Florida, NY – Remee Wire & Cable, a leading manufacturer of electronic wire and cable, has designed and manufactured a series of composite access control cables with numerous benefits for Warehouse and Distribution Center operations. Due to the success of several recent installations around the country, a large online retailer with hundreds of global distribution centers established Remee’s Vigilance™ Access Control cables as the standard for use in the retailer’s warehouse access control systems worldwide. Installations in this customer’s warehouses will continue for some time to come.
Remee partnered with Acenes, a Security Designer and Integrator, to design a series of access control cables for this customer. Acenes noticed that while this large online retailer has had strong security hardware and software systems, its access control cabling scheme had many issues. Acenes observed the abundance of cables of various types that were required for warehouse access control, which frequently resulted in time-consuming and costly installation errors. A new cabling solution was designed by Acenes and Remee Wire and Cable, using composite Access Control cables, a part of Remee’s Vigilance™ Security Cable Series, to reduce the number of cables pulled and provide better cable organization and identification to minimize the confusion at the termination points.
The Problem with Warehouse Operations
A large online retailer with worldwide warehouse operations has had strong security software platforms and related hardware to operate their very efficient security system. However, the cabling system for their rapidly growing access control needs was another story. With an average of 30-50 access-controlled doors per warehouse and the mandatory 3-5 cables needed per door, plus other devices, there were roughly 200-250 cables that needed to be pulled to run to the various security system panels in one warehouse. Wires would be labeled, but mistakes were made, and some wires ended up being mixed up and mislabeled, while other wires were confused and terminated to the wrong control panels for a variety of reasons.
This process typically caused many installation errors when installers terminated cables to the wrong controller. The installation task was tedious with these inevitable errors. As a result, these mistakes were costly and slowed down the commissioning of the access control doors in the warehouse. Meeting the construction schedule is paramount for a large distribution company to meet its goals. In addition, the cable constructions, which contained power components, were heavy and costly to ship, as well as being difficult to pull during installation.
The Warehouse Access Control Solution
The new cable designs streamlined the installation process by dramatically reducing the time needed to sort through the variety of individual cables.
To solve the problems that the variety and number of cables were causing, Acenes worked with Remee to aggregate all 5 component cables (per door) under one jacket. This reduced the average number of cables pulled from 250 to just 50 – an 80% reduction in the number of individual cables pulled, which lowered the overall installation cost. In addition, the component cables and the outer jacket were all color-coded to simplify identification and improve proper termination.
The various door types used in this customer’s warehouse can be divided into three base types, so there were three colors used for the composite cable’s outer jackets, one for each door type – green (PN 4722A), blue (PN 4722B) and gray (PN 5465).
Green – Card Reader In and Card Reader Out
Blue – Card Reader In and REX (Request to Exit)
Gray – Emergency Exit Door with DSM, Horn/Strobe and Motions Sensors
Each of these 3 different composite cables includes component cables, each with a specific AWG and color and designed to operate specific access control functions. A key challenge of this project was to minimize the O.D. of the component cables to reduce the weight and save shipping costs. Acenes also wanted the cumulative number of feet used at every foot marked on the cable jackets so the installer would know the number of feet left on the reel for use.
The most important component cable was the 5333-SI – Card Reader. The current standard reader protocol is Weigand, however, the security industry is in the process of migrating to a new Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP). OSDP provides for the needed higher level of security. The card Reader 5333-SI was designed to handle both current Wiegand readers as well as the new OSDP readers. Use of the 5333-SI then preserves the cabling investment by making the cable future-proof.
By adding an overall foil shield with drain wire to the 5333-SI component, the cable capacitance was lowered to 12.5 pF/ft., exceeding the capacitance requirement for Cat. 6 cables. Also, the 120 Ohms impedance requirements of the RS-485 protocol was matched. These design improvements allowed the 5333-SI to easily exceed RS-485 communication requirements.
Remee’s Vigilance™ Series Access Control Cables already served both Weigand and OSDP technologies, so they were an ideal choice for this cabling system, where both technologies were being used.
Get more information about Remee’s Vigilance Access Control Cable Series. Also, read the full Case Study here.
About Remee Wire & Cable
Remee Wire & Cable is a world class manufacturer of electronic wire and cable, both copper and fiber optic cable.
The company is headquartered in Florida, New York, where its corporate offices, engineering and manufacturing facilities are all located. Since the company’s start in 1972, personal attention and care have been the hallmarks of the family-run company. Remee’s engineering and manufacturing expertise has enabled the growth of the company’s product offering and custom capabilities, now at a level that rivals some of the largest cable manufacturers. The large standard cable offering at Remee, along with expert capabilities to modify any standard cable and manufacture complex and custom-made cables, are proof of our significant industry stature.
Remee features quick decision-making, special customer care and access to executives, which are strong attributes for a family-run company. Yet, Remee also offers a huge selection of cables and expert capabilities that rival the largest cable manufacturers. So, at Remee, customers enjoy our “dual personality” and the best of both worlds.
For more information about Remee Wire & Cable, please visit www.remee.com, email us at info@remee.com, or call 1-800-431-3864.