WJI April 2019 Feature Sample

WIRE JOURNAL APRIL 2019

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INTERNATIONAL

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www.wirenet.org

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

INTERWIRE UPDATE

UPDATE: Interwire 2019 Show floor tops 100,000-sq-ft mark, more program elements cemented As WAI’s Atlanta event draws nearer, more details have been finalized. One goal—cracking 100,000 sq ft of show floor space—has already been achieved, and the Interwire show floor looks to be a lively setting, especially with the introduction of the Sonoco Theater—sponsored by Sonoco Reels—on the show floor at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Below are some updates, and the pages that follow provide more booth listings as well as more Product Showcases and First-time Exhibitor profiles. Also, the Products entries that start on p. 101 are all exhibitors. To prove you were there, when you go down the escalator to registration, look to the left for the Photo Booth sponsored by James Monroe Wire & Cable Corp. There, you can get your own (or group) “cover photo,” hopefully one of many good event memories.

Finally, see p. 4 for a neat raffle prize. For the latest changes go to www.interwire19.com, where they are updated daily.

Leggett & Platt’s Sopczak to get the WAI President’s Award At Interwire 2019, Kevin Sopczak, vice president of sales, shaped wires & special products at Leggett & Platt, will receive the WAI President’s Award for his extraordinary service and dedication.

WAI President W.T. Bigbee said that Sopczak has been a stellar contributor to the Association’s Midwest Chapter.

“Kevin, as a volunteer myself, I know that there is nothing easy about doing more outside of work.

Organizing, selling, and facilitating golf outings are demanding tasks for a group, but for an individual to take on the project, year after year, it is truly special.”

Sopczak was a founding member of the chapter in 2001, two years after he joined WAI. He was chapter president in 2007, and has served on Sopczak its board for 14 years, working alongside Tim Fingeroos, who was chapter president for years. By their efforts, the chapter has flourished. Their hard work has also attracted new volunteers, a good sign for the chapter’s long-term success.

Sopczak has long been chairman of the annual golf tournament, a key fundraiser for the scholarship program.

He was also part of the group that launched the academic initiative. He will receive the award at the WAI Member Rewards Breakfast & Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 15.

Stacy Martin to present wire and cable problem-solving program Stacy Martin, a U.S. manufacturing manager for the Prysmian Group, will make a presentation, Wire and Cable Manufacturing Problem-Solving, on Tuesday, from 4:20 pm to 5 pm.

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Martin’s presentation, part of the Interwire Technical Program that will be presented in the Sonoco Theater, will focus on problem-solving techniques used to solve real challenges faced in the wire and cable industry. Actual scenarios will be used to challenge attendees to think beyond the obvious symptoms and find the root cause. Lean Six Sigma problem-solving strategies Martin are used as the course walks through each problem until the cause is identified. The audience is encouraged to participate in this interactive program.

LLFlex is the latest company to join the list of Platinum Sponsors LLFlex, a supplier of armoring and shielding tapes, has joined the ranks of Platinum Sponsors that are supporting Interwire 2019.

The U.S.-based company is sponsoring the Opening Reception, which will be held at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 14. It becomes the eighth Platinum Sponsor.

Production Solutions gets 2 more presenters for show floor program David Gzesh, an applications specialist from Blachford Co. and Steve Pinnix, a process engineer from M. Holland, have been added to the roster for Production Solutions, to be held at the Sonoco Theater on the show floor on Wednesday, May 15.

Gzesh will speak at 10 am and Pinnix at 10:30 am. They will be followed at 11 am by Neil C. Lowdon and Paul Kulongowski of Chemetall USA, who will speak on troubleshooting cleaning house problems, and then at 11:30 am by industry guru Horace Pops, who will speak on wire breaks.

GCCF outing is at STATS Brewpub: the ultimate socializing location

There are plenty of hotel rooms in Atlanta, but you still need a reservation, especially if you want to be close to the Georgia World Congress Center. WAI has secured room blocks at desirable locations you can reserve. Just go to www.interwire19.com, click on “travel” then “hotel reservations,” then “make hotel reservations now,” to view options as either an attendee or an exhibitor.

The focus is decidedly on fun and camaraderie at the Global Continuous Casting Forum’s Social Hour that will take place from 7:30 pm to 9 pm on Monday, May 13, at STATS Brewpub, Adidas Room, 300 Marietta St. NW, Atlanta.

