head of marketing and technical services at Marshall- Tufflex, says: ‘Even though the number of project starts has significantly increased, we won’t see the full impact of this for six to 12 months. Therefore, the market remains very competitive.’ This level of competition has also led to a certain amount of fragmentation. Paul Cooper, key account manager at Unitrunk, explains: ‘The UK cable management market is served by a mix of genuine manufacturers and “specialist distributors” – some of whom market themselves as manufacturing suppliers when, in reality, they have no manufacturing base. Therefore, quality varies across the supply chain, and inferior product is becoming an increasingly common problem.’ However, despite the proliferation of
substandard cable management systems, some believe that the battle to communicate the benefits of a quality product is being won. Paul Diggins, sales and marketing director at Marco Cable Management, says: ‘We are pleased to report that quality remains the priority with our customers. Our experience is that electrical contractors recognise that choosing inferior products represents a false economy.’
Grand designs
Choosing a cable management system involves numerous factors, including the type, weight and amount of cables the system needs to carry, the environment it will be installed into, and the amount of space that’s available for the installation. Jason Ng, marketing communications specialist at
MK Electric, says: ‘The requirements of a school are very different from a commercial environment, as are those of a hospital to a small industrial unit. Whatever the application, it is also worth considering present and future technological needs.’ In terms of minimising installation time,
Legrand’s marketing manager, Nigel Leaver, advises: ‘Always look for a system that has a full range of accessories to choose from, so that you can select the brackets, fixings and couplers that are easiest for you and most appropriate for the installation. Push-fit accessories and flexible components will always help, as will a rounded safety edge that allows you to work at full speed without the risk of any snagging to cables – or fingers!’
Sports star
The University of Worcester Arena has been built to offer a range of services to local clubs in the community, as well as elite and professional athletes around the Midlands. The arena has a 2,000-seat capacity, as well as a range of sports, fitness, therapy and conference facilities. Just as the arena has been designed to offer unique and innovative sports solutions, Unitrunk’s Rapid Installation Systems (RIS) produced an innovative cable management solution that saved valuable installation time. Paul Cooper, Unitrunk’s key account
manager, says: ‘Uniklip is the fast fitting solution for cable tray installation. Based on the same reliable strength and quality of Unitrunk, Uniklip has been engineered with enhanced speed of installation and ease of use to provide a commercial advantage in a market where efficiency of time is imperative. The range is produced in pre-galvanised mild steel to BS EN 10346:2009, which may also be powder coated.’ Also part of the RIS range, the installation speed and strength of Unitrunk’s Speedway Cable Ladder System, with its unique coupler locking technology, came to the fore in the University of Worcester Arena project. It increased internal width for cables, while still offering high-performance coupling.
[ Spotlight: Cable management ] This sentiment is shared by Unitrunk’s Cooper,
who adds: ‘We constantly strive to dramatically reduce the use of conventional fixings and components in standard cable management systems. Using this design philosophy, our Uniklip cable tray system eliminates the need for conventional fixings, such as nuts, bolts and washers.’
Database One area that has continued to see demand for high- specification cable management systems is structured cabling for enterprise local area networks (LANs) and data centres. According to Dodge, of Marshall-Tufflex, it is this side of the industry that is driving innovation. He says: ‘Data cable developments continue to be the key drivers in determining how cable management
March 2014 ECA Today 43
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