A lot of draka cables

HULTFLEX cables from Draka power new production hall from Oerlemans Plastics

Copper for plastic

18/01/2023 - 12:00 AM

Oerlemans Plastics produces flexible packaging from PE foil for customers all over the world. To increase its production capacity, the company had a new production hall built. Here two modern extruders blow 24/7 new foil for further processing. Van Eck Elektro realized the power supply to the 4000 A main distributor with HULTFLEX cables from Draka.

Vibrating and puffing, the two colossal extruders ( 1.60 and 2.60 wide ) do their work at an angle of the new production hall. Blowing polyethylene ( PE ) foil is an impressive scene. Amid a complex set of pipes, tubes, motors and sensors, the machines pull up huge transparent balloons of molten PE grains. Once cooled, rubber crushes roll the foil into a double layer that is wound up for further processing, including printing, sealing and cutting. The 7-layer foil is suitable for packaging food and non-food products.

Technical challenge
Behind the machines, 32 HULTFLEX cables ( 1 x 300 mm2 ) from Draka climb up the factory wall to the 5 meter higher platform where the main distributor is located. The cabling comes from the transformer which provides sufficient power ( 4000 A ) 2 meters next to the building. These connections are the pride of Laurens van Heumen, general manager of Van Eck Elektro from Waardenburg:

“ The trick was to introduce the cables through a concrete U-box and then bridge the height via a ladder with cable blocks. ”

Last December, the installation was successfully completed to the satisfaction of Oerlemans Plastics.

Practical division of labor
Oerlemans Plastics was advised by the Construction Company of the Ven from Veghel to have the power flow for the new hall realized by total installer Van Eck Elektro. The installer is a good relationship of the builder, who built the new production hall with office space ( 8900 m2 bvo ). The film manufacturer commissioned Van Eck Elektro to convert the cabling for the transformer and the main distributor as well as the power supply between the two and the power supply from the main distributor to the machines as well as the connections to the under-distributors for the production hall ( 630 A ) respectively realize the office space ( 100A ). 

Pure Draka 
The choice of Draka cables made sense for Van Eck Elektro. Since a year after taking office in 2016, the company has only been working with Draka. The young director-owner, who took over the more than 100-year-old installation company ( 1915 ), is outspoken about the products and service of the slightly older cable manufacturer, from 1910. “ Draka delivers high quality and can switch quickly. When we urgently needed a cable calculation, while we usually do it ourselves, Draka was immediately ready. We also always help and advise customers immediately. Because we have a lot of people in the office, we can pay more attention to our customers than other installers. Better a good long-term relationship than a higher short-term margin. ”