STATS Brewpub is one of the only bars in the U.S. to feature a beer tap system, on select tables, which allows guests to pour their own beer with no server or bartender. The site also has five bars and almost 16,000 sq ft of restaurant and private event space. It is relaxed and inviting, with 70 high-definition TVs to keep your options endless.

There’s not one detail that hasn’t been thought of at STATS Brewpub.

 Aloft Atlanta Downtown: 0.47 miles  Embassy Suites Atlanta: 0.15 miles  Glenn Hotel/Marriott: 0.21 miles  Hilton Garden Inn Atlanta: 0.24 miles  Holiday Inn Express & Suites: 0.36 miles  Omni Hotel at CNN Center: 0.09 miles  The American/A DoubleTree By Hilton: 0.36 m.  The Westin Peachtree Plaza: 0.8 miles

Win a powerful 3D printer!

See details on p. 4 for this special raffle prize. All registered attendees at Interwire get a free ticket to enter. The winner need not be present and the printer will be shipped.

NEXT GEN

Georgia Tech tour: this looks to be 1 very smart attendee experience Attendees whose schedules allow them to be in Atlanta early on Monday, May 13, can experience the latest tech addition to a renowned campus: the Georgia Institute of Technology Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF), which is a new joint research and development facility between Georgia Tech, Delta Airlines and Boeing.

This Cimteq Ltd.-sponsored tour will allow attendees to get a close look at the latest innovation center. The tour will include overviews in the areas of digital manufacturing, multi-axis machining, additive manufacturing, hybrid manufacturing, robotics and x-ray non-destructive evaluation.

The tour ($50 WAI members/$75 all others) is limited to 40, first-come, first-served. The coach leaves the GWCC at 1:30 pm and returns at 4:00 pm.

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GOING TO INTERWIRE? APRIL 2019 | 49

INTERWIRE UPDATE

Still need a hotel room? Act now, as WAI’s room block is dwindling

FEATURE

WIREDRAWING EQUIPMENT

More than a dozen suppliers of wiredrawing equipment will be exhibiting at Interwire 2019, where attendees will be able to talk to company representatives about what they have to offer.

A half dozen of those companies will also be showing equipment on the show floor, always a plus, so if you will be there, make sure to use the Product Directory to seek out options.

Gimax - Italy At Booth 241 at Interwire, Gimax will display one of its TRD non-slip dry drawing benches that have independently driven vertically or horizontally mounted capstans, depending on the application.

Per the company, the TRD-H model has vertically mounted capstans that can have a diameter of up to 600 mm, whereas the TRD horizontal model can have mounted capstans of 800 or 900 mm, and even up to 1200 mm capstans.

The TRD range can be used with dry (powder) and wet (paste) lubricants, depending on the application. Wet lubricants are generally used for aluminum wire applications.

The range itself is ideal for both ferrous and nonferrous wires and its design offers easy access for maintenance, to parts and components and particularly for wire threading on the TRD-H. The line, designed to provide high productivity and a better final wire quality, includes desirable features such as perfect alignment of wire between die and capstan as well as low energy consumption due to state-ofthe-art electronic control of motor and line operation.

The draw bench can be equipped with a skin-pass module, pickling and coppering tanks, laser diameter control and die wear control, and the integrated modem/ router allows excellent preventive maintenance and off-site machine control and service.

Other key advantages include: reduced die and capstan wear (both die box and capstan are water cooled); a mechanical line speed of up to 35 meters/second; choice of fixed or rotating and/or pressure dies; a rotating die speed that varies in proportion to line speed; the ability to bypass a block; and synchronization by means of dancer

See this at the IW show floor

arm. Collectively, the described advantages guarantee optimum production and non-slip technology (with independently driven capstans) that ensure the highest wire quality, providing manufacturers will have one of the most advanced drawing solutions available on the market. With more than 40 years of experience in welding wire machinery and with the specific experience of Gimax engineers in the production of wire, we have an excellent knowledge of the entire process of wire manufacturing, and we are there to support our customers. www.gimax.com.

Drawing Technology, Inc. - USA At Booth 217, Drawing Technology, Inc., will display one of the company’s in-line wire drawing systems, a .400 in. (10 mm) capacity Model 4310 (pictured).

