Network Communications News (NCN) August 2017 | Page 22

CABLE MANAGEMENT & LABELLING
fasteni ng s a nd fixin gs to
prevent co l l a ps e in extre m e
heat. M a rs ha l l -Tuf flex l a u nc h e d
spr i ng-loa ded Firefly clip s to
fi t on t h e ins ide/o uts id e of
ou r mi ni/maxi trunkin g a nd
condu i t, holding ca bles s e c u re
i n t he event of a fire, e ns u r ing
escape ro utes rema in f re e a nd
acc e ssibl e s ho uld fire b re a k o u t .
T he cli p s a re fire res is ta nt a b ove
1, 000° C fo r up to 120 minu te s , fa r
exce e ding the requirem e nt s of 45
mi nu te s at 930°C.
3D printing
I nte gral to our pro duct
d eve lopment is 3D print ing,
whi c h h a s pa id huge d iv id e nd s
i n bei ng a ble to q uickly a nd m o re
easi ly develo p n ew pro d u ct s . We
star ted by us ing a third p a r t y
3 D pr i ntin g provider, s end ing
ou r prototype des ig ns to t h e m .
H owever, it s oon beca m e c l e a r
t hat this technolo gy ha d a h u ge
amou nt to of fer a nd a fe a s ib il it y
stu d y confirmed that inve s t ing in
ou r ow n, on -s ite, 3D pr inte r wa s
fi nanc i a ll y prudent a nd re m ove d
any r i sk a s s ociated with s e nd ing
i nte lle ctua l proper ty of f- s ite .
22 | August 2017
‘3D printing
has paid huge
dividends in
being able to
quickly and
more easily
develop new
products.’
The printer, based at our
R&D department is now used
for the majority of new product
development, Elegance 170
Aluminum being a good example.
Through talking to customers and
market research, Marshall-Tufflex
identified the need for a hard-
wearing, lightweight and larger
capacity aluminum profile having
already achieved great 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 Aluminum, a
170mm x 55mm Cat 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.
The printer has also been
used to per fect recently launched
Sterling profile single piece
fittings and clip designs and to
design new moulded tap-offs
for Under floor; the technology
is proving invaluable for taking
products from design to market
more quickly and cost-effectively.
It has also proved a great asset
when showing students around
our Hastings manufacturing plant
as par t 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 vir tually 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. We can think outside the
box and quickly create prototypes,
ensuring we invest in the very
best cable management concepts
and solutions.
For further information visit:
www.marshall-tufflex.com