FEATURE Machine building


GIVE CABLE SPECIFICATION THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES GIVE CABLE SPECIFICATION THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES


Mark Froggatt, Head of Technical Training, Learning & Development, Eland Cables, discusses how cable choices shape modern automation reliability and protect production


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utomation has advanced at extraordinary pace, enhancing precision and providing data insights that drive


 become more electrically and mechanically complex, there is a growing recognition that relatively small components can have  performance, and a lot rests on the cables  


troubleshooting with the headline elements of a system: the drive, the PLC, the control  that undermine reliability stem from more ordinary causes; a cable that wasn’t quite suited to the motion it was expected to withstand, shielding that wasn’t designed for the surrounding electromagnetic noise, or sheathing that gradually succumbed to a harsher environment than assumed  develop quietly, appearing eventually as intermittent faults, drifting measurements, slight instabilities in a servo system, or unexplained shutdowns that take time to  A major recent shift is the electrical


 Drives now switch faster, producing sharper electrical edges that create more  and encoders generate far more data at higher resolutions, and their signals are  At the same time, space constraints mean


14 March 2026 | Automation


cables are often packed more densely, travelling through tighter radii or sharing trays with components they would once have been separated  plays a much more active role in overall system  Mechanical suitability is a common area of  during installation is not necessarily designed for  and acceleration, whether along a robotic joint or   to the application, conductor strands can fatigue and shielding layers can fracture long before    Electromagnetic compatibility is another subtle  contain a mixture of high power and high signal  appropriate shielding and, crucially, correct termination of that shielding, noise can bleed into  encounter encoder readings that wander slightly,    culprit may be a cable whose screening was never    many contain harmonics or operate intermittently, meaning the cable experiences a variable thermal  increases resistance, and over long runs or high-


duty cycles, that translates into measurable energy  accelerates the ageing of the insulation, a process  Environmental exposure also shapes cable


  vibration, or even the ambient conditions inside an enclosure can each shorten the lifespan of a    


 cables do not merely connect parts of an   engineering decision rather than an afterthought,  measurements remain accurate, and thermal  given that attention, small weaknesses accumulate  Cables may never be the most celebrated part of an automated environment, but they are one of   In a world that expects uninterrupted production, highly responsive processes and ever greater   as the technology it supports is one of the simplest  


Eland Cables www.elandcables.com


automationmagazine.co.uk


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