achieve similar the foreseeable future. and to your customers. The Surface Inspector’s display performance. Paul Berger, Baum’s Troy Carr, Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC. also makes it easy for engineering and production superMossber Castorine Co. Inc. MFL Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 visors to examine the defect.

Government regulations and environmental issues are MGS Manufacturing Inc . . . . . . . . . . 103 Mossber Defect locations can also be recorded, this will allow We have been pushing to develop reduced-dust or dustthe most worrisome. Together, they have the largest footMicro Products Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

132 Nextrom for further analysis free of the defects later on. The Surface products. We are selling reduced dust, but the tests we print on our business, impacting everything from our raw Inspector will catchhave defects the dust-free wires Mid-South before they reach Wire . . . . . they . . . . have . . . . .not . . . 110 Nextrom doneonwith products showed material selection and supply, to our production process, your customers or fail in the field.

Morgan-Koch Corp . . . . becoming . . . . . . . . . 127 Niehoff E drawn wire well. Chlorinated paraffin are . also our customers’ processes, and subsequent disposal of spent The unitinensures good med Contact: Craig Girdwood, International, Inc., a problemTaymer lately. We have been able to eliminate them lubricants. Dan Howard, Blachford Corporation. to the homogenous mel tel. 905-479-2614, ext. craig.girdwood@taymer.com, many232, applications so far, but at an added cost.due Jonathan quality.

The MXI 150, whic www.taymer.com.

Anderson, Aztech Lubricants LLC. The “green” regulations and environVisit us at Wire Expo has mental awareness are playing, rightfully, booth # 531 part a priority role, but Tecnovo sees the volta issue as a great opportunity for the cani growth. In the future there will always EP be more raw material restrictions and ity s environmental issues, involving more prod and more countries, so that is a good inve incentive to stay steps ahead of every and single government regulation. Fabio tion Bellina, TKT Group.

The age For lubricant companies, the biggest desi challenge in the near term is findlatio ing regular supplies of Group I base core oil. As older refineries close or are by p converted to Group II or Group III, tripl neither of which is especially good for tion the production of industrial lubricants, line our choice in the market is becoming ever more limited. Douglas Hunt, head METALUBE. mea bilit While government regulations conand tinue to evolve, industry-specific duri requirements also play a role in what is run. acceptable for lubricant composition.

Co For water soluble chemistry, formaldeMai hyde-release biocides continue to face jorm an uncertain future. For the steel wire www industry, where chlorinated lubricants are in use, the future of chlorinated

JANUARY 2016 | 53

52 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

40 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

FEATURE

Industry Primer: coolant filtration for aluminum & copper wire

By Tom Horn I’ve worked in the filtration industry for 27 years, and from my experience with companies, both large and small, I can tell you that filtration choices largely reflect how important manufacturers consider the benefits that it provides. As end use customers have gotten more demanding, so has the need for sophisticated advances.

This section will review the basics of why filtration matters, including a focus on a current hot topic.

General overview

On the surface, the filtration of coolants is really a simple concept. Solids are produced from the copper or aluminum wire drawing process and by passing the dirty coolant through a filter media, the solids are continuously removed and the coolant is maintained at a cleaner state.

But just scratch a little bit and the concept becomes very interesting in its complexity, especially when you have made coolant filtration your livelihood. But if you are a wire plant manager, it is just a part of your everyday production concerns of rates, quality and costs.

The engineered coolant package is the lifeblood of the production, and if allowed to prematurely deteriorate with poor filtration practices, rates will go down, quality will suffer, and production costs will rise. So it is no surprise that the management of the largest to the smallest wire producers will listen to advice on coolant maintenance and do what they can to promote a rigorous coolant maintenance policy within their plants.

I have worked directly with these plant managers, their engineers and maintenance managers on projects to supply new systems or improve existing systems for single or multiple drawing machine operation over the years and know they understand that clean coolant means fewer headaches.

But deciding what system will work best given a fixed

Fig. 1. Display showing capabilities of different models.

54 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

budget or for that matter, a fixed amount of available plant space, should not be a headache either.

Available filter designs

There are many filter designs available to fit a producer’s budget and performance expectations. As seen in Fig. 1, both increase in flow rate and solids loading have a bearing on filter Tom Horn selection.

The wheel type filters work satisfactorily for lower flow rates and lower solids removal but for the best performance in higher flow or solids requirements or from multiple drawing machines, the models RGF, GSF and SCF with the twopart, moving and stationary side seal design, is required.

Lower cost solutions. In the last couple years, a number of clients have asked for lower cost solutions to their filtration system needs for multiwire and rod applications.

As mentioned, it is always a challenge to fit the system in an ergonomic manner, using precious plant real estate in the smartest way. By paying close attention to the filter type and size, plus tank retention in minutes, a custom-designed, ergonomically safe system will be supplied meeting requirements for coolant filtration and available space and an economy minded price.

Fig. 2 shows this concept with an RGF gravity filter with deep coolant pool, sized for the required flow rate in gallon per minute per square foot of filtration area, optimizing performance for the application and specific solids loading.

This thoughtful sizing assures the filter will dwell for longer periods allowing the solids to accumulate and produce a “filter cake” that in turn will remove the fine particulate while using less media.

Fig. 2. Diagram of an economy system.

FEATURE

All systems were designed for 100% flow matching the manufacturer’s requirement to the drawing machine. These custom designed systems, including single compartment tank, pump, heat exchanger and controls made an efficient, cost effective package.

Improved performance system

For larger flows and solids removal requirements, the system can be improved with the addition of a GSF gravity filter and two compartment tank. Fig. 3 shows this design that features a 110% filtration capability provided by a second smaller recirculation pump and tank compartment.

The GSF filter produces a deeper liquid pool than the RGF with increased head pressure so an improved “filter cake” is formed removing more fines. Plus, the GSF can be easily retrofitted with a vacuum producer that will increase the units’ capacity and produce dryer solids discharge. As with all our systems, custom design is an enormous benefit to the producer. Large tanks and pump bases can be configured in many ways to fit very tight space requirements.

Continuous supply of the combination of conveyorized tank and vacuum filter proves this system, as seen in Fig. 4, is still the standard for larger installations, particularly continuous cast and rod breakdown. However, these systems have also been provided for individual drawing machines and as central systems for multiwire and other production applications with flow rate requirements well over 1000 gpm.

The two-compartment tank design with overflow from the smaller clean compartment to the larger dirty one indicates that 110%+ filtration is taking place. The vacuum filter is designed to produce the highest pressure differential across the media of all the different filter selections. A deep filter cake is produced removing more fines and allowing higher production flow rates with less filter area.

Industrially rated flooded suction pumps and a common standby for both the clean supply and filter feed pump is important for high production requirements. This set-up keeps the process going with a quick valve change over. Vertical column and self-priming pumps are used as well depending on the design layout or preference.

It is interesting that in this day of lean manufacturing and tight budgets, there are many producers who still want the very best design available to be supplied and the reason is apparent.

The continuous removal of settled solids from the tank and suspended solids by the SCF vacuum filter drastically lowers maintenance costs and

Fig. 3. Recirculation concept for 110% filtration.

Fig. 4. System design with conveyor tank.

Fig. 5. System for aluminum rod breakdown with viscous oil.

JANUARY 2016 | 55

FEATURE

helps prevent copper particulate dissolving into the coolant over time. There is significant cost savings realized and directly related to improved coolant condition, die, capstan or roll life. When better quality wire or rod is produced at higher rates with fewer breaks, it is easy to see that the additional capital invested has returned dividends.

Aluminum wiredrawing There has been a lot of interest in the use of water soluble lubrication products for aluminum rod breakdown.

Some folks have been drawing aluminum rod for a few years with these products with good results. However, many are hesitant to change from their present process using viscous oil products.

On the filtration side, water soluble products have always been used in the past for aluminum continuous cast rolling, also intermediate and fine wire applications and these water soluble products are filtered with the same filtration systems that are used for copper drawing coolants. For aluminum rod, the same is true. Even considering the typically higher oil concentrations used, the big plus is the ability to filter 110% of the process flow through a media filter which is impossible with viscous oil lubricants. Due to the reaction of the aluminum on the water in the coolant, special filter sizing becomes necessary with a lower gpm/ft² sizing, or in other words, a larg-

DESIGNERS & MANUFACTURERS ISO9001 OF PAYOFF & TENSION CONTROL REGISTERED EQUIPMENT FOR WIRE & CABLE

er filter for the flow rate. For those using viscous mineral oil with additives, the best means of filtration is still by a conveyorized tank and centrifuge as seen if Fig. 5.

Due to the high viscosity of the oil, special attention must be given to sizing the tank, pump and heat exchanger. By stabilizing ash levels in the oil and keeping water out of the system, the oil life can be greatly extended and high quality production can be expected.

Conclusion Rates, quality, cost. Getting the most out of your engineered coolant package demands attention to filtration.

Proactive filtration practices will pay the wire producer back in all the benefits mentioned in this article. Custom designed systems help utilize existing plant space for improved process flow and workers safety. Paying close attention to the plant manager’s requirements and goals gets the filter company more business.

Tom Horn is vice president of sales for Filtertech, Inc. A longtime WAI member, he has presented multiple technical papers on filtration. He can be contacted at tel. 315-6828815, thorn@filtertech.com, www.filtertech.  Editor's note: e-mail mmarselli@wirenet.org for a PDF of a prior primer by Horn covering filtration design choices.

With all of the suppliers out there...why should you call Wyrepak Industries for your manufacturing needs?

Quite simply, Wyrepak is a name you can trust for reliable and dependable products. With our many years of experience in creating cost-effective manufacturing applications, backed by a solid guarantee and excellent customer service – Wyrepak has it all!

For more details on any of our manufacturing product solutions, call us at 800-972-9222 or email sales@wyrepak.com

WYREPAK INDUSTRIES — A Huestis Industrial Company • www.WYREPAK.com

68 Buttonwood Street, Bristol, Rhode Island 02809-0718 USA • tel: 800.972.9222 or 401.253.5500 fax: 401.253.7350 2C_WYREPAKHuestis_WhyCallWyrepak_WJI_halfHoriz_VariousCombos_withShowInfo_v6_03092015_press.indd 1

56 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

12/14/15 6:42:23 PM

Aztech Lubricants LLC Aztech Lubricants LLC specializes in the formulation of EZDraw, EZCoat and EZClean products as well as the production of calcium, sodium and potassium stearate drawing powders, RP oils, ship out oils, drawing oils, and precoats (both enhanced borax and borax free).

Founded in 2005, Aztech Lubricants has more than 125 years of cumulative expertise in wiredrawing and wire lubricating formulation. The main operation is our 40,000 sq-ft- plant in Wayne, Oklahoma, which includes an in-house laboratory for QC and R&D, and outside the U.S. we have manufacturing and distribution facilities in both Colombia and India. We maintain sufficient inventory levels at all times on our core products, thereby enabling us to ship most orders the same day or very next day.

We provide quality products and innovative solutions to customers that draw wire for fields that include agricultural, tires, automotive, construction, etc. We use plant-based and renewable sources when feasible. We specialize in the formulation and production of calcium, sodium and potassium stearate drawing powders, RP oils, ship out oils, drawing oils, and precoats (both enhanced borax and borax free). We can also supply customers with products such as galvanizing wiping pads, UV coatings, and AZWipe spiral brushes, through established partnerships with the companies that specialize in these areas.

For information about specific products, contact us at aztechlubricants.com, or look for us this year at wire Dusseldorf, Wire Expo 2016 and Wire & Cable India 2016, as we will exhibit at all these events.

Contact: Jonathan Anderson, Aztech Lubricants LLC, tel. 405-310-0034, janderson@aztechlube.com, www.aztechlube.com.

Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc. Dura Draw 895 Drawing Compound (DD 895) from Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc., is a new wiredrawing lubricant developed to add to the company’s line of products offered to copper wire manufacturers.

DD 895 provides an improvement in lubricant chemistry for copper, brass, and tin-plated copper wire drawing. It has a biostable synthetic emulsifier system with biostable and

oxidation stable performance ingredients. These ingredients were chosen because of their better lubricity and superior detergency while offering much improved foam control.

DD 895 provides improved cleanliness and long coolant life. Its lubricity and wetting characteristics of the product reduces copper fines, which allows capstan surfaces, die throats and machines to stay cleaner than can competitive products. Performance for various gauges is based on total product concentration determined by a Babcock test. Long solution life is built in with biostable ingredients.

Special corrosion inhibitors prevent oxidation of the newly drawn metal surface, and provide superior corrosion protection to machine surfaces.

DD 895 comes in different concentrations for the following uses: copper rod breakdown (6-10%), intermediate copper wiredrawing (2-5%), fine copper wiredrawing (2-5%) and multi-wire, 14 to 36 gauge, (7-9%). More technical details can be provided by the company.

