Customers of igus can purchase leftover chainflex cables at a 50% discount on the list price

igus offers customers the opportunity to save costs and protect the environment at the same time when purchasing cables from the chainflex range: thanks to the residual stock in the online shop, they can purchase remaining lengths of chainflex cables at a 50% discount. This zero-waste measure helps avoid waste and makes the company more sustainable.

Residual quantities of cables pose an ecological and economic problem for manufacturers. “Cutting different cable lengths to the nearest centimetre for our customers often results in residual lengths on the reels of between ten and 50m,” says Rainer Rössel, Head of the chainflex Cable Business Unit at igus. As we have more than 1,350 cable types in our range, storing these residual quantities would take up too much space. Scrapping them would be ecologically unacceptable, and early recycling before use is not sustainable either. “We therefore decided to offer the leftover cables at reduced prices in a residual stock, which is integrated into our online shop for chainflex cables.” Customers can see at a glance in the shop whether any residual stock is available for each type of cable and buy it at a 50% discount. The only thing that is no longer possible with the leftovers is cutting them to size. “This offer has already been very well received,” says Rössel. “We are currently recording a 137% increase in orders for our residual stock and a 111% increase in sales. Buyers can save costs and help us improve our environmental footprint at the same time.”

igus makes the life cycle of cables ever more sustainable

The new residual stock is another piece of the puzzle in igus’s strategy to make the entire life cycle of industrial cables more sustainable – from production and transport through to recycling. “Our primary goal is to design cables to be as durable as possible,” says Rössel. “From an ecological point of view, there is hardly anything more unreasonable than products with a short service life.” The company therefore invests considerable resources in research and development as well as extensive testing in its own 4,000m2 test laboratory. This effort has resulted in igus now being able to offer an above-average four-year guarantee for chainflex cables. “In this way, we prevent defects, premature wear and breakdowns and help avoid unnecessary environmental pollution.”

In addition, igus endeavours to reduce CO2 emissions in the supply chain. “Thanks to local supply chains, we can now offer 70% of our cables worldwide with short transport routes.” Another measure for more sustainable transport is the chainflex CASE. This is a cardboard housing that enables the environmentally friendly dispatch of cable reels. “Thanks to this innovative solution, we can dispense with protective film and other packaging waste that is generated during conventional palletised shipping,” explains Rössel. Finally, igus offers recycling for used cables. “We are now able to recover over 95% of the valuable and finite resource copper from cables in order to produce stranded wires for new cables.”

New service life calculator combines efficiency and sustainability

The chainflex cables are designed to function reliably in energy chains made of high-performance plastic, even with high movement rates and tight bend radii. They are used in robotics, machine tools, cranes and offshore applications, among others. However, every application places different loads on cables. The new, improved chainflex service life calculator enables customers to find the optimum cable for their individual application – in terms of both costs and sustainability. After the customer has entered the application parameters, the online tool determines the service life of the selected cable based on real data from the test laboratory and AI-based calculations. In addition, the tool offers up to 15 alternative cable types that are either more favourable or even better for the respective application than the one originally selected. “The tool not only increases planning reliability, but also contributes to sustainability by preventing the use of unsuitable products,” concludes Rössel.

Test the new chainflex service life calculator here:
www.igus.eu/cf-sps-24

You can find more information about the chainflex residual stock here:
https://www.igus.eu/flexible-cable/news