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24% Savings by Reducing Corrugated Tubing and Switching to Automotive Tape

Kontakt
+49 2408 9377736

Initial Situation

An OEM for mobile working machines consistently used corrugated tubing for mechanical protection in all cable sets—even in areas where this was not technically necessary, based on old design guidelines.

Impacts

High material consumption

Laborious pre-assembly and manual finishing

Complicated logistics due to multiple tube lengths and variants

Analyse

85% of the tubing was within protected areas (cable channels, interiors, enclosures)

Protection requirement was theoretically justified, not practice-based

Insulation, abrasion resistance, and temperature suitability could also be met with automotive tape

Tape assembly was much faster than tubing plus closure clips

Solution

Segment analysis of cable routing

Identified non-critical areas

Technical comparison: Tape vs. Tubing

Tape met all safety classes up to 105 °C, abrasion resistant, OEM-approved

Reduced tubing use by 67%

Replaced by winding tape or flex tape

Adjusted work schedules and winding stations

Much quicker processing possible

Result

  • 24% lower material and assembly costs per cable set
  • 21% reduction in labour time
  • Standardisation: fewer part numbers, lower complexity
  • Approved by quality assurance and customer reps without further testing

Conclusion

Not every form of protection makes sense—some measures are simply a matter of habit. A sober assessment of actual stresses can drastically reduce material, time, and effort. Cable protection doesn’t need to be maximal—just suitable.