Contact: Paul Berger, Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc., tel. 315-336-8154, paul@baumscastorine.com.

Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC As a focused part of the nonferrous wire market, aluminum wire remains an area of innovation and testing for the Unopol AL Series from Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC (BLT). The successful North American market introduction of this line has resulted in very positive results.

The Unopol AL Series provides a cleaner wire surface after drawing without the oily residue and potential for collecting dust and dirt on the wire surface. As the industry knows, this residue has led to housekeeping issues both on the wire surface and in the plant in general. Oily residues and oil mist are significantly reduced.

Oil mists in a plant environment have been under review

by OSHA for years as they seek to create new threshold limit for oil mists.

JANUARY 2016 | 57

PRODUCTS

PRODUCTS FROM FEATURE

PRODUCTS

A water-based product creates a more effective filtration process. Even with the advent of low-viscosity, high-lubricity products, like our Berudraw AL Series, filtration becomes more challenging in time. As the aluminum oxides build in straight oils, that oil becomes higher in viscosity and more difficult to filter. As the viscosity rises, this requires additives to reduce the viscosity or results in higher carry off in the filtration process. There is an education level that is necessary for the control and maintenance of water-based products for aluminum, but it is well understood by us.

There is an overall cost of use advantage in changing to a water-based product. Even at the higher concentrations of 20-25%, used for drawing aluminum rod, there is still a distinct cost savings versus using 100% straight oils. The Unopol AL Series can be used for drawing both aluminum and copper types.

Contact: Troy Carr, Bechem Lubrication Technology, LLC, tel. 440.561.6001, carr@bechem.com, www.bechem.com.

Blachford Corporation

Since the 1950s, Blachford has been supplying the global wiredrawing industry, including many of the world’s largest wiredrawing companies, with cost-effective, meticulously researched and innovative wiredrawing lubricant programs tailored to the exacting technical specifications of individual wire drawing processes.

As the wire industry continues to globalize, there is increasing pressure on wire producers to remain profitable through product differentiation. Blachford offers a unique opportunity and a sustainable competitive advantage to wire drawers, by leveraging a core competency; the ability to design and produce tailor-made lubricants to the specifications of wire producers’ specific process requirements.

Blachford’s reputation as an innovative partner is well earned through continuous development of new products and high customer intimacy. In-field engineers and Blachford’s experienced R&D team work closely with customers to fully understand each application’s technical requirements. Then, working together, customers, in-field engineers and Blachford’s R&D team design products and programs that help wiredrawers achieve their goals.

Whether working to develop products that impart specific finished wire characteristics, or to help wire drawers to produce more quality tons faster and less expensively, Blachford’s unique combination of data driven 58 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

product design and customer-focused approach, helps to give wire drawers a competitive edge. More details are available from the company or see us at wire Dusseldorf at Hall 9, Stand E-02.

Contact: Mark van der Vlist or DanHoward, Blachford Corporation, mvandervlist@blachford.ca or dhoward@bcorp.blachford.com, tel. 815-464-2100, www.blachford.com.

CONDAT

CONDAT’s R&D department has focused on improving the friendliness of its products without compromising on their performances, leading the company to propose low HSE impact technologies, formulations that have the least possible “severe labeling.”

For high-carbon steel, steel cord, we offer wire dry drawing lubricants with low or zero borax. Since the classification of borax as SVHC, CONDAT has discontinued its production of high-borax dry lubricants and surface coatings. This first step ensures that surface coatings and dry lubricants are not labeled reprotoxic and ensures a safer workplace. As the future of borax in Europe is jeopardized by its being on the SVHC list, CONDAT’s R&D department has worked relentlessly to provide its customers with high performance solutions.

VICAFIL SANTALE 6 satisfies the more demanding operations such as the production of steel cord, allowing continuous quality improvement of the final product.

For low-carbon steel wire to be galvanized and for CO2 welding, we minimize the use of titanium dioxide (TD) in dry-drawing lubricants.

Lubricants with TD are often used where a heavy-duty, high coating weight is required.

Keeping ahead of the potential evolution in regulations, CONDAT has develop TD-free alternatives. VICAFIL DECAL 440 is the perfect example: its use has been validated on processes where lubricants containing TD usually used.

For stainless steel and cold heading wire, CONDAT has discontinued the use of short- and medium-chain lengths of chlorinated paraffins. Short-chain lengths are banned and medium-chain lengths contribute to the classification of industrial sites (per European Seveso regulation).

CONDAT’s VICAFIL TFG 4295 or VICAFIL TFH 1672 oil, can be used safely by operators, with minimal impact on the environment and do not contribute to Seveso clas-

Etna Products

Etna Products, Inc., a lubricant supplier located in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with manufacturing in North America, Europe and the Far East, recently introduced Masterdraw® 1470 with EELT™, a water-dilutible lubricant for drawing intermediate and fine copper wire.

This product is based on a new additive, Etna Eco Lubricant Technology (EELT™), developed and manufactured exclusively by Etna Products. Because Masterdraw 1470 with EELT™ is free of animal and vegetable oils that can be present in most traditional wire drawing lubricants, it is more resistant to bacterial attack while providing the lubricity and detergency

properties that are required by modern wire drawing processes. A modification of this product is available as a replacement for traditional drawing oils for aluminum rod, intermediate and fine sizes. As with all Masterdraw products, the Masterdraw 1470 with EELT™ is supplied with a comprehensive no-charge technical service program.

Contact: Etna Products, Inc., tel. 800-229-3862, etna@etna.com, www.etna.com.

Lubrimetal

Since its inception in 1959 the cardinal values of Italy’s Lubrimetal have been technical competence, passion, availability and environmental responsibility. Because of that, Lubrimetal has always paid particular attention to health and environmental thematic when developing new products.

This means first of all, to formulate wherever possible and in the vast majority of new products avoiding

JANUARY 2016 | 59

PRODUCTS

sification for end users. They also result in cost savings in terms of waste disposal and site equipment.

Contact: CONDAT, wire@condat.fr, www.condat-lubricants.com.

PRODUCTS

any hazardous raw materials and secondly introduce designed physical properties in the shape of our dry drawing lubricants.

Our new range of LOW DUST LUBRIFIL, thanks to special production methodology, presents customers with modern low-dust, calcium-based lubricants. The key to this success is the studied geometry of the grain that lets it breaks down in the die box only when necessary. This new concept dramatically reduces the presence of volatile particles and dust in refilling die boxes and during drawing operations. This range of products provides a better working place for operators while meeting all the requirements of a first-class lubricant.

Lubrimetal also offers the resources of its knowledgeable technicians, to collaborate with customers to solve their technical problems and deliver innovative solutions. Our chemists and technical sales department work with customers to develop new products and support our customers with sophisticated analysis and tests.

Contact: Giorgio Corso, Lubrimetal, tel. 39-0341420-444, giorgio.corso@lubrimetal, lubrimetal.com.

METALUBE METALUBE, which just named its exclusive U.S. distributor (see p. 15), recently introduced Alumol 609W, a high-performance, emulsifiable lubricant optimized for aluminum wire drawing applications.

Alumol 609W is designed to meet the changing needs for nonferrous wiredrawing, where machines may have to switch from drawing copper wire to aluminum wire.

Alumol 609W allows manufacturers to draw either material, thus optimizing the output per machine and improving overall operating efficiency.

METALUBE has been working with soluble drawing lubricants for nonferrous wire for more than 25 years. Our recent introduction of Alumol 609W, which uses the best combination of additive technologies, provides maximum lubrication and wear reduction on dies and capstans delivering outstanding surface finish on drawn wire. The unique low foaming emulsifier and detergent system keeps machines clean and resists destabilization by water hardness salts and dissolved aluminum ions resulting in significantly enhanced emulsion life.

Alumol 609W is designed for drawing rod down to 60 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

intermediate wire sizes and is suitable for both pure aluminum and aluminum alloys. It is also suitable for drawing copper rod and can be used to improve capacity on RBD machines by allowing both copper and aluminum to be drawn on the same machine (as long as proper cleaning procedures are adhered to).

Contact: METALUBE, tel. 44-161-775-7771, www.metalube.co.uk.

METALLOID METALLOID’S WireWorks line of solid, green wiredrawing lubricants offer wire manufacturers an alternative to sodium and potassium soaps.

For example, WireWorks 10005, only one of the products in the WireWorks line, is cleaner, safer and more operator-friendly than soaps. WireWorks lubricants are directly annealable with corrosion protection that is unmatched in the industry. They provide an improved drawn wire surface finish, regardless of the metal alloy drawn, because only natural ingredients are used in the formulation. These natural ingredients are derived either from a vegetable, animal or mineral source. WireWorks contain no hazardous materials, petroleum oil or chlorinated paraffins. The lubricants are available in liquid, solid or paste form, and all are “green technology.” The lubricants are biodegradable, biorenewable and biosustainable, a 100% USDA Biobased Certified product.

METALLOID’s product development team conducted a thorough evaluation of the wire manufacturing industry before developing the WireWorks line. We learned that wiredrawing lubricant technology had not changed in decades. We learned that wiredrawing manufacturers felt that conventional wiredrawing lubricants were “dirty” and difficult to work with. The manufacturers we talked with were eager to improve plant environments, safety and worker acceptance. Metalloid’s WireWorks technology has provided the answer to these concerns.

Manufacturers were pleasantly surprised to experience that performance was many times greater than petroleum based lubricants.

In summation, METALLOID saw an industry need and addressed it with WireWorks. We listened when customers told us what they wanted. METALLOID is proud of its contribution to cleaning up the environment.

METALLOID’s slogan reflects our overall commitment to the environment and the industry … One Source … One Solution … One World.

Pan Chemicals SpA To appreciate how Italy’s Pan Chemicals SpA came to provide its solutions for wire manufacturers, one must understand its philosophy: customers worldwide have different needs but they have common expectations, most notably maintaining expected product quality and preserving the health of their workers. Those two expectations have to work within meeting the challenges of product development.

Sodium-based lubricants are applied where speed, performance and quality are required. Lubricant performance is strongly related to their chemical composition.

One of mostly commonly used additives for sodium lubricant is sodium borate. In recent years, use of sodium borate (borax) has become very controversial. Another

issue, associated with high speed, is the formation of fine powder in the working space. This is affecting the workers conditions and the final production quality. Different customers requested a solution for such issue. In fact, for final application and fine dimensions, the presence of small grain size, in dry lubricant, is considered mandatory.

The challenges to the industry and our focus on research led to our PANLUBE S 1280 series, which has been developed to meet component requirements and reduced dust presence. We are able to provide a line of sodium lubricants that can perform at the same level, with borax or without it.

We control its grain size and we achieved a perfect balance that provides the required lubrication while preventing the dispersion of fine particles in the working space. Our efforts have resulted in a main line of products that provide high performance, and can easily be adapted to the request/change of regulations that our customers may face.

Contact: Luigi Vago, Pan Chemicals, tel. 39-035-977-488, vago@panchemical.com, www.panchemical.com

JANUARY 2016 | 61

PRODUCTS

Contact: Rick Strapple, METALLOID, tel. 800-686-3201, r.strapple@metalloidcorp.com, www.metalloidcorp.com.

PRODUCTS

Q8Oils Q8Oils, one of the world’s leading suppliers of wiredrawing lubricants, develops, manufacturers, markets and technically supports wire drawing lubricants as part of its metal manufacturing range.

Meeting the customer requirements with new technologies to solve manufacturing issues, we offer GermAllcard PRIAMUS X10, a semi-synthetic water soluble product for the drawing of both copper and aluminum in all wire sizes from rod to fine wire.

The subject of a published technical paper in Wire Journal, PRIAMUS X10 can provide cost savings for all processes. It is cost efficient in aluminum wiredrawing compared with the older technology of neat oils. It offers higher performance, and is high in lubricity, providing consistent running for copper wire drawing.

The Q8Oils Engineers Guide, which assists customers and forms a training handout for the monitoring and maintenance of emulsions, is a practical guide to best performance. Visit Q8Oils at wire 2016 in Germany and at the Wire Expo 2016 in the U.S. Contact: Stuart Duff, Q8Oils, 44-113-235-1904, sdu@q8.com, www.Q8Oils.com. |

the associated technical challenges,” said Vice President of Sales Andrew Helffrich. “The ADS series products are delivering the results customers hoped for in this burgeoning segment of the market.”

RichardsApex has commercial centers in the U.S., Australia and the U.K. Its R&D center is co-located with global headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

RichardsApex is privately owned.

Contact: Bruce Calvert, RichardsApex, tel. 215-4871100, brucecalvert@richardsapex.com.

TECNOVO The R&D department of Italy’s TECNOVO has developed “universal” solutions to respond innovatively and effectively to a more and more demanding market, focused on the combination performance improvement/cost reduction, with a big priority to environment awareness.

