Marking – Protecting people and machines
Precise and unmistakable marking in plants protects both people and machines. As a result, legislation includes numerous standards that have to be met. With its FLEXIMARK® marking systems, LAPP makes this easy. The wide range of marking solutions provides guidance in numerous applications all over the world, ensuring safety and guaranteeing functionality.
Markings are everywhere: Pet cats are chipped, homes and houses have a door sign and cars need a number plate. Even people are assigned their own markings, numbers or numerical codes, for example on an ID document or credit card. Similarly, marking is often indispensable for cables, wires or single cores. How else can you keep track of a large number of installations? What’s more, standards such as DIN EN 60204-1 (VDE 0113 Part 1) demand clear identification of cables, components and terminals in systems using permanently legible markings that enable functional assignment or warn of potential hazards.
LAPP, the global market leader for connection solutions, supplies special marking systems for marking its extensive range of cable and single core products under the brand name FLEXIMARK®. They are made of plastic or stainless steel, and they allow manual or electronic marking according to the customer’s needs. All labels can be self printed using intuitively operated software and conventional laser printers or thermal transfer printers – or alternatively they can be produced individually and delivered by LAPP. This enables flexible and easy marking of electrical installations wherever protection of people and machines is an issue.
Easy labelling – outdoors and indoors
One example is the world-famous Öresund Bridge, which connects the Danish capital Copenhagen with Malmö in Sweden. Inside the road and rail bridge, which is a total of around 16 kilometres long, thousands of kilometres of cables are installed. Without marking, it would be almost impossible to tell them apart. Maintenance and repair work would be not only potentially fatal it would be time-consuming and expensive. That is why all the cables installed in the Öresund Bridge were marked with FLEXIMARK® products. To ensure that the embossed letters and numbers will still be clearly legible after many years, stainless steel markings were chosen. During the four-year construction phase, the customised FLEXIMARK® markings were supplied on request. The data for each marking was transmitted both digitally and by fax and they were then ready for installation after two days.
In less harsh environments, plastic labels can be used for marking. For example, Wica Cold AB in Vislanda, southern Sweden, relies on shrink tubes and single core markers from the FLEXIMARK® portfolio. The company manufactures refrigerators and freezers for food shops in Nordic and Baltic markets, where food quality is subject to stringent requirements and expectations. In addition to identification of the cables, the FLEXIMARK® marking systems from LAPP ensure that the temperature sensors are connected in the right place. They ensure greater safety on several levels – on the one hand, for the people who operate, maintain and repair the equipment, while consumers also benefit from a consistently high food quality.
LAPP produces its FLEXIMARK® marking systems with robust product features, ensuring that all system components can withstand the requirements of the relevant environmental conditions. This means that the marking systems can be used flexibly, regardless of whether they are in plant engineering, the food industry or electrical installations. The right marking can be supplied for almost any application. As a result, LAPP makes it easy for anyone who wants to clearly show their concern for protecting people and machinery.