Taking the strain

With reeling speeds reaching hundreds of meters per minute, comes increased risk of cable failure. To overcome this manufacturers are developing more flexible cables that retain their integrity, despite the increased tension and torsion imposed upon them. Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian Kabel and Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), the Trento-based research organisation, have signed a one year innovative collaboration agreement for the development of R&D activities in optical fibres and new materials for power and telecommunication cables. The agreement is the first venture sharing the entrepreneurial risk between the private and public sectors and will involve more than 350 researchers. FBK will finance the researchers, whilst Prysmian will provide a percentage of the sales of the products developed to the institute. “This allows us to share startup costs and risks, as well as the know-how available”, explains Fabio Romeo, head of Prysmian Energy Cables business. “Prysmian invested over 45m in innovation 2008, employing 400 people in its seven R&D centres in USA, South America and Europe.” “In these days of cost cutting, customers are looking beyond just the product and we have increased our customer service to support installation in order to avoid future trouble-shooting,” Thomas Kittel, product manager crane cables explained to CM. “Customers are not only focused on buying components but even service is becoming more relevant. Now when trouble after commissioning occurs a Prysmian service team is ready to go out for emergency help,” he added. Kittel says it will be interesting to see how customers position themselves in future, believing that they will focus more on quality and reliable systems. Performance and lifespan of cables can’t be leave to chance, says Kittel, who sees extensive testing becoming more important to avoid costly maintenance jobs. “Once equipment is commissioned it should be reliable and if possible maintenance free. Therefore extensive and long term in-house testing is the only forward,” he concludes.