TECNOLUBRE FM/913 is a multifunctional product sodium based, 100% free from borax, boron and dust, used with outstanding results for a wide range of applications, among which steel cord, bead wire, stainless steel, PC wire, spring wire, low carbon wires, galvanized wire, sub-arc, cold heading wire and MIG-MAG wire.

RichardsApex For more than 100 years, RichardsApex has offered lubricants and related products to the wire, cable, and rod industry that help manufacturers achieve new levels of quality and productivity. There is no substitute for this experience when it comes to innovation and backing it up. RichardsApex is known for offering an unmatched level of on-site service bolstered by a creative technical team and knowledgeable customer service staff.

Since its introduction two years ago, RichardsApex RA400 for nonferrous wire drawing, rod breakdown, and annealing has become the fastest growing product in the range by providing superior reliability, die life, and system cleanliness.

One of the latest products from RichardsApex is ADS-30 for aluminum rod breakdown. It evolved from the success of ADS-20, a water-soluble aluminum multi-wire drawing compound.

“One of the more exciting developments in recent time is the rapidly expanding market for aluminum wire and

62 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

No other marketed product can provide its range of equivalent application advantages, which include: no dust in the working environment; drastically reduced lubricant consumption; a melting point in the range of 90°/300° and customizable; increased drawing speed; better solubility in water and a clean wire surface; and no black lumps on die boxes.

TECNOVO has been producing lubricants for wire drawing and metal machining since 1945. Its primary concern as a company is constructive and continuous cooperation with customers, offering a full range of service and products for drawing process optimization.

TECNOVO is member of TKT, which offers lubricants for wire drawing (dry drawing and wet drawing, calcium/sodium based lubricants, wet lubricants, etc.) as well as a wide range of dies and auxiliary products for wiredrawing.

Contact: Fabio Bellina, Tecnovo, fabio.bellina@tktgroup.it, www.tktgroup.it.

N W

E ER W EE B M EW R ME F AI

TO

February 9, 2016 2:00 p.m. ET Robert Shemenski | RMS Consulting This webinar is an introduction to mitigation strategies, including material selection, modification of environment, design, cathodic and anodic protection, coatings, and inhibitors.

O NE HOUR . N O TRAVEL .

Q UESTIONS ANSWERED .

Details and registration at: www.wirenet.org

circle back to the WAI missed the first presentation? webinar archives online.

The Wire Association International, Inc. | Telephone: (001) 203-453-2777 | www.wirenet.org

S!

featured speaker:

AR

CORROSION Part 2: Mitigation

N

NEW 2016 WEBINAR

BI

t h e w i r e a s s o c i at i o n i n t e r n at i o n a l p r e s e n t s :

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL ECHNIC PAPER Application of new technologies in the drawing of coated wire and subsequent insulation with high-temperature materials A new innovative multiwire drawing and annealing platform for electroplated copper wires has been shown to meet market requirements such as enlarged outlet wire range diameter, number of wires, outlet diameter of each wire smaller and a faster and more flexible production.

By Enrico Conte

Just like many conductive materials, bare copper forms an oxide layer when exposed to a normal atmosphere.

This reaction accelerates with the increase of temperature, and at 180-190°C bright copper turns black in a few minutes. Oxide film is a poor conductor of electricity, reduces the reliability of connections and reduces the compound hook-up in insulation processes. For these reasons, oxide film must be removed or prevented from forming. This is usually accomplished by coating the

copper wire with a pure metal coating which oxidizes slowly at processing temperature. In special cases, alloy coatings or composite coatings plated in multiple layers are applied. Bare copper presents satisfactory characteristics at temperatures up to approximately 100°C. The most common pure metals used for plating copper and copper alloys for conductors are tin, silver and nickel. In special cases, alloy coatings such as tin/lead or composite coatings (i.e. tin over nickel), plated in multiple

Plating Material Properties

Bare Copper

Tin Plated Copper

Silver Plated Copper

Nickel Plated Copper

Max Continuous Operating Temperature

100°C

150°C

250°C

450°C

Conductivity (IACS)

100%

100%

100-103%

96%

Solderability

Fair

Good

Excellent

Requires Active Flux

Life Stability

Conductivity and solderability deteriorate with heat aging at rated temperature due to migration of tin and copper and tin oxidation.

Excellent – no loss of conductivity with heat aging at rated temperature.

Solderability shelf-life remains good.

Conductivity remains stable with heat aging at rated temperature.

Crimp Terminability

Good - but contact resistance increases with time and can be variable

Excellent – contact resistance remains low

Good – but contact resistance may vary with time. Use plated steel terminal in some cases.

Flex Life









Processability









Cost

€

€

€€€

€€

Table 1. Summary of plating material properties.

64 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

A new addition, here authors reply to questions from WJI about their presentations.

WJI: What’s the most noteworthy news in your presentation?

Conte: The most important news is that the market now has a multiwire drawing line platform that allows the production of high-grade wire with long annealer contact band life (six months for tin-plated copper), low production costs and energy savings.

WJI: Why did you introduce this platform to the market?

Conte: In recent years, demand for copper and copper alloy-plated wire has increased. Customers want a wider outlet diameter range, smaller size, less wire breakage and increased production speed as well as reduced production costs and equipment with less maintenance.

WJI: How long did it take to do this? What was the hardest part?

Conte: It took several years, the result of comparative analysis of the process of wire drawing and annealing of bare copper and metal- plated copper wire. In particular, adding plating to a bare copper multiwire drawing system presents technical challenges in the coating surface as the wire is hard and abrasive and the dust and powder generation is higher. Annealer contact band life is critical due to sparking. One concern for using tin for plating is its low melting point.

To address all the above concerns while attaining the desired production goals required optimizing slip recovery through PLC-controlled multimotor technology, intermediate and final dies lubrication and the use of zirconium oxide pulling rings.

For the annealer, the key was the use of single driven contact rings and newly developed electronics. Finally,

layers, can be applied. The wiredrawing and annealing process of copper and copper alloy conductors requires particular attention to avoid damage to the conductor surface.

Tin-plated copper wire. Tin is used as a pure metal coating to increase the operating temperature of copper and copper alloy conductors to 150°C and improve solderability characteristics. Tinned copper conductors are slightly more expensive than bare copper wire.

Due to the low melting temperature of tin, tin-plated copper conductors are used in applications where the base material is not exposed to high temperatures. Over a period of time, and at a rate determined by temperature, tin and copper interact to form an intermetallic alloy. This reaction reduces the solderability, occurs at room temperature and cannot be prevented by protective packaging.

Surface oxidation also degrades solderability. Shelf life can be maximized by proper packaging and storage in a temperature-controlled environment.

Tin-coated copper conductors used in electrical applications are specified by ASTM-B33, which also defines general requirements such as elongation percentage, resistivity, dimensions and permissible variations, adherence and continuity of coating, test methods.

Silver-plated copper wire. Silver coating is used to increase the operating temperature of copper and copper

there has to be a gentle wire path and pulleys with ceramic coating.

Conte The most complexelement of our research was the conception, design and construction of the electrical annealing cabinet. This development was quite demanding, in particular for the choice of reliable components and their tuning. We tried different units in-house with a “dry test” and with wire, and then installed in rod breakdown and multiwire lines at different customers’ plant with positive results in terms of quality of the wire produced and energy efficiency.

Questions for the author? Contact him at e.conte@sampsistemi.it.

alloy conductors to 200°C and also gives the conductor excellent solderability characteristics that do not diminish over time due to diffusion. Silver also has antibacterial effects, good pliability, is a relatively soft metal and its oxide is electrically conductive. Silver coated conductor oxide in a few hundred hours at 250°C. Silver has higher conductivity than copper and this is desirable for high-frequency applications where, because of the skin effect, signals travel along the surface of conductor. Plating a conductor with pure silver increases its performance in such applications. Silver-coated conductors are widely used despite having a higher cost than tin.

Standard silver-coated copper used in electrical equipment are divided by ASTM-B298 into five classes (A, B, C, D, E), representing the minimum percentage (by weight) of silver coating respect the coated wire (A=1.25%, B=2.5%, C=4%, D=6%, E=10%). Each Class gives information about the thickness of coating. Per ASTM-B298, the general requirements are also defined as elongation percentage, resistivity, dimensions and permissible variations, adherence and continuity of coating, test methods. Minimum thickness is 1 micron.

Nickel-plated copper wire. Nickel plating increases the operating temperature of copper and copper alloy conductors to 250-260°C. Nickel has a good resistance to corrosive atmosphere, low hardness and good ductilJANUARY 2016 | 65

TECHNICAL PAPERS

What’s noteworthy in this paper

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER

Fig. 1. Production process of coated wire/strand. ity in annealed condition. As nickel is a poor conductor of electricity, it requires an activated flux for soldering and, due to its hardness, a nickel-plated conductor may exhibit more variability in crimp termination than other plating material (e.g. tin).

Standard nickel-coated copper conductors used in electrical applications are divided by ASTM-B355 in five classes (Class 2, 4, 7, 10, 27) representing the minimum percentage (by weight) of nickel coating with respect to that of the wire (i.e., Class 4 means that the nickel-coating weight is at least 4% of the total weight of the coated wire). Each class gives information about the thickness of coating. ASTM-B355 also defines the general requirements as elongation %, resistivity, dimensions and permissible variations, adherence and continuity of coating, test methods. Minimum thickness is 1.25 micron.

The Class 27 in ASTM-B355 refers to specialized conductors used in extremely high temperature conditions.

Plating considerations Multiple plating. Sequential plating technology is used when is needed a reduction of intermetallic interaction between the surface and the base metal while maintaining the favorable properties of the surface plating.

Max. Continuous Operating Temperature Insulation material

One example is multiple plating of nickel/tin, where the nickel under the layer plating is used for mitigate “whiskers,” an unwanted growth of conductive filament caused in a tin-plated copper conductor by the diffusion of copper from the base material into the tin layer. These whiskers can cause problems or failures in electronic applications.

Application of plated copper and copper alloy wires.

Plated copper and copper alloy conductors are used for: wire for shielding, braiding and screening applications; strand for electrical and electronic applications; automotive signal cables; aircraft signal cables, communication and RF cables; mining cables; railways cables, rubber insulated vulcanized cables; special cables.

Plating processes Two different processes can be used for plating copper and copper alloy conductors: hot-dipped and electroplating.

Hot-dipped process. This process is used for tin plating copper. The conductor passes several cleaning baths and a specific bath with flux, then is dipped in a bath of molten tin. After cooling, the wire is cleaned and spooled.

The characteristics of the hot-dipped process for a pure tin coating include the following pluses: the formation of

60°C to 75°C

80°C

90°C

125°C

150°C

250°C

PVC

PE, PP

XLPE, XLPO, HFFR

Silicone rubber

TEFZEL

FEP, PTFE, ETFE

Table 2. Insulation materials that correspond to different working conditions.

66 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

TECHNICAL PAPERS Photo 1. Picture of multiwire drawing line. the conductor; multiple plating can be applied; and less consumption of tin due to a better thickness/concentricity control and low tolerances (2 µm). One minus is that there is lower abrasion resistance.

A wiredrawing setup with an accurate electroplating process that ensures constant thickness of coating, adhesion and concentricity, would be a successful process.

Technical multi-wire drawing line solutions The ability to offer high quality lines for coated wire and strand market constiFig. 2. Chart of “slipping recovery” related to use of advanced control motion system. tutes a competitive advanan instant inner inter-metallic bond that ensures totally firm tage over rival companies. adhesion; no whisker formation, and a homogenous coatProduct development is therefore oriented in two parallel ing that is free from contamination or chemical residues; a directions: the development of new products; and the conuniform coating composition regardless of process paramtinuous improvement of existing products within a context eters; and the highest abrasion resistance. The minuses are of continuous market evolution; and the ability to respond that setup of the concentricity of tin layer is difficult; and to market demand in the best possible way at all times. there is more consumption of tin due to higher tolerances In a high competitive market, wire manufacturers ask to (6 µm) and bath oxidation. increase the product quality and the production reliability, Electroplating process. Coating material (tin, nickel or whereas production costs and scrap rate should be reduced. silver) and base material (conductor) is treated by way of Over the last few years, there has been more demand for immersion into an electrolytic bath, coating material (e.g., metal coatings for multi-wire drawing machines. In parsilver pellets) is connected to an anode and the conductor ticular, the number of requested wires has increased, the to a cathode. After drying, the wire is spooled. outlet diameter of each wire has become smaller and the The characteristics of the electroplating process pure requested production speed is increased. tin plating includes the following pluses: a close-grained The cross-section reduction of the outlet wire requires an coating, with firm adhesion; a bright or matte surface; a increase in the number of drafts of the multiwire drawing consistent coating thickness to tight tolerances over the line. The multiwire drawing machine is a slipping gearbox entire length of the wire, thus ensuring optimum charmachine; therefore, a high number of drafts causes a high acteristics for further processing which might involve cumulative slip in the wire inlet side. For example, in a highly diverse criteria; a process without thermal stress for 29-draft machine setup, the cumulative slip at the wire inlet JANUARY 2016 | 67

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER

Photo 2. Front view of annealer. is approximately 45-50% (considering a slip of 1.5% for each die, and 3% at the final die).

