Sikora’s X-Ray 6000 Pro reduces costs and stabilises production

Shinshiro Cable Ltd., based in Shinshiro City in Japan's Aichi Prefecture and part of the Fujikura Group, specializes in the production of CV cables. The company has integrated Sikora's X-Ray 6000 Pro into its production process for 600 V CV cables. The system continuously measures wall thickness, diameter and ovality, enabling the manufacturer to optimize material consumption and reduce costs while strengthening quality assurance through full-length monitoring. Material savings are particularly relevant in wire and cable manufacturing because labor accounts for only a small proportion of total production costs. Shinshiro Cable therefore expects the measuring system to provide significant economic benefits.

Quality stability in wire and cable production cannot be ensured only through checks performed when a production run begins. Changes in material condition and temperature during operation can cause extrusion quality to vary over time, making continuous process monitoring important. Shinshiro Cable has purchased several X-Ray 6000 Pro systems for its production lines since 2013. The equipment has become an integral part of daily production, and operators regard it as essential to line operation.

Full-length quality assurance

The X-Ray 6000 Pro enables Shinshiro Cable to assure quality over the complete cable length, which conventional end-point inspections alone could not provide. The company also combines the X-ray measuring system with other inline equipment, including an outer diameter gauge and a lump detector. This arrangement raises the level of full-length quality assurance and extends quality control across the entire product instead of relying solely on inspections of selected samples.

Effective use of the system requires an understanding of its measurement characteristics. According to the case description, users should not rely exclusively on absolute measured values. The equipment should also be applied to monitor trends. Taking this characteristic into account during operation is a key factor in obtaining the full benefit of the system.

Visualization of process data

Measurement data from the X-Ray 6000 Pro are displayed on the Ecocontrol 6000 processor system, including detailed trends and statistics. This visualization allows operators to observe process developments and identify changes during production rather than assessing quality only at individual inspection points.

The application at Shinshiro Cable demonstrates that X-ray wall-thickness measurement can serve as a production control tool rather than only as an inspection method. In this case, it supports material cost optimization, full-length quality assurance and extrusion process stabilization. Continuous monitoring is intended to help the cable manufacturer combine stable production with sustainable profitability.