CABLE & WIRE MARKERS Automation innovations simplify marking and reduce errors
Fleximark's flexible but efficient marking system for wires, cables and components is gaining a growing clientele among offshore users.
In mid-year the company is due to complete deliveries to ABB Offshore Technology for the Troll Gas terminal at Kollsnes. This is a SKr3 million order entailing some 300,000 stainless steel markers and 500,000 wire markers, supplied over a period of two years.
It could stand Fleximark in good stead to bid for the supply of cable markers for the new Gardermoen airport in Oslo, which will involve the same ABB project team as the Troll terminal, according to managing director Ulf Thoren. ABB representatives from the Troll project visited the company's Malmo offices in January for a quality control check.
The company has introduced a number of innovations both to facilitate the marking task and eliminate the risk of mistakes. Previously the stainless steel markers were marked by hand, a time-consuming process open to human error.
In December 1994 Fleximark launched a machine for marking stainless steel markers. This is available for purchase by customers, with one of the first sales going to Kockums Submarine Systems. Fleximark also produces a wide range of accessories for mounting the markers on cables and in switchgear.
In another move to enable clients to take control of the marking process, Fleximark has developed its own Windows-based program, Fleximark Soft, which allows users to plan and print their own labels and markers. Customers can also feed their requirements online into the central Fleximark computer system in Malmo, via a modem link: within 12 hours the required sizes can automatically be sent to the customer.
Fleximark's biggest export market is Norway, where it is represented by Miltronic. Here the offshore sector accounts for some 60-70% of business, but one notable non-offshore reference was the supply of cable markers for the Norwegian royal train carriage.
Fleximark is keen to boost its business in the UK, and will be exhibiting at Offshore Europe. Its London-based UK distributor, Oscar Lapp, is soon to open an office in Scotland, bringing it closer to prospective offshore clients.
For more information contact Ulf Thoren, Fleximark: telephone +46 40189910 or fax +46 40189339.
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