High slip has a negative effect on the quality of plated wires. This factor increases the frequency of wire breaks, reduces the lifetime of the drawing capstans and increases energy consumption and the noise level of the multiwire line.

A SAMP multiwire drawing platform (DM Platform) (see Photo 1) has been designed and offered to the industry; it is based on the splitting of gear transmission into two or more independent sections, with separate AC servomotors. This allows slip recovery between each section and at the inlet side. A 29-draft machine with three motors has a maximum slip at the wire inlet of 15-18% and reduces the slip at the separation to ca. 5%.

Power splitting also enables the use of compact AC servomotors with compact drives that allow a more precise regulation in the operation and high efficiency of transformation current in mechanical torque at drive end.

A control motion system (see Fig. 2) is used for synchronization of all motors. The reduction of slipping and the improvement in the quality of gear transmission, bearings, seals, etc., have allowed energy consumption reduction of up to 10-15%, reducing production costs. In order to reach the best wire quality surface, zirconium oxide pulling rings have been adopted.

The drawing of metal coated wires requires an increased amount of lubricant compared to bare copper, a better control of temperature and cleaning.

Die holders have spray jets on both the inlet and outlet cones to improve wire lubrication within the die to reduce friction and to facilitate cleaning of the inlet/outlet cones themselves, thereby enhancing product quality and prolonging die life. There is also a spray for pulling rings to reduce the friction with wire.

The lubrication of the final die is critical as it is here the wire attains its minimum diameter. At the maximum speed, the metal coating is at minimum thickness and the

68 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

lubrication is usually only on the entrance die cone.

For these reasons, the designed multiwire drawing machines have a pressurized separate lubricant supply circuit for their final dies.

The annealing process is critical because the annealing path must ensure the integrity of the wire coated surface, the request- Photo 3. Rear view of annealer. ed physical properties (mechanical strength, elongation, conductivity and resistance) and maintain the diameter and roundness of the wire. Wire quality and production efficiency are also influenced by contact ring surfaces.

To satisfy these requirements, the described multiwire annealer platform includes a number of technical features, such as multimotor technology, adjustable pre-heating length, a wire walker before contact rings and a cleaning device on contact rings. See Photo 2.

A traditional Joule effect annealer is a machine with one motor and a belt transmission that connects all contact rings with a fixed ratio between each axes. This ratio is a compromise for the whole wire range diameter of the annealer and there it is not possible to set an optimized adjustment for each wire diameter. This characteristic causes surface damage, reduces contact ring life and increases production costs.

In the described Multimotor Annealer Platform, which has been designed for the coated wire market, the system is able to set up production parameters, in particular the kinematic ratio between each axis, to form a production recipe stored in the HMI panel. See Photo 3.

The described Annealer Platform is completed with the latest development in annealing electrical equipment, in particular the development of the electronic equipment that reduces current distortion (THD-I) and energy waste (PF > 0.90).

Technical and technological solutions for an extrusion line In addition to the above described technology for drawing of coated wire, the author’s company supplies the market with extrusion solutions for the most recently developed insulation materials, with particle attention to high temperature applications.

A successful extrusion process starts from a good adhesion of plastic material on the wire conductor. The

References 1. SampSistemi Technical Presentation, Intercable Meeting December 2005.

2. SampSistemi Technical Presentation, 6th CabWire World Technical Conference, Milan, November 2013.

3. www.calmont.com, www.fiskalloy.com, 4. ASTM-B33, ASTM-B298, ASTM-B355.

Photo 4. Tinned wire on reel.

Photo 5. Reels of finished product. insulation must be constant and homologous in terms of dimension in order to ensure the repeatability of electrical and mechanical performance. The cable appearance is not less important than the above-mentioned points.

These extrusion lines are engineered for thermoplastic materials and thermosetting materials; in this presentation the focus was on special insulation materials for final applications of more than 90°C. Solutions and comparisons are offered for different insulation materials (with and without halogens) and solutions to guarantee scrap reduction with the easiest line set-up.

Enrico Conte is product manager for wiredrawing lines and bunching machines at SAMP SpA/SAMPSISTEMI. He joined SAMP in 1997 as a mechanical engineer in the R&D Department, and from 2003 to 2014 served as a mechanical department manager and product development manager. With SAMP, he has filed six patent applications Conte and one utility model in wiredrawing and stranding equipment. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Bologna.

This presentation was made at the 7th biennial CabWire World Technical Conference, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2015.

Summary and future areas of development A new multiwire drawing and annealing platform for electroplated copper wires has been shown to meet market requirements such as enlarged outlet wire range diameter, number of wires, outlet diameter of each wire smaller and a faster and more flexible production.

New electronic technologies, as well as innovative and improved design in multiwire and annealer, generate savings through increased production efficiency (i.e. less wire breakage) and less energy consumption and allowing to obtain a better wire quality surface. See Photos 4 and 5.

JANUARY 2016 | 69

TECHNICAL PAPERS

The aim of the company is and will always be to supply technologically advanced systems that guarantee users the lowest possible operating costs. Innovation and know-how will therefore form the basis for all development activities over the next few years.

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL ECHNIC PAPER Authentication and traceability in wire and cable Recognizing the dangers of counterfeit cables, this paper presents a method for manufacturers of vinyl wire and cables to provide customers with a robust authentication and traceability system without compromising the integrity or performance of their products.

By Sean Bernhardt and Craig L. Shoemaker Ph.D.

With the continued expansion of global wire and cable markets, and the coincident rise in counterfeit cables in the market, the authors have conducted a study of covert authentication solutions to show how manufacturers and specifiers can increase the security of their supply chain without negatively affecting the performance or processing of their products.

Our experience as a major supplier of both polymer formulations and functional additive masterbatches for the wire and cable marketplace has allowed for a comprehensive exploration across covert additive technologies to prove the viability of this approach. The combination of various wire and cable formulations and additive chemistries provides manufacturers with a mechanism to implement track-and-trace programs for their cables that is virtually undetectable to the naked eye.

In the past, engineers have been forced to balance the security level offered by traditional marking systems with the impact on processing and performance of their cables.

The need to maintain line speed, surface integrity and physical properties have limited authentication methods

to surface treatments or post processing label and tags.

There has been a need to incorporate a secure solution that is integrated into the polymer, which would not compromise the material or process, and offer the durability required to function throughout the life of the cable.

This study was designed to validate the functionality of covert taggants in combination with various vinyl cable formulations. This paper will discuss the results with regards to taggant efficacy and influence on physical, flammability, electrical and thermal properties. The discussion will highlight how designers and engineers can create a more robust authentication system without compromising the integrity of their cable construction.

The wire and cable industry has faced a marked increase in the number of counterfeit products in the last decade. According to International Chamber of Commerce estimates, counterfeit products now account for 5-7% of world trade, which equates to over $600 billion1. Estimates of counterfeit infiltra-

Material

Branded Product

Product Use

Wire Type

Vinyl Jacket

GEON™ WR7400L

Flexible Cord Jacket

SJT, SJTO

Vinyl Buffer/Jacket

GEON™ W780L

Fiber Optic Buffer/Jacket

Fiber Optic Cables

Vinyl Insulation

GEON™ WEMB410B

Building Wire Insulation, Wet Rated Insulation.

THWN-2,THHN, THHW, THW, THWN

Vinyl Jacket

GEON™ WJJC310L

Riser Jacket

CMR

Vinyl Plenum Jacket

GEON™ WJJP604

Low Smoke & Flame Jkt.

CMP

Taggant Masterbatch

PERCEPT™

Covert Taggant

Various

Table 1. Materials studied for study.

70 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

A new addition, here authors reply to questions from WJI about their presentations.

WJI: What drove the development of this technology in the wire and cable market?

Shoemaker: Covert authentication methods such as PolyOne’s Percept™ brand protection technologies have been used for a number of years in applications ranging from casino chips to medical devices.

Recent research by the CCCA and other organizations has revealed that counterfeiting of wire and cable products is of particular concern because it involves public safety.

Based on this research and our customer feedback, we decided to test our Percept technology in Geon™ vinyl wire and cable applications to ensure that the functional properties of the product wouldn’t be compromised with the addition of the additive. As seen in this study, the result allows manufacturers to protect their products and their customers from counterfeiting by providing a covert

authentication method that can be traced at any point in the supply chain—without affecting product performance.

WJI: Can you give an example of the damage counterfeit products can cause?

Shoemaker: A recent, high-profile example involves hoverboard scooters that have been recalled and seized for having unsafe components that can cause the product to overheat, short-circuit, or even explode or burst into flames. Reports indicate that the problems are being traced to sub-standard plugs and chargers in the products. This is an unfortunate example of the potential of noncompliant or counterfeit components —including wire and cable—to put public safety at risk..

WJI: How can wire & cable manufacturers apply this technology

in their products?

Shoemaker: For wire and cable applications, a masterbatch Shoemaker containing Percept taggant additive can be incorporated in the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other polymer used for insulation, jacketing and other connectivity applications that include flexible or rigid polymers. The presence or absence of a covert marker or taggant can be identified by the manufacturer to confirm authenticity of their products using a number of methods. This verification can be used throughout the product supply chain – from point of origin to point of consumption.

Questions for the author? He can be contacted at craig.shoemaker@ polyone.com.

usage, long after the product has been installed, can be tion in the electronics sector are even higher at close to 10% according to IHS2. Advances in technology and the severely compromised. global economy have allowed the problem of counterfeitThe increased sophistication of the counterfeit products ing to grow at an alarming rate. For example, the number and the “gray market” requires a holistic approach across of counterfeit seizures made by US Customs and Border stakeholders to create a robust defense. With regards to Patrol have increased by 374% over the last decade alone3. authentication, traditional methods such as overt cable The issue of counterfeiting is of particular concern in the printing and the use of holographic hang tags are no longer wire and cable market where the threat goes beyond the monetary loss and brand equity concerns; it include issues of public safety. Industry requirements for flame and smoke suppression require the use of specialized materials which increase the material cost. Counterfeit products which do not meet such standards, or more often falsely claim to meet such standards, are offered at significant discounts as compared to regulated materials. For those customers merely buying based on price, the public safety during Photo 1. Extruded strip samples with key fob.

JANUARY 2016 | 71

TECHNICAL PAPERS

What’s noteworthy in this paper

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER sufficient to identify the legitimacy of a product. A more proactive approach, combining both overt and covert solutions, offers a more reliable method to authenticate a product and reduce manufacturer liability.

In addition to providing an improved level of security, it is imperative that an authentication solution not adversely affect the functional properties of a cable structure.

In order to verify this, a list of physical attributes was compiled that are representative of industry standard characteristics, and a series of five vinyl wire and cable materials with various compositions were selected to undergo analysis with and without a chosen authentication solution. The two sets of data were compared to see if any significant changes were observed with the inclusion of the covert taggant additive solution.

Wire and Cable Material Tested Product Sample No.

Experimental materials Five vinyl wire and cable formulations were chosen for this study, and are listed in Table 1. They represent an array of various flexible and semi-rigid vinyl wire and cable products, including insulation and jacket materials with varying chemistries and additive levels. To these five materials a vinyl based taggant masterbatch was added at a 4% letdown ratio, and the properties were measured and compared between the neat material and the materials with the taggant masterbatch added.

All 10 samples were made in the lab using a high-speed powder mixer to thoroughly disperse the ingredients. The powder was transferred to an internal batch fusion mixer and then fused and dropped into a pan. The fused material was then placed onto an oil-heated, two-roll mill. The

Vinyl Jacket

Vinyl Buffer/Jacket

Vinyl Insulation

Geon™ WR7400L #1 #2

Geon™ W780L #3 #4

Geon™ WEMB410B #5 #6

Percept™ Technology Added

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Key Fob Indentified

No

 Yes

No

 Yes

No

 Yes

1.28

1.31

1.31

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 1.25 1.26 1.28

Specific Gravity ASTM D7924 Durometer Hardness ASTM

D22405

Shore A, 15 seconds delay

68

Shore D, 15 seconds delay Tensile Strength (psi) ASTM D6386 Tensile Strength Standard Deviation (psi)= Elongation at Break (%) ASTM D6386

68

18

18

42

40

45

43

2267 121 335

2063 41 330

3625 168 302

3360 160 312

3817 190 310

3666 95 305

30

30

29

FLAMMABILTY PROPERTIES Limiting Oxygen Index (%) ASTM

25

28637

25

31

ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES Dielectric Const. @10MHz ASTM D1508 Dissipation Factor @10MHz ASTM

D1508

Dielectric Const. @1GHz ASTM D1508 Dissipation Factor @1GHz ASTM

D1508

3.67

3.62

3.08

3.10

2.96

2.96

0.0644

0.0637

0.0389

0.0388

0.0210

0.0215

3.15

3.12

2.77

2.80

2.82

2.82

0.0211

0.0207

0.0115

0.0115

0.0057

0.0058

-40

-22

-20

THERMAL PROPERTIES Brittleness of Plastic (⁰C) ASTM D7469 Oven Aging Conditions (Time, Temp.)

