HELUKABEL is a leading international manufacturer and supplier of cables, wires and cable accessories. Headquartered in Hemmingen in southern Germany and with 59 sites worldwide, for over 40 years HELUKABEL has been a single-source solution for electrical connection technologies for many industries. HELUKABEL’s particular strength lies in the development of customized solutions. Customers also benefit from a comprehensive portfolio of more than 33,000 stock items and a state-of-the-art logistics concept, ensuring prompt and reliable delivery times worldwide.
Interview with Michael Andris, Head of Innovation & Product Management | Head of Special Cables at HELUKABEL.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Michael Andris: HELUKABEL offers the right cables, wires and accessories for all sectors and every industrial application – from mechanical and plant engineering to industrial automation, oil and gas, building technology, infrastructure, mobility and renewable energy. We have a comprehensive product portfolio, a large proportion of which is available from stock. If a standard cable doesn’t meet the requirements of a specific application, our designers in our Franconian production plant in Windsbach can develop special cables to meet customer needs. In addition, HELUKABEL GmbH is committed to fast and punctual deliveries, excellent customer service and premium product quality.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
M.A: With HELUPOWER AQUATIC-750-BLUE, HELUKABEL now offers an in-stock cable that is resistant to drinking, sea and salt water as per DVGW Standard W 270. The cable is also 100 percent resistant to moisture diffusion and, therefore, can be used at depths of up to 600 meters and can be subject to an external pressure of 60 bar. Application areas include the food and biotech industry, water recycling/cleaning or wastewater treatment plants, aqua farms, leisure parks and wafer fabrication plants.
HELUPOWER FARM is also a new product in the HELUKABEL portfolio and was especially developed for the operation of electric fences used in livestock farming. Its advantages include good dielectric strength, oxidation protection due to tinned, stranded wire and easy recognition attributable to its yellow sheath, which in turn improves safety. The cable is available by the metre and in bundles of 25, 50 or 100 metres.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
M.A: We have a portfolio of more than 33,000 stock items – and yet, among all these products, it still happens that a customer does not find the right solution for a specific application. Luckily, we have a strong backup plan for cases like these: HELUKABEL has in-house experienced specialists who can develop the optimum connection solution precisely tailored to your needs. Depending on which electrical, chemical and mechanical properties your cable must fulfil in practice, we carefully determine all the parameters: from the cross-section of the conductor and its structure to the insulation and arrangement of the individual elements in the cable, to the shielding and outer sheath. Only when a special cable truly meets all requirements are our engineers fully satisfied – so that you will be too. It’s with this approach that we develop reliable solutions together with our customers, even for complex and unusual situations.
In such instances, the results range from small and inconspicuous to great and spectacular: special cables from HELUKABEL can be found, for example, in aerial ladders on fire engines, in sewer robots, tunnel boring machines, on oil platforms or in wind power and biogas plants. After all, when it comes to cables, wires and accessories, there‘s almost nothing we can‘t do.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
M.A: HELUKABEL supplies a very wide range of sectors across multiple countries. Consequently, this question does not apply to our business.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
M.A: Digitalisation and automation are current trends across the globe and concern all sectors. Whether in industrial production, mechanical and plant engineering, building technology, mobility or the energy sector: more and more processes are being digitalised and automated with the help of drive technology and robotics. Furthermore, process networks are being created via the Internet of Things. Such ways of working require microprocessors and countless sensors – and these in turn have to be wired, which is increasing the demand for our products.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
M.A: A cable is only as good as the minds that ask the right questions before it’s made. We have a lot of bright minds at HELUKABEL who spend every day searching for intelligent answers. This is important because the challenges faced by modern cables and wires are multifaceted: for example, moving applications with more than ten million cycles, exposure to extreme mechanical and chemical loads, tricky bending radii and space-saving hybrid solutions. For each situation, HELUKABEL has answers to help you. To ensure there are no issues during use, all newly developed products undergo rigorous testing at our R&D centre in Windsbach, near Nuremberg. Here we bend, pull, grind and ignite the cable for all it’s worth. Our special aging ovens are time machines that simulate a cable’s life cycle and far beyond. Our cables are tested to comply with national and international standards, and all results are signed and sealed.
At our cable manufacturing sites, we produce approximately one million kilometres of conductor every year according to the latest production methods. More than 300 employees specialise in the manufacturing of high-quality standard and special-purpose cables. We drive innovation in the fields of automation, data technology, building system technology, and renewable energies.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
M.A: The last two years were marked by great uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, throughout this period our turnover and market share largely remained stable, and even increased in some areas. Currently, the war in Ukraine is another challenge with far-reaching implications, although the extent of its economic impact cannot yet be fully estimated. However, since we are active across many different sectors worldwide, we remain confident regarding the upcoming year. We are a healthy company with a broad positioning that will help us compensate for fluctuations in certain sectors.