February 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact:

Anne Meerboth-Maltz
Tel. (312)781-5185
Fax (312) 781-5188
email: ameerboth@mdna.com

Messe Düsseldorf North America
150 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 2920
Chicago, IL 60601

WIRE 2010 SPECIALIST ARTICLE NO.2

wire 2010:

No Cable - No Power

The Cable Industry and the wire 2010 trade fair

Production facilities, transit systems or private households - the operation of nearly all areas of daily life depends on a reliable power supply. This requires cables and conductors which transfer the energy produced in power plants to the end users. Cables are also indispensable for the transfer of electronic data. The leading international trade fair for the wire and cable industry - wire 2010 (April 12 - 16 in Düsseldorf, Germany) - will offer the perfect opportunity to gather information on the latest cable machine technology and related contemporary and future production methods.

Cables and Conductors

In general, a cable is considered an insulated conductor used to transfer electrical power, electrical data, or both. The actual transfer element is a wire made of metal with high electrical conductivity, in most cases copper or aluminum, or a bunch, which is created when individual wires are threaded together. The transfer elements for power or data are protected from the outside environment by an insulation layer. In most cases, cables consist of several such elements as well as components meant to protect them from mechanical stresses, humidity, and electromagnetic effects as well as other exposure. In addition, cables are coated with a sheath. The design of the cables may be very complex, as it depends on the tasks they are meant to perform and under which operating conditions they must function. In addition there are numerous types of machinery used to produce the individual components that are finally combined to produce operational cables.

Indispensable

The 19th century experienced a hitherto unknown technical and industrial revolution. Inventions in various areas inspired the imagination which resulted in even more inventions. One of the most renowned inventors was Ernst Werner von Siemens (1816 – 1892), who contemplated on issues of that era, such as: Wouldn‘t streetcars be better than horse and carriage? Why can‘t telegraphs be built so that everyone can use them? Why do messages from Europe to the USA have to travel by boat? Werner von Siemens researched the solutions and, in 1847, founded Siemens AG to implement his ideas. Today, his company is active internationally. In an advertising campaign on the occasion of its 160th anniversary, the company made reference to the answers found since its beginning. Although the solutions developed by this and other companies may be diverse, they have one thing in common: Their implementation would not be possible without cables and conductors. The number and scope of the projects that require the products of cable manufacturers have grown ever since. Many countries are modernizing and expanding their power supply, infrastructure and transit systems. “Power & Trends“, the customer newsletter published by Maschinenfabrik Niehoff, a multi-national wire and cable machine producer, reports in its latest issue on the corresponding energy demand in East and Southeast Asia. But many things are happening in other places, as well: Leoni, a leading cable systems supplier for many industry sectors, provides the world’s second largest photovoltaic plant in Brandenburg, Germany, designed for a capacity of 53 MW, with more than 1,000 kilometers (km) of specialized solar cable. This refers to double-insulated, halogen-free conductors, which are flame retardant, resistant to UV, ozone and hydrolysis, heat and cold from -40 to plus 120°C, with a lifespan exceeding 30 years. Nexans, one of the leading international cable producers, was responsible for the delivery of 1,350 km specialized signalling and low-voltage power cables in the amount of Euro 3.3 million for Istanbul’s Marmaray trans-Bosphorus rail link, one of the current major transportation infrastructure projects. LS Cables, another leading international cable producer, received an order from Siemens AG to deliver all cables for the Saudi Arabian rail line linking Mecca with Jeddah. The order worth about Euro 7.9 million encompasses low- and mid-voltage power cables and specialty cables that supply power to ancillary and control facilities of the railroad and communication cables for signal transmission. Having emerged from the cable group Pirelli in 2005, Prysmian, one of the world’s largest producers of power and telecommunication cables has been investing 46 million U.S. dollars in the U.S. for the construction of the first cable factory for the production of extra high- voltage power cable in North America. The plan is that this factory will make the U.S. independent from importing such cables.

One major customer of the cable industry is the automotive sector, which can be considered as an innovation driver due to its specific needs and requirements. Numerous systems for the improvement of operational function, safety and driving comfort of passenger vehicles must be reliably supplied with energy, with the results that nowadays middle class cars contain up to 2 km of conductors and modern city buses have approximately 4 km of conductors.

The development of new drive systems, such as hybrid or electric drives, the need to reduce vehicle weight for ecological and economic reasons and also the request to replace the previous copper cable in onboard-networks with those using lighter-weight conductors, continue to pose new challenges for the cable industry. Therefore, several cable producers are working to replace copper wire with aluminum or composite wires, for example copper-clad aluminum wire (CCAW) or copper-clad steel wire (CCSW). These bimetal wires offer the advantage of combining certain characteristics of the original materials, such as high electrical conductivity, high mechanical strength and relatively low weight. However, they also require modified production techniques.

Future-oriented Manufacturing Technology

As the cable industry is integrated into all sectors of the economy, it is also subject to the governing trends and therefore also affected by the latest global financial crisis. At the ICF-Congress in Moscow in October 2009, Valerio Battista, President of the International Cablemakers Federation (ICF) and CEO of the aforementioned Prysmian Group, expressed the hope that the already noticeable economic recovery would also lead to higher demand for cable in 2010 and recommended that cable producers wanting to benefit from the expected economic recovery use the time to further improve their innovation, product and service quality. He added that cable producers should participate in projects concerning the efficient use of energy.

This is also an important topic for cable machinery producers. Heinz Rockenhäuser, President of the umbrella organization of the European Wire and Cable Exhibitors Association (IWCEA*) and Managing Director of the technology company Maschinenfabrik Niehoff, recognizes a trend in the cable industry aimed at the continuous improvement of productivity and the simultaneous reduction of the energy and raw material consumption, which also leads to lower production costs. He explains that “the most important prerequisites are machines and plants with modern, electronically controlled drives. This allows for the production of wires and cables with type tolerances and highest precision, characteristics which are more and more in demand on the market and which also contribute to the prudent use of the precious raw materials.” On the one hand, such facilities improve productivity, and on the other hand, they allow for the economical production of top-quality special products. Thus, European cable factories can secure their leading position against their international competitors.

Despite the financially difficult year for the sector, Stephen Wood, Chairman of the International Wire and Machinery Association (IWMA) and President of Steel-Wire Europe Ltd., is convinced that “the timing of the wire 2010 trade fair is ideal, because the customers are starting to think about their needs and investments in order to face the challenges of the economic recovery.”

wire 2010

“No cable – no power“, the motto of Thai cable manufacturer Bangkok Cable Co. (BCC), maintains general validity. And since nearly all areas of daily life require cables and conductors, the requirements for such cables are increasing continuously and the future potential has not been exhausted by far, cable manufacturers continue to face new tasks. wire 2010, International Wire and Cable Trade Fair, will present current and future production concepts. Held International Tube and Pipe Trde fair, visitors will benefit from the synergy effects. wire and Tube 2010 will be held in Düsseldorf, Germany from April 12 – 16, 2010.

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at wire 2010, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit our web site http://www.mdna.com; Subscribe to our blog http://blog.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago

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