Aged Tensile Strength (psi) ASTM

D6386

-48

-50

168 hrs, 136⁰C

-41

168 hrs, 121⁰C

168 hrs, 136⁰C

3204

2831

3571

3602

3055

3551

264

259

272

291

260

281

Retention of Tensile Strength (%)

141%

137%

99%

107%

80%

97%

Retention of Elongation (%)

79%

78%

90%

93%

84%

92%

Key Fob Indentified After Oven Aging

No

 Yes

No

 Yes

No

 Yes

Metrastat Color Change @205⁰C (min.)

Dynamic Thermal Stab. ASTM D253810 205⁰C/100 rpm (min.)

120

120

140

140

160

150

130

120

120

140

120

110

Aged Elong. At Break (%) ASTM D6386

Table 2. Results, part 1.

72 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Wire and Cable Material Tested Product Sample No.

The key fob LED light turns green when it detects that the taggant is present in a sample or the key fob blinks red if the taggant is not detected in the sample.

Results and discussion The first thing to note is that the samples with the taggant technology look the same as the neat materials without it.

See Photo 1. The odd-numbered samples (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) are the neat materials without the taggant masterbatch.

The even-numbered samples (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10) are the corresponding materials containing the taggant masterbatch. The Percept™ taggant technology does not change the visual appearance of the material to which it is added.

This is an important property for a covert authentication technology to have.

Vinyl Riser Jacket

Vinyl Plenum Jacket

Geon™ WJJC310L #7 #2

Geon™ WJJP604 #9 #10

Percept™ Technology Added

No

Yes

No

Yes

Key Fob Indentified

No

 Yes

No

 Yes

1.49

1.48

1.63

1.61

49 3069

49 2805

51 2151

47 2066

61

35

124

132

236

239

196

191

38

57

54

3.51

3.43

3.63

3.58

Dissipation Factor @10MHz ASTM Dielectric Const. @1GHz ASTM D1508

0.0303 3.24

0.0297 3.16

0.0223 3.41

0.0239 3.37

Dissipation Factor @1GHz ASTM D1508

0.0103

0.0101

0.0080

0.0080

-22

-6

-8

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES Specific Gravity ASTM D7924 Durometer Hardness ASTM

D22405

Shore D, 15 seconds delay Tensile Strength (psi) ASTM D6386 Tensile Strength Standard Deviation (psi)= Elongation at Break (%) ASTM

D6386

FLAMMABILTY PROPERTIES Limiting Oxygen Index (%) ASTM 28637

40 ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES

Dielectric Const. @10MHz ASTM

D1508 D1508

THERMAL PROPERTIES Brittleness of Plastic (⁰C) ASTM

D7469

Oven Aging Conditions (Time, Temp.)

Aged Tensile Strength (psi) ASTM

D6386

-23

240 hrs, 100⁰C

240 hrs, 100⁰C

2780

2780

2164

1950

Aged Elong. At Break (%) ASTM D6386

231

211

167

163

Retention of Tensile Strength (%)

91%

99%

101%

94%

Retention of Elongation (%) Key Fob Indentified After Oven Aging Metrastat Color Change @205⁰C (min.)

Dynamic Thermal Stab. ASTM D253810 205⁰C/100 rpm (min.)

98% No 180

88%  Yes 180

85% No 120

85%  Yes 120

125

130

115

120

Table 3. Results, part 2.

JANUARY 2016 | 73

TECHNICAL PAPERS

material was worked on the mill for a set period of time and then removed in square plaques and long strips. The square plaques were pressed to the required sample thickness in a six-in. by six-in. plaque mold using an oil-heated press. The pressed plaques were then die cut into samples and tested. The long strips were cooled and diced to make cubed material for testing.

Some of the cubed material was tested for static thermal stability in a Metrastat testing oven and for dynamic thermal stability in a Brabender® mixing head. Some of the cubed material was extruded into one-in.-wide strips using a small lab single-screw extruder and a strip die. The strips were then checked with a specially designed key fob to show whether the material containing the taggant technology could be identified by the key fob. See Fig. 1.

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER The physical, flammability, electrical and thermal property data collected from testing all samples are listed in Tables 2 and 3. Table 2 contains the results of the first three materials studied: vinyl jacket (WR7400L), vinyl fiber optic buffer/jacket (W780L) and vinyl insulation (WEMB410B). Sample #1 shows the test results for the neat natural material WR7400L. Sample #2 shows the test results of the WR7400L with the taggant masterbatch added. Comparing the two columns, the performance of the two samples is essentially the same for all properties tested. The specific gravity, hardness and elongation at break values are essentially the same for samples #1 and #2, while the tensile strength is slightly lower for sample #1 compared to sample #2. The addition of the taggant masterbatch has not changed the performance of the material in any of the properties tested to any appreciable degree.

(Note: these tests were run on one lab lot of material; and some statistical variation in test results can be expected.)

Also in Table 2 are the vinyl fiber optic buffer and jacket material W780L, samples #3 and #4, and vinyl insulation material WEMB410B, samples #5 and #6. Again, the test results are comparable between the neat material samples #3 and #5 and samples #4 and #6, respectively, with the taggant masterbatch added. There does seem to be a slight trend in lower tensile strength values. Because these data were obtained using pressed plaques, if the samples were instead extruded, they are likely to show less difference in tensile strength values. It is noted that the oven-aged samples do not show the same effect. In fact, samples #4 and #6 show higher aged tensile strength values when compared to samples #3 and #5 respectively. It is also noted that the high standard deviation of the original (unaged) tensile strength indicates that the tensile values are not different from the 95% confidence level (±1.96 x standard deviation).

The oven aging and thermal stability data are also comparable between the sets of samples. This indicates that the taggant masterbatch technology does not affect the performance of the vinyl in either high or low temperature tests. The key fob was used to identify the samples with the taggant after the samples had been oven aged. This demonstrates that the taggant will be a permanent marker in the cable even as it ages. Thus, for many years to come, the taggant will be preserved and potentially used to authenticate a cable’s authenticity.

The electrical performance measured by the dielectric constant and dissipation loss factor compared well, too.

Thus, this taggant technology can be used in insulations without affecting electrical performance properties.

Table 3 contains the property data for the jacket materials with higher flame retardancy: riser jacket material WJJC310L, samples #7 and #8, and plenum jacket material WJJP604, samples #9 and #10. Here again one does not see any significant change in the electrical or thermal properties tested, demonstrating that the processing and electrical performance of the materials is essentially unchanged when the taggant masterbatch is added.

74 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

However, there is some degree of reduction in flammability, limiting oxygen index (LOI) and hardness (Shore D 15 second delay) in the plenum jacket sample. This is probably due to the letdown ratio of the taggant masterbatch used, which was 4%. This higher letdown ratio may allow the masterbatch base to affect these harder, highly flame retarded materials more so than the “normal” flexible vinyl wire and cable compounds listed in Table 2. This result points to the possible need for a masterbatch carrier selection to be designed for higher LOI materials such as riser and plenum jacket materials.

Conclusions The addition of the covert additive masterbatch in the five flexible/semi-rigid vinyl wire and cable test formulations showed the taggant samples are undetectable to the naked eye but still identifiable by a convenient test; yet the taggants present did not affect the performance, processing or properties of the formulations tested to any significant degree. The properties that were tested included physical, flammability, electrical and thermal. The only differences noted in the test results were in the hardness and flammability data of the semi-rigid riser and plenum jacket materials with the taggant masterbatch added. Here, the masterbatch carrier may have affected these two properties to a slight degree. It would be possible to develop a specialized taggant masterbatch that could be used for these semi-rigid products and not affect the hardness and flammability.

These results highlight how cable developers and cable engineers can create a robust authentication and traceability system for cable designs using current vinyl materials without compromising the integrity or performance of their cable constructions. Because the flexible and semi-rigid vinyl wire and cable materials studied included jacket, insulation, fiber optic buffer, riser jacket and plenum jacket materials, they represent almost all areas where vinyl products can be used in a cable design. This taggant technology can also be used for other polymers which are used in wire and cable. Because the covert taggant masterbatch can be added to one or more part(s) of a cable, the covert taggant technology is very versatile and able to perform quite robustly in covert anti-counterfeiting applications where authentication is conveniently identifiable.

References 1. Havocscope, Anti-Counterfeiting News and

Counterfeit Goods Statistics; can be found online at www.havocscope.com/category/counterfeit-goods/.

2. Supply & Demand Chain Executive Special Edition, “A Real and Present Danger in the Electronics Supply Chain,” Dec. 2010-Jan. 2011, pg 30.

3. US Customs and Border Patrol – Intellectual Property and Seizure Statistics Annual Reports; www.cbp.gov/ipr.

4. ASTM D 972, Standard Test Methods for Density and Specific Gravity (Relative Density) of Plastics by Displacement, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2003, www.astm.org.

Dr. Shoemaker is senior lead research engineer for the PolyOne Corporation in the wire and cable, corporate research and automotive technical areas. He holds BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering from Ohio University, and a PhD degree in chemical engineering from the Ohio State University, where he worked on three-dimensional Shoemaker computer image analysis of fiber orientations. In 1988, he joined BFGoodrich, where he worked in the company’s wire and cable and static dissipative vinyl formulation areas as an advanced R&D engineer. In 1992, he moved into the automotive and flexible vinyl formulation areas as a senior R&D engineer at The GEON Company. He joined PolyOne Corporation in 2002. He is a member of SAE and has co-authored and presented several papers on the topics of image analysis, flammability, TPEs, electrical testing, nanotube composites and automotive vinyl formulations. He earned an LSS Green Belt certification in 2014 and holds four patents.

Solid Electrical Insulation, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2003, www.astm.org.

9. ASTM D746, Standard Test Method for Brittleness Temperature of Plastics and Elastomers by Impact, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2003, www.astm.org.

10. ASTM D2538, Standard Practice for Fusion of Poly (Vinyl Chloride) (PVC) Compounds Using a Torque Rheometer, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2003, www.astm.org.

Sean Bernhardt is the applications development manager for PolyOne. Following graduation from Virginia Tech with BS and MBA degrees, he began work in the Polymer Additives business of Milliken Chemical. Over a nine-year career with Milliken, he transitioned from being an R&D chemist to a commercial role, culminating with his attainBernhardt ing North American responsibilities for Milliken’s polymeric colorants and UV additives platforms. For the past three years he has worked as an applications development manager for PolyOne, focusing on expanding the capabilities in functional additive for a variety of polymer families with a focus on the wire and cable market. He also has North American responsibility for the development and commercialization of PolyOne’s Percept authentication platform. This paper was presented at WAI’s 85th Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, April 2015.

JANUARY 2016 | 75

TECHNICAL PAPERS

5. ASTM D2240, Standard Test Method for Rubber Property—Durometer Hardness, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2003, www.astm.org.

6. ASTM D638 type 4, Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Plastics, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2003, www.astm.org.

7. ASTM D2240, Standard Test Method for Measuring the Minimum Oxygen Concentration to Support CandleLike Combustion of Plastics (Oxygen Index), ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2003, www.astm.org.

8. ASTM D150, Standard Test Methods for AC Loss Characteristics and Permittivity (Dielectric Constant) of

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL ECHNIC PAPER Impact of adverse cable handling on lifetime of optical fiber This paper presents the results of experiments to validate a module that can predict the useful life of optical fiber cables, including when there has been an outside influence, such as an accidental dig-up.

By Sudipta Bhaumik

Optical fiber is exposed to various stress-time events during manufacture, installation and in-service life. This typically includes: optical fiber manufacture; fiber drawing; proof-testing and rewinding; optical fiber cable manufacture; coloring; tubing; stranding and sheathing; cable installation; long-term field use; and unscheduled events, such as accidental cable dig-up.

During these events, flaws on the optical fiber surface can grow due to the applied stress and moisture in the environment. Consequently, the outcome of these events can include a reduction in fiber strength and a subsequent longterm reduction in product life as well as instantaneous fracture and failure. From a reliability perspective, the growth of these subcritical flaws or cracks needs to be controlled to ensure that the fiber exceeds the lifetime requirements.

Reliability prediction models The flaws on the fiber surface have a range of strengths and are assumed to be randomly distributed along the fiber. The strength of a particular region depends on the weakest flaw present: the low strength (extrinsic) flaws determine lifetime. During subcritical (non-fracture) crack growth, fiber strength decreases and hence so does resistance to future stress-time events. Reliability models need to be able to predict the strength reduction from various stress-time events and estimate fiber lifetime.

