Electrical cable and component company Firstflex has expanded its testing capabilities with the completion of a specialised, temperature-controlled cable testing laboratory at its Auckland headquarters.
This investment strengthens cable quality assurance and technical capability in New Zealand. The facility has been designed to deliver highly accurate cable performance evaluation, including the examination of cable construction, conductor integrity, insulation and sheath materials.
Head of product growth Nigel Greig said the new laboratory will enable expert testing and analysis to support customers across infrastructure, industrial, telecommunications and engineering sectors.
“The establishment of this laboratory is an important strategic step for Firstflex and the wider New Zealand market. There is increasing demand for independent, technically rigorous cable testing and quality verification as infrastructure systems become more complex and performance expectations continue to rise.
“Our goal is to give customers confidence through precise, standards-based analysis supported by specialist technical expertise.”
With more than 50 years of experience, Firstflex supplies industrial cable and components to the New Zealand electrical industry. Its products meet AS/NZS standards, verified through independent third-party testing, and the company also conducts further testing and reporting through its own stringent quality assurance processes.
The company sees the new facility as the foundation for a broader long-term vision.
“The investment is about more than compliance testing. We are building capability that will help support higher quality standards across the industry while creating greater technical independence and expertise in New Zealand.”
The project, led by Dean Lipscombe, took just under a year from initial planning through to completion and was undertaken with careful planning and equipment investment.
“Careful planning went into designing and implementing systems within the new laboratory. I’m proud of the way our team worked together to develop a very efficient process flow.
“Firstflex has invested in a range of smart devices and automated systems including optical recognition systems to reduce interpretation during measurement and testing. This has helped streamline the processing of results, improve consistency and allow our team to test and process more cable series with a much faster turnaround time.”
The company has confirmed objectives to progressively expand the laboratory’s capability, and Nigel says growth is part of the longer-term plan.
“We’re excited for the future. We have the capacity and capability to support increasingly sophisticated applications across renewable energy, industrial automation, data infrastructure, transport and other emerging technology sectors where cable performance and reliability are critical.”
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About Firstflex
Firstflex Cables (‘Firstflex’) connects businesses to superior power products and has been supplying New Zealand’s electrical industry with cable and components for over 50 years. Firstflex provides New Zealand’s widest range of premium industrial cable and stocks a comprehensive range of connectors and accessories. Firstflex partners with over 300 distributors and wholesalers nationwide. www.firstflex.co.nz
