Custom wire and cable: Reducing your cost.

With custom cable it is not uncommon to hear “Copper prices just dropped, why didn’t my cable price go down?” Copper prices are a major factor affecting custom wire and cable prices but not the sole factor. Custom cable is normally made to order and many times in smaller quantities which is affected by the prices of materials at the time of ordering. “Off the shelf” commodity wire is usually made continuously and in large volumes which absorb day to day cost fluctuations of copper/metals, compounds and labor/set up keeping the price more stable.

Here are just a few factors which affect the prices of custom wire and cable products

Petroleum prices- Which can range from transport and freight costs to the actual compounds which are made from petroleum products.beside copper:

• Material shortages- An example is the fluoropolymer (FEP), earlier this year due to the earthquake in Japan affected production for Daikin and DuPont which are the only manufacturers of fluoropolymers in the world today. In addition with China cutting back on their fluorospar exports which happened at the same time resulted in an increase of 20-30% for the compounds.


• Material minimums- Custom cable designs sometimes use conductors and compounds which are not commonly used and are subject to minimum buys which are factored into the per foot price of the cable.
• Set up- Setting up equipment takes time and material, the higher the volume the less the set up costs affect final price.

There are ways to help keep your cost down, for example:

• Plan ahead – Placing blanket orders, scheduling orders over multiple shipments over time. Buying higher volumes helps absorb minimums by amortizing material, set up and labor costs. Sometimes the overall cost for ordering 1000 feet is less than ordering 200- 500 feet. Ask for price breaks to evaluate your options.

• Request samples – Custom wire is usually specialized to the design however you can check to see if your manufacture has a similar item they can sample you. This is helpful when you need prototype of proof of concept quantities. Many custom cable manufacturers have sample stock and overruns available which may be similar to what you need.

• Wait for it- If you time to wait, ask your cable manufacture if they have any upcoming jobs using the same material. Running your order along with another may save you on set up costs and/or minimums. It's a long shot, but can be done if your material is a more common one.

• Substitutions- Ask what is driving the price. If a material minimum is involved, find out if there is a substitute material which may be readily available you can use. Sometimes just changing the plating or strand count can make the difference.

Custom Cable-High Performance Custom Wire and Cable

What makes a wire or cable a custom wire or cable? One would think it would have to be an elaborate cable design, but in reality something as simple as a unique color or printing can make the cable become a custom cable.

Custom wire and cable is not readily available or stocked by distributors or manufacturers. Simply put, custom wire and cable is anything that is made to order specifically for a customer. Hypothetically, let's say you have a commodity cable that you use regularly but now your product design has changed and you need one or two more conductors. You check with your distributor and the manufacture doesn't offer that construction. You now need to turn to a custom wire and cable manufacturer which is set up to run special construction cable with little or no minimums

.Yes you will pay a little higher per foot than you do with the commodity wire however, you get exactly what you need and the performance you require. Prices between custom and commodity cable can't be compared as the construction and materials are different and the quantity produced are much lower with the custom cable. In the end it's all about having choices available to make a better product.

A few benefits of using custom wire and cable include:

• Engineered specifically for your application
  
• Custom configurations
• Custom colors and/or printing
• Improved performance

You have choices! When having a custom wire or cable designed you a wide range of options to assist in building the right wire or cable for your needs. Some options include:

• Gauge sizes, smaller gauges available
• Insulation and jacket materials
• Type of shielding and construction
• 
  Conductor stranding, plating and type
  

Reverse engineering is used in situations where the origin of a cable is unknown or there is no information about the wire or cable. Engineers in most cases will carefully dissect the wire or cable taking measurements and noting the construction of conductors, cable lay, shielding, fillers and other vital information. A series of tests are performed to determine the insulation and jacket materials. At this point if a customer would like to see improvements in the cable's performance such as a more flexible cable, or higher flex life it should be mentioned to the engineers so changes can be made to the design.

So who uses custom cables? Just about every industry including medical, robotics, aerospace, music/audio, and more. Building a better mousetrap often means designing a product that will exceed its expected performance and the wire and cable needs to be considered as well.

If you do not know much about wire and cable properties, don't be alarmed. Custom cable manufacturers have engineering resources to assist you with every step of the way starting with deermining the right materials and construction based on your application and requirements.

If you have questions about custom wire and cable or a project that you need assistance with, contact Calmont for assistance. Feel free to post any questions or comments you may have. If you enjoyed this article please feel free to share it.