Available are models (25 to 138) that can process wire from 0.125 in. (3.2mm) to 1.375 in. (35 mm) and come in capstan sizes from 20 in. (500 mm) to 65 in. (1650 mm) that are all made from hardened tool steel.

The drawing systems are powered by low-maintenance, energy-efficient, AC-variable frequency drives, and have a PLC controlled electrical system and a 24 VDC control circuit. Models 38 and larger are equipped with a pneumatic-actuated, wire clamp roller and a pneumatic compensator system.

See th is at the IW sho w floor

Gimax DTi

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ing at tail end of coil and power feed head and straightener systems to facilitate coil string up. All models are equipped with a self-storing gripper assembly.

Stop by and ask us to point out other advantages. All the models come with a two-year limited warranty that covers the drive, electrical components, pneumatic and transmission components and capstan assembly. www.drawingtechnology.com.

What happens downstream: edited excerpts from a research vessel report The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution conducts oceanographic research. Below, WHOI Communications Director Ken Kostel explains why for its research vessel, the Neil Armstrong, wire serves an essential function. to keep the winding head (and wire) in just the right posiThere are 10 km of wire on each of the four winch drums tion at all times. One tiny deviation forms the nucleus of a the Neil Armstrong has. This is also the first time all the wuzzle. wire on the drums has been run out to assess the ship’s Quite simply, we cannot do ocean science without these ability to support science. Two of the wires (one .375 in. logistics. A research ship can only move over the surface; wire, the other .322 in. cable) can be threaded onto each of we need other instruments to help us look into the depths. two “knucklebooms” that unfold from the side of the ship To take samples, we need to gather data, and explore like a gray praying mantis arms to lower instruments into features like hydrothermal the water. Under the rear vents. For that, we need deck, there is a large tracwinches, cranes and wires tion winch with two drums (or cables). We need them of wire (one 9/16 in. wire, to be reliable, well mainone .681 in. cable) that can tained, and ready to work be threaded up to the large turn after turn and time after A-frame on the stern. These time. Hence the care with are used for towing and which these are being tested, lifting heavy loads, such as observed, and assessed. One ROVs, transmitting power, of the most common instrucontrol signals, and even ments is the CTD (conduchigh-definition video along tivity, temperature, depth) the length of the cable. rosette, which measures The complexity comes those basic properties of the in winding and unwinding water. Today, in our last test, these drums in a controlled The “diamond screw” that pays out and collects the wire. we lowered the CTD almost manner and under heavy Ken Kostel photo. to the bottom, a little over loads. There is a severe 4000 meters (2.5 miles). sort of beauty to the preciIt’s later now and the CTD is on deck. When it came sion with which the winches were designed and built. As to the surface, it attracted the attention of some passing the winch drum turns, the level wind places each strand dolphins. The technicians still have to look at the data and of wire beside the one that came the turn before it and in assess how well the winches operated and the crew has to between the two turns directly beneath it. Without the discuss how to fine-tune their choreography on deck with level wind, that ordered simplicity would be replaced by the new cranes, but overall things went well. The cranes an over-wrap, or worse, a horrifying tangled mess called a might be fancier and the wires and winches shiny and new, “wuzzle”—something that can damage the wire by crimpbut this crew has worked with heavy machinery like this ing or crushing it and that has been known to end a cruise for years. Every cast brought a little more light to the quesprematurely. The level wind has to account for the diameter tion of how well the Neil Armstrong would be able to do and type of wire, the number of layers on the drum and the that most basic task of putting something over the side and number of turns. The level wind is both electronically and bringing it back again. (The answer: It will do just fine.) mechanically controlled. The mechanical part of the level This is a research vessel and it is equipped to bring knowlwind, called a diamond screw, is laid bare. It is a massive, edge to the surface. precision-machined shaft that turns slowly with the drum

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FEATURE

Standard safety features include a fully enclosed CE/ OSHA approved, interlocked, safety guard system. The machine is controlled by a two-hand, two speed, push-button jog circuit that can be used to quickly and safely set up the machine on a new coil or size.

Models 25 to 63 are equipped with lift off draw boxes which allow for easier cleaning, and changing of draw lube. The Models 90 and larger have a pneumatic overhead, full-width clamp roller that prevents wire from unravel-