A possible scenario would be to estimate the lifetime of an installed cable after an unscheduled event, such as the above cited dig-up without breaking. This was a high-stress, short-time event, and the cable lifetime at this point needs to be estimated for the combination of the accident plus the long-term, low-stress environment.

These models need to have extensive validation via a controlled experiment to have confidence in these predictions.

Modeling of fiber mechanical strength and lifetime has been considered by many authors using various approaches1,2. Many models have been proposed to describe the relationship between crack velocity and stress-intensity

76 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

factor. The Power Law Theory has gained acceptance for modeling stress-driven subcritical crack growth in optical fiber. On application of stress, a fiber with a crack that grows will weaken. When the final strength equals the applied stress, instant failure happens. For a crack with initial strength Si subjected to an arbitrary stress-time history σ (t) to failure, the failure lifetime tf is implicitly contained. See Eqs. 1 and 23. Fracture occurs just when the final strength equals to the applied stress at the instant of failure tf. However, crack strengths are statistically distributed along the fiber outside surface. This means that the failure times, or the equivalent failure rates, must also be statistically distributed.

Eq. 1 Eq. 2 where, Si = Initial Strength; tf = Failure Lifetime; (t) = Stress – Time History; n = Stress Corrosion Susceptibility Constant; B = Crack Strength Preservation Parameter.

The two-region power law (2RPL) assigns a B value to Region I (subcritical crack growth) and Region II (high-stress, short-time, e.g., proof-testing) as proposed

by Glaesmann4. The 2RPL model determines the two B and n values for two different regions, I and II, and then considers strength degradation by Eq. 1, with different sets of B and n values. A shortcoming with the single region power law (1RPL) and 2RPL is that it requires the calculation of n and B. Values of B depend on the environment, and reported values vary widely in the literature. The B value also has to be calculated using inert strength measurements that are most easily performed on short lengths of fiber: the results measure only the intrinsic strength of the glass.

An alternative approach is to calculate a safe stress threshold without using B by removing the requirement to measure the environment-specific B value5. It can also incorporate a long-length strength distribution in

TECHNICAL PAPERS

What’s noteworthy in this paper A new addition, here authors reply to questions from WJI about their presentations.

WJI: What was the motivation behind this research work??

Bhaumik: an Accidental cable cut is a real-life challenge for telecom operators and predominant in developing countries with growing infrastructure. During a cable cut event, the cable and inside fiber are exposed to a stress that is higher than the rated/designed level. This type of incident pose questions for telecom operators, such as, “Is any cable break acceptable?” “How many fiber breaks are expected?”

“What is the impact on lifetime of the fiber that experienced higher than rated tensile stress?” These and other questions are not so simple to answer. Most common fiber lifetime prediction is made for constant in-service stress. There is a need to understand impact on lifetime of fibers exposed to abnormal stress-time profile.

prooftesting WJI: How can a reader apply the strength of outcome of this research work?? fiber can Bhaumik: In this research work, an be degradapproach is presented and then valed over a idated by experiments. The results period of are specific to a batch of fiber samBhaumik time due ples, cable design and outdoor cable to environdeployment scenarios. However, mental aging, handling, and residual a similar approach can be applied static stress. This study was conto other types of cable and cable ducted on fiber sample as received deployment scenarios to understand after proof-testing. However it will impact on lifetime of fibers Where, exposed Si = Initial Strength be interesting to study aged fiber to un-scheduled events like tcable f = Failure Lifetime exposed to abnormal stress-time dig-up. σ (t) = Stress – Time history profile.

Optical fiber cable lifetime is n = Stress corrosion susceptibility constant = Crack strength preservation expected to be parameter at least 20-25 years.

WJI: Do you see need for Bfurther If a cable is exposed to un-scheduled research in this area??

The two region power law assigns a B value to Region I (subcritical crack grow eventsby after 10 years of et.al deployment, Bhaumik: As noted above, other 4 . In the Two Region Power proof-testing) as proposed G.S.Glaesmann what wouldregions the impact on lifetime or strength degra cable designs and deployment B and nareas values for two different I & II and then consider values. A short-coming the breaks single region and two region power law is tha howwith many are expected? like aerial, in-building deployments B depend on the environment & reported values vary widely in the literature. may be covered in futureof work. inert strength measurements that are most easily performed on short lengths Fiber strength distribution at extrinstrength of the glass. Questions for the author? He can be contacted at sudipta.bhaumik@ sic (weaker) region has a significant An Postalternative approach is to calculate a safe stress threshold without using sterlite.com. influence on fiber lifetime.

the threshold calculations. The model derives allowable in-service and short-term stresses as a fraction of the fiber strength for subcritical crack growth.

Eq. 3 is prescribed to calculate safe stress level from a given strength distribution. The equation derived by the Stress

environment specific B value5. It can also incorporate a long-length strength dis model derives allowable in-service & short-term stresses as a fraction of the fib

authors the probability of safe exceeding a 1%from threshEq. 3 gives is prescribed to calculate stress level a given strength distrib the probability of exceeding oldgives in crack growth over 40 years.a 1% threshold in crack growth over 40 year σ s = exp [

�

���

�

� ln � ���x [ �� �

��� �

)

��� �

.

��� ��

]1/n ---------------Eq. (3) Eq. 3

Where, σ s = Safe stress m = Shape parameter of the Weibull strength distribution Fiber Break F = Failure Probability, (should be small, 10-3 and10-6) Point σ‘ = Scale parameter of the Weibull strength distribution n = Stress corrosion susceptibility constant � = Crack growth parameter at n (calculated after considering safe boundary co � 7.59 x 10-12 at n=18) σ f = median strength σ. = Stress rate

σ s/ σ p = [

eak / 100 km

ln ln

There is one more model proposed by Y.Mitsunaga et . al based on single re long length optical fiber is done based on failure (break) rate during proof tes made to neglect B parameter. The lifetime model is shown in Eq. 4.

200 kpsi

Fig. 1. Chart showing

�

�

��� �� ��� 1/n ] ------------------------------------------------------ Eq. (4) � ��� ��

Where, σ s = Safe stress Time σ p = Proof test stress n = Stress corrosion susceptibility constant Unload Time Dwell Time Load time m = Shape parameter of the Weibull strength distribution Fs= Failure Probability with safe stress, (should be small, 10-3 and10-6) LLT machine Proof testing machine L = Fiber Length = Fiber N p Figure 1 Stress- Time Profile break rate at proof test level tpe = Proof test time (loading time + dwell time + unloading time) setup for stress-time profile used for experiment. ts= Failure time (expected lifetime, say 40 years) Breaks/100 km Measured Breaks/100 km Estimated Linear (Breaks/100 km Measured)

n value B value, n value B value, Dwell Stress (assumed GPa2.ms Time measureat different GPa2.ms proof test level and from m-value can be determined by proof-testing (kpsi) in (assumed in JANUARY 2016 | 77 d (calculated) represent(sec) two different levels of proof testing.

It is counter argued that the assu estimation) estimation) 3 over conservative estimations of failure probability as measurement of s 200 1 18 6 20 ~10 actual 7 information.

200 5 18 6 20 10‐20

Stress aging of proof-tested fiber Optical fiber cable is designed to protect fibers from handling damages. Necessary strength members are included in cable to carry external forces applied during cable handling and transportation, cable installation and long -term field use. Most of the outdoor cables are designed such that maximum force experienced by the inside fiber during the rated tensile force (typically 1.5 to 2 times of cable weight/km) on the cable, should not cross 0.3% of fiber strain, which is around one third of the proof-testing strain of 1%.

However, during adverse cable handling, the force on a cable can cross the rated tensile force and therefore the force inside the fiber increases as well. In this experiment a prooftest machine is used for stress aging. The fiber samples are passed through various stresstime profile, where the applied stress is 200 kpsi (higher than the strength of the weakest flaw found in LLT strength distribution) and at a variable stress application time that is changed by adjusting the proof-test machine line speed. During the stress-time event, flaws of strength less than 200 kpsi are expected to break the samples. Some flaws of strength just above 200 kpsi are also expected to break

Stress (kpsi)

Dwell Time (sec)

n value (assumed in estimation)

B value, GPa2.ms (assumed in estimation)

n value measured

B value, GPa2.ms (calculated)

200

1

18

6

20

~10 3

200

5

18

6

20

10-20

200

10

18

6

20

~10 3

200

15

18

6

20

~10 3

200

20

18

6

20

10-20

200

25

18

6

20

10 -20

200

30

18

6

20

10-20

Table 1. n and B values of various stress-time profiles.

Tensile Strength at Failure Probability

Shape Parameter

0.15

0.50

0.632

Measured

X.0

X.0+0.2

X.0+0.3

21

Estimated

X.0

X.0+0.3

X.0+0.3

21

% Difference

0%

2%

0%

0%

Table 2. Tensile strength failure probability.

Stress Events

Stress on fiber (kpsi)

Stress Application Time

Worst case (n=20, B=10 GPa2. ms), Fiber Break / 100 km

Best case (n=20, B=103 GPa2. ms), Fiber Break / 100 km

Normal installed fiber

35

40 years

0

0

10 sec

85-95

40-45

5 sec

70-80

35-40

1 sec

60 - 70

30-35

10 sec

30-35

10-15

5 sec

25-30

10-15

1 sec

20-25

5 - 10

10 sec

10-15

0-5

5 sec

10-15

0

1 sec

5-10

0

10 sec

0-5

0

5 sec

0-5

0

1 sec

0

0

145 sec

0

0

300

Adverse Cable handling

200

150

120 100

Table 3. Estimated fiber break rates at various stress-time events.

JANUARY 2016 | 79

TECHNICAL PAPERS

during the stress-time event due to weakening (crackgrowth). Initially, samples from several 100 km fibers are tested with various stress-time profiles. It was expected to see degradation of fiber strength from initial strength due to sub-critical crack growth during stress aging, so to verify actual strength degradation against predicted values,

cates strength distribution around 100 kpsi; (b) Extrinsic flaw region knee starts around a 5% cumulative probability; and (c) Approximately 99% of measured breaks are above 2.75 GPa (four times the proof-test level).

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER Stress Event

High Residual stress after cable break event

Static Stress on fiber (kpsi)

Fiber lifetime after cable break event

40

> 108 years

80

>200 years

88

>40 years

100

>4 years

150

>1 day

Table 4. Fiber lifetime under high residual static stresses.

LLT strength testing is conducted with the fiber undergone various stress-time histories. Fig. 1 shows the stress-time profile applied on the fiber samples. Both break rates and LLT strength Weibull distributions are predicted from Eq. 1 and the experimental results are compared to validate the reliability model. Because anticipated break rates are not large, this cannot be expected to be a definitive validation of the model. This comparison of predicted vs measured breaks provides confidence on the model predictions for lifetime degradation. Once the model is validated, Eq. 1 is used to predict impact on fiber lifetime of cables exposed to adverse stress-time profiles.

Results, analysis and discussions 200 kpsi constant stress and varying stress application time from 1 sec to 30 sec with an increment of 5 sec are applied on over 750 km of optical fiber samples. Fiber break rate is estimated from Eq. 1 assuming n value of 18 as specified in IEC 60793-2-50 and B-value of 6 GPa2ms as mentioned in EIA/TIA FOTP-31 for all the seven stress-time profiles9,10. Then estimated vs measured fiber break rates of the seven stress-time profiles are compared and results are shown in Fig. 2. Less number of fiber breaks are measured compared to estimated break rate.

However, an increasing trend of fiber break rates with increase in stress application time (dwell time) is common in both the cases. The lesser number of measured breaks may be due to conservatively small n and B values assumed during estimation. Typical n value (dynamic tensile) of the fiber samples is 20 as measured by axial tension method by following IEC 60793-1-3311. B values are back calculated to match measured and estimated break rate. Table 1 shows a combination of n and B values to match measured break rates at various stress-time profiles. The calculated B values varies from 10 to 103 GPa2ms for different stress-time profiles and distributed in two different ranges. The lower range is 10-20 GPa2-ms and the higher range is around 10 3 GPa2-ms. B-value is highly dependent on the environment and material, and it is related to the inert strength, i.e., initial length of crack.

In a previous study, reported B-value of conventional single-mode fiber vary in the order of magnitude of eight compared to two, as found in this study.12 However, further study is required to understand two different regions of B-value. Fig. 3 and Table 2 show a comparison

80 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

between measured and estimated Weibull LLT strength distributions and related parameters where estimation is done with recalculated B value and measured n parameter for the stress-time profile 200 kpsi-10 sec. From the comparison results, it can be seen that the optical fiber under study reasonably follows the Power Law model of Eq. 1, with n = 20 and B value of the range 10-103 GPa2.ms.

