Wire, Cable & Connectors Product Research, October 2008

Research was undertaken to gain a better understanding of Control Engineering subscribers’ applications and needs regarding wire, cable, and connectors.

By Control Engineering Staff

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Executive Summary

Scroll to bottom to read the full PDF report on wire, cables, and connectors.

• Among those specifying, recommending, and/or buying wire, cable and connectors, 78% do so for in-plant requirements and 39% buy for OEM needs.

• Control panels are the primary application for wire and cable at respondents’ companies. 64% mention machine control as their primary application followed by process control with 63% of respondents mentioning.

• Eighty-nine percent of respondents are involved in specifying, recommending, or buying standard twisted pair products. Sixty-eight percent are involved in the purchase of accessories.

• Standard twisted pair, then accessories, connectors, track are currently the most purchased wire and cable products as well as the most planned to buy over the next 12 months.

• Quality and delivery emerge as the most important considerations for control engineers when selecting a particular supplier of wire and cable.

• Eighty-two percent of participants indicate their companies use RJ45 type connectors followed by 80% mentioning they use junction boxes. 76% of respondents mention they are using the combination of both custom and standard cable lengths. 67% of respondents current cable usage is for stationary applications. Over half of those surveyed typically use cable in cable carriers.

• Eighty-six percent of those surveyed use chemical/oil resistant cables for machine oil applications. Chemical/oil resistant cables are also the most popular choice for wash-down applications, outdoor environments, and hazardous locations.

• Almost 90% of respondents need to know electrical requirements and equipment specifications to pick the correct cables for applications. Load requirements are required by 83% of respondents.

• Noise and installation costs are the most common recurring problem respondents mention when installing cables or connectors.

• The average respondent buys 40% of wire and cable from local electrical / electronics distributors. By comparison, national electrical distributors garner 27% of the total average wire and cable expenditure.

• Seventy-nine percent of respondents have purchased wire and cable from Belden/CDT/Hirschmann in the past 12 months. Alpha Wire and Panduit are next most purchased at 42% and 41% respectively.

• 50% of respondents purchased more than 50,000 feet of wire and cable during the past 12 months while 50% purchased 50,000 or less feet. 35% of respondents have spent more than $50,000 on wire and cable products in the last 12 months. Twenty-nine percent of respondents report their purchase of wire and cable in the next 12 months will grow, while 17% expect a decrease.

• Sixty-four percent of Control Engineering subscribers responding do not receive Control Design magazine. Sixty-nine percent do not receive Control .

Read the full report

Wire, Cable and Connectors Product Research 2008