[ Spotlight: Cable management ]
Quality products should deliver value for the client
Aesthetics, as well as functionality, are increasingly important
Barnsley Town Hall
Cost-benefi t analysis The cost of raw materials used in the production of cable management products has increased signifi cantly over the last three years. As a result of manufacturers seeing an increase in their production costs, this has cascaded down onto what they charge their customers. As suppliers fi ght for market share, the pressure is on to compete on price, but this strategy means that something has to be sacrifi ced in return – usually the quality of the product. In turn, some electrical contractors have been
Hall or nothing
The £6m refurbishment of Barnsley Town Hall has seen the extensive use of Marshall-Tuffl ex’s Twin Plus, a cable management system capable of handling a wide variety and large quantity of power and data cabling. The Town Hall houses newly refurbished offi ce accommodation,
meeting rooms and the council chamber. A local history museum and archive centre within the four-storey 1930s civic building will open to the public in due course. A fl exible trunking system was therefore needed for the multi-purpose building, as services such as telephones, IT equipment, fi re and intruder alarms, CCTV, door access and security systems required diff ering amounts of power and data provision. Rather than install two or three diff erent sized trunking systems to accommodate these services, Category 6 compliant Twin Plus, an all-in-one cable management system, was specifi ed. The most challenging aspect was installing the large quantity of trunking that the refurbishment demanded. Jeremy Dodge, head of marketing and technical services at Marshall-Tuffl ex, explains: ‘Hundreds of metres of trunking were fi tted and using just one trunking system made life far simpler. Twin Plus was chosen for its fl exibility and it has gone in everywhere at ceiling height and down walls to sockets as required.’
tempted to use cheaper products to enhance their own margins. This brings into question the whole subject of cost versus value, and for Legrand’s Nigel Leaver the diff erence between the two is clear. He says: ‘Low-cost products won’t boast any of the elements that can transform them into good-value items. In contrast, a good-value product will not only handle the project it has been specifi ed for, but will feature an array of additional benefi ts. These elements may not have an immediately visible cost, but smart specifi ers will always consider the total installed cost as opposed to unit cost before making a decision.’ MK Electric’s marketing communications
specialist, Jason Ng, agrees and adds: ‘It is also worth considering the present and future technological needs of business systems. This includes the ability to accommodate larger cable sizes for increasing data demands, fl exibility, and long-term costs such as maintenance.’ Clearly, the ability to provide added-value extras
is the key to good value. Paul Diggins, sales and marketing director at Marco Cable Management, comments: ‘For us, good value encompasses the highest stock levels; next day delivery on all orders; a willingness and commitment to engage, advise and interact with customers; and UK-wide sales
46 ECA Today March 2013
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