Electrical Contracting News (ECN) November 2016 | Page 64

FEATURE

CABLE MANAGEMENT

3D printing

Cable management
now comes in a wide
array of styles, sizes,
colours, materials
and finishes.

Deeper containment can carry higher
category data cabling. And because sharp
bends can ‘pinch’ data cabling, affecting its
performance, trunking systems with radius
controlled bends are an ideal choice. Better
socket outlet access overcomes the need
to pass through internal walls, minimising
the risk of creating sharp bends, and open
backed data socket plates create gentler
access for cables to data socket outlets.

New demands
In addition to delivering containment
systems to satisfy the demands of greater
cable volumes and sophistication of data
cabling, there is demand for trunking to
do more than just carry cables. Our Bio
solutions answered a need for infection
control in healthcare environments and
installations with high traffic, for example
schools and other public areas. Aesthetics
have also driven innovation, a good
example being curved trunking which
supports cleaning regimes and avoids the
trunking being used as a shelf – a real
bonus in design led projects. This summer
we launched Sterling Curve (an evolution
of our Sterling range, which gives users a
gently contoured cable containment system
that looks great, is easy to clean and
impossible to clutter) and Sterling Curve
Bio. We’ve also worked with clients who
required hinged PowerPoles that fed power
and data to island locations and folded into
the ceiling when not in use; a university
lab using laser beams that specified matt
black trunking to safely ‘absorb’ rather
than reflect stray beams and a leading
high street retailer that needed a specially
designed wall unit to simultaneously
charge large numbers of walkie talkies.
Without innovation – and quite literally

‘3D printing
is now an
integral part
of product
development.’

thinking outside the box – none of these
solutions would have been possible.
Regulatory changes have also had
an impact, for example Amendments to
BS7671:2008 of the Wiring Regulations
(Amendment 3) require cabling above
escape routes to be supported by fire
resistant fastenings and fixings to prevent
collapse in extreme heat. Marshall-Tufflex
launched spring loaded Firefly clips to fit on
the inside/outside of our mini/maxi trunking
and conduit, holding cables secure in the
event of a fire, ensuring escape routes
remain free and accessible should fire
break out. The clips are fire resistant above
1,000°C for up to 120 minutes, far exceeding
the requirements of 45 minutes at 930°C.

Integral to our product development is 3D
printing, which has paid huge dividends
in being able to quickly and more easily
develop new products. We started by using
a third party 3D printing provider, sending
our prototype designs to it. However, it
soon became clear that this technology
had a huge amount to offer and a feasibility
study confirmed that investing in our own,
on site, 3D printer was financially prudent
and removed any risk associated with
sending intellectual property off site.
The printer, based at our R&D
department, is now used for the majority
of new product development. Through
talking to customers and market research,
Marshall-Tufflex identified the need for
a hard-wearing, lightweight and larger
capacity aluminium profile having already
achieved success with its Elegance 110
Aluminium, a small dado trunking profile.
Our 3D printer was used to ‘scale up’ this
smaller profile to quickly and cost effectively
test the feasibility of the idea, leading to
the launch of Elegance 170 Aluminium, a
170mm x 55mm Category 6/6a/7 and Part
M compliant profile that can be a single,
double or triple compartment thanks to its
‘C’ type section with a single cover.
It has also proved a great asset when
showing students around our Hastings
manufacturing plant as part of our drive to
encourage more young people to consider
engineering as a career. Students were
tasked with designing a 3D item for printing,
with the winning two designs turned into 3D
models virtually before the students’ eyes.
3D printing is enabling us to fully utilise
our dedicated in-house design team and
technical experts to continually push the
boundaries of product design, react quickly
to changing market demands and work with
customers to develop specific solutions
for their projects; 3D printing allows us to
produce examples of products, rather than
just drawings, allowing clients to test them
in conjunction with existing ranges.
In short 3D printing is now an integral
part of our product development. If
required we can take a product idea,
design it in-house with our CAD engineers
and have a 3D production-grade ABS
prototype in a day or less, enabling us to
quickly evaluate the design and agree on
any changes or improvements that need
making. It allows us to develop and test a
far wider range of product ideas and then
cherry pick the best.

The MarshallTufflex research and
development team
has worked closely
with the industry to
innovate solutions
to meet shifting
demands.

64 | November 2016

63-64 Cable Management – MT.indd 64

10/10/2016 16:54