A new record guarantee of four years is being offered by igus on cables
igus Extends the Industry-Leading Cable Guarantee to Four Years
December 12th, 2023 – igus®, a global manufacturer of cables and cable systems, has announced the extension of its guarantee on the full range of chainflex® cables from 36 months to four years. This sets a new industry record for cable guarantees and provides customers with enhanced reliability and planning security.
Cable failure can cause machine downtime and production halts. Companies previously lacked certainty about predicting individual cable lifetimes. Ten years ago, igus pioneered the industry’s first guarantee program to solve this problem. They introduced a 36-month guarantee on the durability of their moving cable carrier cables when used in flex applications.
Last week, igus announced an extension of this coverage from 3 to 4 years across its entire chainflex cable range. This provides enhanced functional assurance and planning ability for customers. Such an extended guarantee period is unique among cable suppliers and is enabled by over a decade of real-world testing and data collection by igus. Specifically, their in-house chainflex test lab has aggregated results across thousands of customer installations and over 20 billion flex cycles.
The longevity of cables used in motion controls has been a key question for manufacturers. With cables not typically supplied with binding reliability information, users could not properly evaluate service lifetimes. igus helps provide guarantees in this area that are not matched by other industrial cable providers.
“We want to put an end to this uncertainty. We have therefore been giving customers a guarantee of 36 months on our entire chainflex range for ten years, which is unusual in the industry,” says Rainer Rössel, Head of the chainflex Cables Business Unit at igus.
A promise that has even been verified by the U.S. Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
“In the past decade, we have gained valuable expertise, which is why we can now extend our guarantee promise to a full four years. This gives our customers even more functional and planning security,” emphasizes Rössel.
More than two billion test cycles per year
igus can offer the unusually long 4-year guarantee because of the extensive testing performed on chainflex cables. The company operates the largest test lab in the industry for cables and cable carriers used in motion applications. This lab is located at igus headquarters in Cologne, Germany.
In this facility, engineers conduct practical tests on chainflex cables, simulating real-world conditions seen in industries like robotics, manufacturing, and transportation. Over 2 billion test cycles are performed annually.
The data generated from these lab tests enables igus to provide customers with the online chainflex service life calculator tool. By inputting application parameters like temperature extremes, bend radius, and travel distance for a particular cable, the tool can predict the cable’s lifespan. This gives customers confidence in selecting and installing chainflex cables suited for their specific needs while also backed by a 4-year guarantee. During the design phase, they can also see what other options are available from igus to pick the right cable for their application.
“We have now gained so much experience with cable designs, tests, online tools, and customer requests that we are increasingly able to find the right cables for specific applications,” emphasizes Rössel.
In the unlikely event that a cable fails during the guarantee period, a free replacement is quickly provided by igus, which reduces downtimes.
Extended guarantee contributes to sustainability strategy
The main reason for extending the guarantee period lies in igus’s efforts to make its products as sustainable as possible.
“Every time a cable breaks, a replacement has to be produced with a corresponding CO2 impact in the entire production and supply chain,” points out Rössel.
This also means that products that last longer save more CO2.
“For this reason, we are constantly working on improving our cables and adapting them to a wide range of industrial applications.” Today, the chainflex range comprises over 1,350 cable types from low-cost to high-end options – including bus, motor, servo cables, robot, feedback, encoder, and resolver cables. The ideal combination of materials is the key to the long service life of chainflex cables in the energy chain cable carrier. Real-life tests over many years have already proven their suitability.
To learn more about the chainflex guarantee, click here: https://www.igus.ca/info/chainflex-guarantee
