Cable testing has been known to be a costly and laborious undertaking when it comes to manufacturing cables. It sometimes requires hundreds of thousands of dollars invested into highly trained personnel and expensive equipment to ensure that each cable passes inspection, sometimes even requiring restructuring of production processes. With these concerns in mind, Total Phase has introduced a tool that combats these obstacles of expensive and hard to implement cable testing mechanisms. Find out why cable testing is an affordable and beneficial addition to your manufacturing processes with the Advanced Cable Tester v2:
Affordable Tool vs Expensive Equipment and Trained Personnel
The recognized higher cost of cable testing presents itself as a huge barrier of implementation for cable manufacturers. Cable testing in the market does not come cheap, as it can potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement and to continually upkeep. Furthermore, for those looking to get certifications, such as USB-IF Certification, testing can easily take up to a month, and often requires exclusive, expensive equipment. While the Advanced Cable Tester v2 does not provide compliance certifications, it provides the necessary assessments for a first line of defense for such standards.Companies often find individual cable testing to be too expensive with their current arrangements. It is not always economically justified to perform tests on all cables, especially for those executing mass development. Total Phase recognized this concern for large scale manufacturers, and made it a point to drive these costs down to only pennies per test with a large-scale manufacturing focused design. With the Advanced Cable Tester v2, it becomes a small investment compared to the costly consequences that can occur for not taking proper quality control lengths.
Our lightning-quick tests are also cost effective for cable manufacturers. The Advanced Cable Tester v2 performs each test in just seconds, ideal for production settings where testers can effectively perform individual tests on thousands of cables quickly and efficiently, maximizing output to input. Additionally, with our easy-to-understand reports and simple pass/fail confirmation LED screen, it is easy for testers at multiple levels to verify the safety and quality of each cable as it is produced. This helps reduce the overhead of employing multiple skilled workers for quality control verification.
Versatility in the Workplace
The Advanced Cable Tester v2 features multiple different tests that would normally require various tools to perform. Our cable tester assesses pin continuity, IR Drop/DCR, E-Marker verification, and signal integrity of cables all in one, compact tool. Oscilloscopes alone, which display and analyze waveforms of electronic signals, can cost upwards of $100,000. Our cable tester incorporates a similar signal integrity test that provides data and output of the signals of various speeds with a coupling eye-diagram up to 12.8 Gbps. This allows manufacturers a much easier and affordable way to review the quality of a cable.
One of the major updates on our next generation cable tester, is its expansive support for a larger range of cable types including USB (Type-C, Standard-A, Standard-B, Micro-B), Apple Lightning MFi, and video (HDMI, DisplayPort). Now, even more cable manufacturers will be able to perform our comprehensive set of tests to ensure each cable is up to standard and safely passes. Similarly, manufacturers producing multiple cable types now only need a single solution to cover the full range of cable production. Manufacturers can even create custom cable profiles within their Advanced Cable Tester v2 user interface to adjust the pass/fail standards.
The Advanced Cable Tester v2 is also flexible and can be implemented into various environments, whether it be laboratories for statistical process control, production lines for individual quality control, or independent test lab settings. With options for Ethernet connectivity and headless mode, it is possible to configure remote testing. The Advanced Cable Tester v2 API also allows users to easily configure into existing test set-ups, permitting integration between systems. Implementing a cable testing system into current manufacturing set-ups will no longer be a costly and time-consuming feat.
Catch Errors Before It’s Too Late
Image by Failing to conduct such comprehensive tests can result in consequences that can significantly outweigh the initial preventative costs. Considering quality control methods in every stage of the manufacturing process is important – and this goes beyond design validation and into the production line. Even with third party verifications and certifications, bad cables still have been known to leave the factory and get into the hands of consumers. For instance, obtaining USB-IF Certification or HDMI Cable Certification is primarily for catching design failures but manufacturers can still potentially miss the manufacturing errors that are often inevitable.
Catching errors in continuity, IR Drop/DCR, E-Marker validation, and signal integrity during the manufacturing process is vital. Just one mishap can cause the cable to operate in unexpected ways. Our blog, “How Cable Testing Ensures Safety and Quality of Manufacturing”, discusses further how each of our tests are performed and explains how each test individually addresses a necessity of the overall quality control process. Developing cables that pass our rigorous inspection can result in less product returns, less support calls, and minimized product recalls, resulting in higher profit margins and increased customer satisfaction that contribute to a well-off company reputation and brand.
Also, our blog post, “The Dangers of Manufacturing and Using Untested Cables”, provides insight into such consequences of forgoing cable testing. For a quick overview, we delve into the dangers that include devices catching fire, irreparable damage to devices, as well as potential lawsuits, expensive recalls, and damage to reputation and company brand. These consequences can directly and indirectly cause monetary repercussions that result in huge financial losses that may never be recuperated. These consequences and risks can be avoided by implementing thorough cable testing at production.
The Advanced Cable Tester v2 gets rid of the expensive, excessive equipment used to test cables and replaces it with a compact, rugged design that is flexible in the workplace, allowing the manufacture to set up based on the specific environment, which can include in the laboratory or on the production line. Investing this tool into manufacturing processes is a cost-effective solution that can potentially save companies from the high costs of using alternate solutions or experiencing unexpected consequences. For more information on the Advanced Cable Tester v2 and how it can fit for your requirements, please contact sales@totalphase.com.