Therefore, the Power Law Model can be used, along with measured n and calculated B values, to predict failure rate of optical fiber during adverse cable handling. Two extreme predictions of lifetime can be made based on two sets of n and B values, e.g., n = 20 and B = 10 GPa2.ms for a worst case scenario and n = 20 and B = 103 GPa2. ms for a best case scenario.

If fiber is stressed above the strength of the weakest flaws, it is expected that breaks will occur during adverse cable handling. Table 3 shows estimated fiber break rates for two sets of n and B values at various stress-time events according to Eq. 1. Lifetime of normal installed fiber is expected to be above 40 years under 35 kpsi stress. No failure is estimated if 100 kpsi stress is applied for a 145 sec duration. Maximum 120 kpsi stress can be applied for 1 sec without any fiber failure.

These results suggest that during adverse cable handling and application of high stress, a proportion of the fiber will break. As most of the low-strength flaw broke during the cable break event, the expected lifetime of the remaining fiber will be much higher. However, the fiber may experience higher static stress during lifetime after a cable dig-up event because of the inelastic properties of other cable materials. It may take longer for it to “relax” back to an original level of safe stress, say 35 kpsi. Thus, lifetime should be re-calculated with a higher static stress after an adverse cable handling event. Table 4 shows fiber lifetime (time to failure) at various higher residual static stresses after a cable break event. Fiber strain at cable break point is determined experimentally by stretching a cable till break point. The fiber strain at cable break point is measured 2.7% (270 kpsi, 1.863 GPa) for a buffer tube duct cable. The fiber strain at cable break point will be different for different cable designs. Minimum strength of the residual fiber after cable break event is estimated 2.11 GPa (306 kpsi) from the LLT strength Weibull distribution of the fiber samples under study. Thus, much higher lifetime is estimated even for higher residual static stress.

Conclusion The Power Law Model for optical fiber lifetime estimation is verified. Experimental results show that the fiber samples under study reasonably follows PowerLaw theory with n = 20 and a B value of range 10-103 GPa2.ms, thus validating its use for life time modeling.

As fiber strain at a cable break point is higher than the proof-testing strain, before reaching cable break point some fiber break will occur and the fiber break rate will depend on the population of low strength flaws (i.e. extrinsic region of Weibull plot). Worst and best case scenarios of fiber break rates are determined for various stress-time events during adverse cable handling. After a cable break event, the minimum strength of the survived portion of the fiber is estimated at 306 kpsi (for a buffer tube duct cable sample), which is much higher than the proof-testing stress of 100 kpsi and therefore, a higher lifetime of fiber is expected.

However, fiber may experience higher static stress during lifetime after a cable dig-up event because of inelastic properties of other cable materials. It may take a long time for it to relax back to its original level of safe stress, say 35 kpsi. Lifetime of optical fiber under higher residual stresses after a cable break event is estimated. To achieve at least 40 years of fiber lifetime, maximum allowable static stress is estimated to be 88 kpsi. This study is carried out with the fiber samples containing higher number of low strength flaws at extrinsic region of Weibull plot. The performance of installed fiber optics cables in adverse cable handling events will depend on cable design, cable tensile rating and post proof-testing fiber strength distribution particularly at the extrinsic region. Environmental aging, however, can change the strength distribution. It can degrade the strength of the weakest flaws or even increase their number significantly. Therefore, a safety margin for strength degradation due to environmental aging needs to be considered while determining safe service stress.

Acknowledgment The author wishes to thank Kapil Batra for organizing testing and analysis.

References 1. R. Castilone, G. Glaesemann and T. Hanson, “Extrinsic strength measurement and associated mechanical reliability modeling of optical fiber,” 16th Annual Ntal Fiber Optic Engineers Conference, 2000.

2. G.S. Glaesemann and S.T. Gulati, “Design methodology for the mechanical reliability of optical fiber,” Optical Engineering, June 1991, pp. 709-714.

3. IEC TR 62048, Ed. 3, Optical Fibers, ReliabilityPower Law Theory, Jan. 2014.

4. T.A. Hanson and G.S. Glaesemann, “Incorporating multi-region crack growth into mechanical reliability predictions for optical fibers,” Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 32, 1997, pp. 5305-5311.

5. G.S. Glaesemann and S.T. Gulati, “Design methodology for the mechanical reliability of optical fiber,” Optical Engineering, June 1991, pp. 709-714.

6. Y. Mitsunaga, et al, “Failure prediction for long length optical fiber based on proof testing,” Journal of Applied Physics, July 1992, pp 4847-4853.

7. L.K. Baker, “Comparison of Mechanical Reliability Models of optical Fibers,” Corning White paper, WP5049, June 2001.

8. TIA/EIA-455-28C, FOTP-31, “Measuring dynamic strength and fatigue paramters of PF by tension.”

9. IEC 60793-2-50, Ed. 4, and Part 2-50: Product specifications – Sectional specification for class B single-mode fibers.

10. TIA/EIA-455-31C, FOTP-31, “Proof Testing Optical Fibers by Tension,” February 1995.

11. IEC 60793-1-33, Ed. 1, Measurement methods and test procedures- Stress corrosion susceptibility.

12. T. Volotinen, et al, “Mechanical behavior and B value of an abraded optical fiber,” 47th IWCS, 1998.

Sudipta Bhaumik is associate general manager, application engineering, at Sterlite Technologies Limited, located at the company’s Center of Excellence in Aurangabad, India. He has been engaged with research on quality, reliability and applications related issues of optical fiber and fiber optics cable. He joined Bhaumik Sterlite in 1998 as process development engineer at its optical fiber plant. He holds a B.Tech degree in ceramic technology from Calcutta University and master’s degree in ceramic technology from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, both in India. He is an ASQ certified Six-Sigma Black Belt, Manager of Quality/Business Excellence and Quality Auditor and an IRCA approved lead auditor of business continuity management system, and is active in industry bodies. A frequent author of technical papers, white papers and application notes, he twice (2002 and 2003) won the Urbain J.H. Malo Award for best division presentation. This paper was presented at WAI’s 85th Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, April 2015.

JANUARY 2016 | 81

TECHNICAL PAPERS

To ensure a minimum of 40-years fiber lifetime after a cable break event, maximum residual static stress on fiber should not exceed 88 kpsi.

Patent Update PATENTS

(Cont’d. from p. 20)

System for supplying AC power to a display via a low voltage cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,197,838 Patent date: Nov. 24, 2015 Filed: Dec. 7, 2012 Inventor: Jack Gershfeld A system for supplying AC power to a display via a CAT7 or similar low voltage cable comprises a transmitter connected to an AC power outlet and generating DC voltage transmitted by the CAT7 cable to a receiver. The receiver converts the DC voltage to AC voltage and supplies AC power to the display. A limiting circuit limits power transmitted by the CAT7 cable to a predetermined wattage, depending on the feedback from the receiver, which insures safe operation of the system. Power from the display is disconnected if a pre-programmed power consumed by the display is exceeded or falls below a predetermined threshold.

Shielded electrical cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,196,397 Patent date: Nov. 24, 2015 Filed: Dec. 5, 2014 Applicant/assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Co., U.S. A shielded electrical cable includes conductor sets extending along a length of the cable and spaced apart from each other along a width of the cable. First and second shielding films are disposed on opposite sides of the cable and include cover portions and pinched portions arranged such that, in transverse cross section, the cover portions of the films in combination substantially surround each conductor set. An adhesive layer bonds the shielding films together in the pinched portions of the cable. A transverse bending of the cable at a cable location of no more than 180 degrees over an inner radius of at most 2 mm causes a cable impedance of the selected insulated conductor proximate the cable location to vary by no more than 2 percent from an initial cable impedance measured at the cable location in an unbent configuration.

82 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Silicone multilayer insulation for electric cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,196,394 Patent date: Nov. 24, 2015 Filed: Aug. 26, 2013 Assignee/applicant: Nexans, France Inventors: Thomas Jeker, Franz Haner, Markus Gasser An electric cable made from at least one elongated electric conductor and a multilayer insulation surrounding the electric conductor. The multilayer insulation has a first semiconducting layer and an electrically insulating layer, where the two layers are made from a silicone rubber based composition. The semiconducting silicone rubber based composition of the first semiconducting layer has carbon rovings as conductive filler.

Cable condition monitoring device U.S. Patent No.: 9,194,761 Patent date: Nov. 24, 2015 Filed March 7, 2013 Applicant: Hitachi Cable, Ltd., Japan Assignee: Hitachi Metals, Ltd. Inventors: Hirotaka Eshima, Fumihito Oka A cable condition monitoring device for monitoring a damaged condition of a cable including a conductor part including a plurality of element wires and an insulating material part formed on a periphery of the conductor part includes a gas feeding device configured to feed a compressed gas into the conductor part, a pressure gauge configured to measure a pressure in the conductor part, and an insulating material part damage judgment part configured to judge whether the insulating material part is damaged or not based on the pressure measured by the pressure gauge.

Flame-retardant insulated electric wire U.S. Patent No.: 9,193,855 Patent date: Nov. 24, 2015 Filed: Aug. 16, 2012 Assignee: Yazaki Corporation, Japan Inventors: Kousuke Kogo There is provided a flame-retardant insulated electric wire having an aluminum conductor, which is excellent in long-term thermal resistance, flame retardancy, stretchability, and abrasion resistance. The present invention relates to a flame-retardant insulated electric wire containing a conductor containing an aluminum-based material and an insulating coating layer which coats the conductor, wherein the insulating coating layer is formed of a resin composition containing 100 parts by weight of a base resin containing

Apparatus for identifying interconnections and determining the physical state of cable lines in a network U.S. Patent No.: 9,124,530 Patent date: Dec. 1, 2015 Filed: July 19, 2013 Assignee: Cable Sense Limited Inventors: Anthony Peyton, John Kelly An apparatus for identifying interconnections in a network. The apparatus comprises a plurality of transmitter coupling units, a plurality of receiver coupling units, and an interconnection identification means configured to identify interconnections between the transmitter coupling units and the receiver coupling units by cable lines in the network. In some embodiments, the interconnection identification means is configured to, if any one of the transmitter coupling units is coupled to the same cable line as a selected one of the receiver coupling units, identify the interconnection between the transmitter coupling unit and the selected receiver coupling unit according to by a binary tree search algorithm.

Differential transmission cable and method of manufacturing the same Patent No: 9,123,457 Patent date: Sept. 1, 2015 Filed March 7, 2013 Assignees: Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Japan Applicants: Hitachi Cable, Ltd. Inventors: Masafumi Kaga, Sohei Kodama, Akinari Nakayama A differential transmission cable includes at least one pair of inner conductors arranged in parallel and extending parallel to each other, and a foamed insulating material formed on the inner conductors by a collective extrusion coating and molding of a resin material by using a chemical foaming method and have a variation of foaming degree of not more than 1%. The variation is defined as a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value among foaming degrees (%) of the foamed insulating material at 20 positions at intervals of 50 cm in a longitudinal direction in an arbitrary part of 10 m cut out from the differential transmission cable.

High frequency cable, high frequency coil and method for manufacturing high frequency cable Patent No: 9,123,456 Patent date: Nov. 24, 2015 Filed: Aug.16,2012 Assignees: Fujikura Ltd., Japan Applicants: Takashi Shinmoto, Shotaro Yoshida, Shinji Katayama, Taikou Toda,

Takamasa Kato, Masanori Daibo, Akio Kawakami A high frequency cable includes: a central conductor made from aluminum/aluminum alloy; a copper layer made covering the central conductor, and having a fiber-like structure in a longitudinal direction; and an intermetallic compound layer formed between the central conductor and the covering layer and having greater volume resistivity than the covering layer, wherein a cross-sectional area of the covering layer is 15% or less of an entire cross-sectional area including the central conductor, the intermetallic compound layer and the covering layer.

Power cable termination for aerial connection and process for producing power cable termination for aerial connection Patent No: 9,124,082 Patent date: Nov. 24, 2015 Filed: Aug. 26,2013 Assignees: VISCAS Corporation, Fujikura Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Japan Applicants: Hitachi Cable, Ltd. Inventors: Anna Mori, Takahiro Sakurai, Shozo Kobayashi A power cable termination for aerial connection houses an end of a power cable and a conductor extension rod to an end of a conductor of the cable in a bushing. The bushing is filled with an insulating filler. The insulating filler is composed of any mixture of: (1) silicone oil and a silicone rubber; (2) silicone oil and a silicone gel; and (3) silicone oil, a silicone rubber and a silicone gel.

