WCA November 2022

Industry News

UL Solutions acquires Cimteq Limited Applied safety science organisation UL Solutions has announced its acquisition of Cimteq Limited, a design support and manufacturing software provider for the global wire and cable manufacturing industry based in the UK. wire and cable to serve as the delivery backbone for new service offerings,” said Jennifer Scanlon, president and CEO, UL Solutions Inc. “We are confident the acquisition of Cimteq allows us to help wire and cable customers continue to evolve and succeed as these technologies introduce new challenges and opportunities.”

by utilising the latest industrial Internet of Things (IoT) technology to optimise cable manufacturing operations. Weifang Zhou, executive vice president and president of testing, inspection and certification, UL Solutions, commented, “Process excellence throughout the research and development cycle is increasingly crucial to safe product deployment, especially as the complexity of design requirements increases. Cimteq will enableUL Solutions to help customers optimise operations while enhancing product safety and compliance.” Cimteq CEO Michael Braddock said, “Cimteqwas founded todevelop software solutions for the wire and cable industry and help manufacturers achieve their digital transformation ambitions while developing safe and compliant products. We share UL Solutions’ mission-centric safety culture and are proud to join them to help advance innovations for the wire and cable industry.” Cimteq was co-founded in 1998 by software industry veterans Ali and Amanda Shehab, and is headquartered in Wrexham, Wales, approximately 35 miles south of Liverpool. In 2018, the company received an equity investment from listed private equity and infrastructure investment manager Foresight Group. The transaction closed on 9 September 2022.

The acquisition will strengthen UL Solutions’ software capabilities to better serve small and large wire and cable customers across the product life cycle. Cimteq’s enterprise-level software enables manufacturers to be more efficient through improved productivity and streamliningof product development and manufacturing processes. “Emerging technologies within smart cities, Industry 4.0, mobility and communications industries all rely on

Cimteq’s technology also helps simplify the complex management of cable design data, from the initial concept to delivering a full bill of materials directly to enterprise resource planning systems. With Cimteq software, UL Solutions is able to provide wire and cable manufacturers tools to effectively plan, manage and control every aspect of the development and manufacturing process

Mikrotek Machines Ltd Mikrotek has designed and developed a safe machine for polishing the inner profile of tungsten carbide dies. The polishing is performed manually using a wooden stick. The machine has a pneumatic foot switch that operates the die-holding collet for locking TBA

and unlocking. It can produce uniform polishing of the inner profile with good roundness, close tolerance and smooth surface. The machine, which is supplied with CE certification, can operate for die sizes ranging from 0.1 to 10mm, and can hold casing sizes ranging from 16 to 43mm diameter. It also features a high spindle rotation speed of 2,800 rpm. An electro-pneumatically controlled self-centring spin- dle allows quick locking and unlocking of dies, and also makes operation easier. Mikrotek Machines Ltd www.mikrotek.in

UL Solutions www.ul.com Cimteq Ltd www.cimteq.com

Mikrotek pneumatic hand polishing machine for TC dies

Pan Chemicals SpA Pan Chemicals is an Italian producer of drawing lubricants, coatings and chemi cals for the wire industry. It sells world wide, either directly or through its net work of agents, distributors and branch companies. The company’s research and develop ment department explores new products and concepts, to offer its customers im proved performance and efficiency, while also keeping a focus on environmental sustainability. With this aim, Pan Chemicals has recently added to its portfolio new products such as ash-less lubricants for high quality sur face after annealing; polymer-based pre

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um and combined products for low and high carbon steel and stainless steel; Pan lube L wet drawing lubricants – oils, greas es and pastes for wet drawing of low and high carbon, welding wire, stainless steel and non-ferrous wire; Pancover lubricant carriers – phosphates and non-reactive coatings; Panflux flux for galvanising – de veloped to improve the efficiency of the galvanising process by uniform control of the reaction between the two metals; and Panchem auxiliary products – degreasing agents, pickling inhibitors, anti-rusting and protective products, activated char coal, wiping pads and spiral brushes. Pan Chemicals SpA https://panchemicals.com

coating for cold forming applications; polymer pre-coat lubricants for heavy duty bar drawing; nanotechnology-based protective coating for galvanised wires; and pre-coating for high-tensile galva nised steel wire drawing. It has also introduced special nano-dis persion water-based lubricants for fine and extra-fine drawing of high tensile wires; new concept drawing technologies based on special diamond dies; and a new design of high-performance compact pressure dies. The company’s production programme includes Panlube S dry drawing lubricants – calcium, sodium, aluminium, zinc, lithi

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November 2022