Getting the correct custom RF cables, which are used in a wide range of wireless products, has long been a frustrating and overly lengthy process for engineers but now antenna specialist Taoglas has modernised the procedure with a new online cable assembly wizard that is said to “revolutionise” the whole transaction.
The first of its kind, online wizard with built-in intelligence allows you to visually picture the precise RF cable before ordering. After a user clicks the desired specification – cable type, length, connector, orientation etc. in pull-down boxes, they can instantly see the price and part number. Incorrect choices are eliminated through the wizard’s extensive database of proper cable and connector pairings. Inputting the desired quantity produces a part number that is stored in the user’s shopping cart, after which they can check out. Each order is assembled and shipped immediately to the defined address.
Assembly takes place in a new purpose-built, 16,000-foot facility on the campus of Taoglas USA in San Diego, California, equipped with all the cable strippers, pneumatic crimpers and other needed devices. The facility has initially been stocked with the most common RF cable connectors for the M2M (Machine 2 Machine) and IoT (Internet of Things) industries; more will be added in the near future. The new operation follows Taoglas renowned quality control standards, which have been successfully audited numerous times by many global corporations across a wide span of industries.
The company located the new facility in the United States because of the strong demand for custom, fast-turnaround RF cables required for installations of M2M or IoT devices. However, the products can also be built in Taiwan and shipped anywhere in the world. For those customers who want higher volume production, Taoglas can transfer the order to one of its overseas operations, offering cost-competitive solutions.
“It’s ironic that engineers designing sophisticated products have been stuck for years with an antiquated process for getting RF cables,” explained Dermot O’Shea, Joint CEO and co-founder of Taoglas. “We’d been creating custom cables for some of our antenna customers on a one-off basis and this online cable assembly wizard grew out of that. Now we’re establishing ourselves as the Amazon.com of the RF cable and connector world, where the ordering process has been long overdue for modernization.”
Given the huge range of devices that use custom RF cables — products found in areas like GPS, telematics, telecommunications, fleet monitoring, medical and many more, the new Taoglas cable assembly wizard is welcomed news.
O’Shea said: “You don’t have to talk to anybody. You don’t have to wait for a quotation. You don’t have to wait for part numbers. And there’s no mix-up of what you’re getting, which happens too frequently. We’ve really put a lot of effort into the way the images are displayed on the cable builder so it’s quite clear what you’re ordering. Plus, the menu only includes the correct cables with the right connectors.”