Marine barrier gate Patent no: 9,121,153 Patent date: Sept. 1, 2015 Filed April 24, 2014 Assignees: HALO Maritime Defense Systems, U.S. Applicants: HALO Maritime Defense Systems, Inc. Inventors: Justin Bishop A marine barrier gate includes a pleated row of buoyant panels movable between an expanded position where the panels have an angle therebetween, and a retracted position where the panels are substantially parallel. A first buoy is attached to a first end of the panel row, and a second buoy is remote from the panels when the panels are in the retracted position. The second buoy has a tow winch and cable attached to a second end opposite the first end, for moving the panels from the retracted position to the expanded position. The first buoy comprises a catenary winch and cable movably engagable with the panels and attached to the second buoy. When the panels are in the retracted position, the catenary winch sets a length or tension of the cable such that it absorbs catenary loads on the barrier when the panels are moved to the expanded position by the tow winch. 

JANUARY 2016 | 83

PATENTS

(A) a polypropylene-based resin and (B) an olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer and a styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer, (C) 50 to 150 parts by weight of a flame retardant.

CLASSIFIEDS

CLASSIFIEDS WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS seeking positions are entitled to free “Position Wanted” classified ads. Limit: one ad per issue, three ads per year. This benefit is not transferable to nonmembers or to companies.

BLIND BOX INFO: Responses to Blind Box ads should be addressed to: Wire Journal International, Box number (as it appears in print or on-line), 71 Bradley Road, Suite 9, Madison, CT 06443-2662 USA.

CLASSIFIED AD RATES: • $1.30 per word for WJI and on-line classifieds at wirenet.org (20-word minimum). • Blind box numbers, add $25. • Boldface headlines, add $6 per line (up to 18 characters per line). Specify category.

PAYMENT POLICY: All ads must be pre-paid.

POSITION WANTED WIRE & CABLE REPRESENTATIVE AVAILABLE FOR THE AMERICAS. Do you need an experienced salesman in Mexico, Central and south America? Please contact Antonio Ayala at 1953ayala@ gmail.com.

PERSONNEL SERVICES “LET OUR SUCCESS BE YOUR SUCCESS” Wire Resources is the

DEADLINES: Copy is due a full month in advance.

Contact: classified@wirenet.org for more details.

foremost recruiting firm in the Wire & Cable Industry. Since 1967 we have partnered with industry Manufacturers to secure the services of executives, managers, and thousands of key individual contributors. Contact: Peter Carino, pcarino@ wireresources.com or online at www.linkedin.com/in/petercarino1/ Wire Resources Inc., PO Box 593, Riverside, CT 06878, tel. 203-6223000. www.wireresources.com.

FOR SALE 7 - HERZOG 48-C, 72-C, 96-C Braiders 1 - NEB 72-C #2 Braider, Long Legs, Motor 2 - NEB 48-C Harness Braiders, Motors 1 - HACOBA Model DF24 24-Carrier Braider 12 - WARDWELL 24-Carrier Braiders 8 - WARDWELL 12-Carrier Braiders 1 - REEL-O-MATIC 24” Caterpuller Capstan 1 - GOODMAN 18” Caterpuller Capstan 1 - ROYLE 48” Belt Wrap Capstan 1 - VITECK 36” Belt Wrap Capstan, CBW-36-D 2 - NEB 12-Wire 8” Vertical Planetary Cablers 1 - ENTWISTLE 100mm 24:1 Extruder 1 - DAVIS STANDARD 4.5” 24:1 Extruder 1 - DAVIS STANDARD 3.5” Rubber Extruder 2 - DAVIS STANDARD 2”, 2.5” Hi-Temp Extruders 1 - ENTWISTLE 2” 24:1 Extruder 1 - DAVIS STANDARD 1.5” 24:1 Extruder 2 - TULSA 96” Payoffs, Model CTPO-30, 2005 Commission

1 - POURTIER 72” Rotating Payoff 1 - SKALTEK 1600mm Payoff, Model A16-4K 1 - DYNAMEX Tape Payoff, Model TPB30-2-D 2 - TULSA 96” Gantry Traversing Take-ups, GTU-30 1 - SPHEREX 18” Dual Reel Take-up, refurbed 1 - CLIPPER Model SP16 Dual Spooler 1 - AL-BE Model MS12 Respooler, 18” Reels 5 - REEL-O-MATIC B12, B12X Respoolers 7 - KINREI 560mm D.T. Twisters 1 - METEOR Model ME301 3-Head Winder 1 - ENTWISTLE 4WDT24 4-W 24” D.T. Twister 2 - NEWMCO 16” D.T. Quadders 1 - HALL Tape Accumulator 2 - IMCS Bulk Bag Unloaders, 4,000lb capacity 1 - ONE PRESS Type ANCON CCL Swager 1 - SCHLEUNIGER Model CC36 CrimpCenter 1 - ARTOS MTX10 Multi-Task Wire Processor 1 - AUTOJECTOR HC70S Injection Molder

Commission Brokers Inc., Cranston, RI 02920 • 401-943-3777 www.CommissionBrokers.com • marty137@aol.com

B r o k e r s

84 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

MACHINERY WWW.URBANOASSOCIATES. COM. For New (Hakusan Heat Pressure Welders, Ferrous & NonFerrous; Marldon Rolling Ring Traverses) & Used Wire & Cable Equipment (buttwelders, coldwelders, ers and pointers). Tel: 727-863-4700 or by e-mail, please send to urbassoc@ verizon.net.

FOR SALE: Excellent condition, used BDWD Ultrasonic machines; Single Head Wire Polishers; and over 1000 new and used Wire Drawing Diamond Dies and Industrial Diamonds. For more details, please e mail DMelloHardware@gmail.com.

MEDIA THE ROEBLING LEGACY. This 288-page indexed book by Clifford W. Zink presents a different perspective of the Roebling legacy. “But it’s all wire,” proclaimed a 1950s Roebling Company brochure about its product line, which included wire rope, copper magnet and electrical wire, screens and hardware cloth, aircord and aircraft strand, flat and braided wire, PC wire and strand, galvanized bridge wire, among others.

To maximize quality, the Roeblings started drawing their own wire in the 1850s, rolling bars into rods in the 1870s, and making their own steel in the 1900s. Wire is the binding thread through 125 years of Roebling and American industrial history chronicled in The Roebling Legacy. The price is $75, $50 for WAI members, plus shipping. To purchase, go to wirenet.org and click on The WAI Store.

WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED AD INFORMATION COMPANY ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CITY ________________________________________STATE _______________POSTAL CODE _____________________ COUNTRY _______________________ PHONE _____________________________ FAX _______________________________ EMAIL _______________________________________________________ AD CATEGORY____________ ISSUE YOUR AD BEGINS___________E-mail_____________________________________ NUMBER OF ISSUES RUN _______LAST ISSUE ________________RUN TILL FURTHER NOTICE? YES____ NO ____ FULL RUN (WJI & ON-LINE) YES____ NO ____

BLIND BOX? YES____ NO ____

WAI MEMBER? YES____ NO ____ WAI MEMBERSHIP # ______________________ (Applies only to “Position Wanted”)

FERROUS WIRE HANDBOOK. Written by WAI members and edited by Dr. Robert M. Shemenski, this 1,168 page, hard-cover, indexed publication is a definitive industry resource for ferrous wire. It is a modern-day reference tool for those working directly in the steel wire or manufacturing, engineering, or operations sectors of the industry. The publication includes comprehensive 36 chapters that cover a broad range of topics including many of the equipment types, processes, and specialty applications of steel wire manufacturing. The book begins with a history of the steel industry and the evolution of ferrous steel manufacture and is followed by details on: continuous casting; controlled rod cooling; rod defects; pickling and coating; mechanical descaling; deformation in cold drawing; wiredrawing theory, machinery, and finishing equipment; lubrication; heat treatment; stress relief; annealing; oil tempering; patenting; corrosion; galvanizing; statistical process control; bridge rope and strand; nails, barbed wire, mechanical springs; Appendices and a complete index are included in the handbook. The price is $235, $195 for WAI members. To purchase, go to wirenet.org and click on The WAI Store.

ANNEALING DVD: By Dr. Horace Pops, this video (running time of 1 hr., 36 min.) presents information from Dr.

Pops’ research, technical conferences and symposia has been assembled into a detailed tutorial for wire industry professionals. It includes three parts.

Part 1, Principles of Annealing (28 min.), includes: Definitions; Structureproperty changes; General concepts: ferrous and nonferrous wires; Engineering rules and guidelines;

Stages of annealing; and Role of work hardening. Part 2, Annealing of Copper and Aluminum Wire (31 min.), includes: Effects of composition; Interaction of impurities; Control of process variables (amount of reduction; intermediate anneals); Measurement of annealing process; Rate of softening; and Batch versus strand annealing.

Please e-mail the requested information to: WAI’s Cindy Kirmss at ckirmss@wirenet.org.

For more details, you can call her at 203-453-2777, ext. 116.

Part 3, Annealing Problems (37 min.), includes: Annealability testing; Purity and equipment problems; Oxidation and staining; Measurement of properties; Hydrogen embrittlement; Sticky wire; and Functional heating during drawing. The price is $575, $425 for WAI members, plus shipping. To purchase, go to wirenet.org and click on The WAI Store.

INTRODUCTION TO WIRE & CABLE EXTRUSION (DVD).

This two-part video, by Tom Black, has a total running time of 1 hr., 45 min. It is intended for individuals with diverse backgrounds and targets extrusion operators, supervisors, maintenance personnel, process engineers, and managers. The practical approach leads to a detailed understanding of the mechanics of extrusion processing and allows the viewer to make informed decisions regarding troubleshooting an existing line, or planning a new line. Condensed from a two-day seminar presented by extrusion expert Tom Black, this program is of great value in improving skills of existing employees and training new hires. lack, whose specialty is injection molding and injection molding process design and analysis. Part 1: Materials & Equipment is 50 min., and Part 2, Extrusion Processing, is 55 min. The cost $425, $325 for WAI members. To purchase, go to wirenet.org and click on The WAI Store. n

JANUARY 2016 | 85

CLASSIFIEDS

NAME ________________________________________________________________________ TITLE _________________________________________________

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX PEOPLE

ADVERTISERS’ DVER ISERS’ INDEX ADVERTISER ............................ PAGE

ADVERTISER ............................ PAGE

Ajex & Turner ........................................................53

KEIR Manufacturing Inc.......................................61

AlphaGary Corp ...........................................Cover 2

Paramount Die Co ..................................................4

Amacoil Inc ..................................................Cover 3

Pressure Welding Machines Ltd .........................37

Anbao Wire & Mesh Co Ltd .................................61

Proton Products International Ltd ................23, 59

Carris Reels Inc ...........................................Cover 4

Queins Machines GmbH ......................................51

Commission Brokers Inc .....................................84

Rainbow Rubber & Plastics Inc ............................2

George Evans Corp..............................................53

SIKORA AG .............................................................7

Filtertech Inc .........................................................15

Sjogren Industries Inc ....................................12-13

Gem Gravure Co Inc ............................................39

Steel Cable Reels .................................................16

Honeywell................................................................1

August Strecker GmbH & Co KG........................27

Howar Equipment.................................................41

Windak Group .........................................................5

Huestis Industrial .................................................38

Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp .............................9

Inosym Ltd ......................................................11, 25

Windak Group .........................................................5

86 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp .............................9 Wyrepak Industries ........................................26, 56

March 2016 WJI Wire & Cable Applications

Zumbach Electronics Corp .................................21

WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL ADS WAI Memberships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2016 . . 34-35 Industry Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

WIRE JOURNAL

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

SALES OFFICES NORTH AMERICA

Robert J. Xeller/Anna Bzowski Wire Journal International Tel: 203-453-2777 Fax: 203-453-8384 sales@wirenet.org

ASIA/WAI

India Office Wire & Cable Services Pvt. Ltd. Rahatani, Pune - 411017, India Huned Contractor mobile - +91 988 1084 202 hcontractor@wirenet.org China Office Zhuang (Frank) zhilu Shanghai, China 200331 mobile - 0086-18018681117 zzs12151116@163.com

EUROPE

U.K., France, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Denmark & Scandinavia Jennie Franks David Franks & Co. Tel/fax: 44-1223-360472 franksco @btopenworld.com Germany, Austria, & Switzerland Dagmar Melcher Media Service Int. Tel: 49-8801-914682 Fax: 49-8801-914683 dmelcher@t-online.de

Advertising Deadline: Jan. 30

NOVEMBER JANUARY 2016 2014 | 87

PEOPLE ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

ADVERTISER ............................ PAGE

SE E AI W AT

Plastic sleeves adorn the best suits in the US wire and cable industry...

AN ST D 11 B2 1

...and they outfit your entire team.

���� ���� � � •� ��� � � � ��� 016 �� • � � 17, 2 � � H � � C AR �� • ��� G: M • N I � ��� EET SM T N POI

17 0 2 , ~11 A, USA

9 RGI O Y E MA NTA, G A ATL

Ehe Americas T A t ce in etpla HE D

Tcable mark E V & SA wire rgest

he for t

la

The Wire Association International, Inc. | Telephone: (001) 203-453-2777 | www.wirenet.org

Visit our stand #1350 at Interwire 2015