How a Packaging Machine Builder Cut Signal Faults by 42% with LiYCY CE Cable

Who Is the Customer?

A mid-sized packaging equipment manufacturer based in the Czech Republic, employing 230 people, designs and assembles high-speed cartoning and case-packing machines for the food and beverage industry. The machines operate at 400 cycles per minute and are installed in production plants where electromagnetic interference is high. The company had built a reputation for custom automation, but its control panels were experiencing noise-related failures that threatened both reliability and on-time delivery.

What Challenges Did the Company Face?

The original control panels used unscreened PVC-insulated control cables (H07V-K type) for all sensor, encoder, and servo feedback signals. After the company upgraded to more powerful servo drives and a denser panel layout, intermittent false readings appeared on proximity sensors, thermocouples, and vision system triggers. The result was random production stops, rejected packaging, and hours of troubleshooting per shift. On one line alone, noise caused 1.5 hours of downtime per shift. The engineering team tried re-routing cable bundles away from VFDs and adding ferrite cores, but the errors persisted at higher frequencies., the company needed to maintain CE declarations for its machinery, and every field failure increased the risk of an EMC compliance finding.

Why Did They Choose the LiYCY CE Cable?

After assessing shielded control cables from three suppliers, the team chosen the LiYCY CE cable from singi-cable. The cable features a tinned copper braid shield with 85–90% coverage, providing effective attenuation in the 1–100 MHz range where VFDs radiate most noise. It complies with the EN 50525 series for low-volt-level cables up to 450/750 V, the same standard family used for H05V-K and H07V-K cables, but with an added shield. The price was 30% lower than flexible PUR-shielded alternatives, while still offering sufficient mechanical resistance for fixed installation inside cabinets. The CE marking aligned with the customer's own approval process, eliminating the need for additional certification work.

How Was the Implementation Carried Out?

The project took six weeks. First, the engineering team mapped every signal circuit in the panel and identified 14 noise-sensitive paths. Next, these circuits were rewired with the LiYCY CE cable, terminating the braid shield at the cabinet ground bar using shielded cable glands. Service loops and strain reliefs were added for moving parts, and signal cables were separated from power cables by at least 50 mm. One critical rule was to ground the shield at only one end to avoid ground loops. During commissioning, the team found that some sensor connectors did not make full contact with the shield, causing residual noise. The problem was solved by using crimped ferrules and conductive gaskets on panel connectors. A trial on one machine line showed an immediate 30% drop in false triggers.

What Quantifiable Results Were Achieved?

After full deployment across the entire product range, the company recorded these improvements:

• Signal-related faults decreased by 42% across all machines.
• Downtime caused by electrical interference fell from 3.5 hours per week to 1.1 hours per week, a 68% reduction.
• Scrap rate due to false positioning cycles dropped from 1.8% to 0.7%.
• Commissioning time for new machines was reduced by 15% because fault-finding time shrank.
• Customer rejections at installation sites decreased by 37% in the following year.

The plant also passed an unannounced EMC audit without non-conformities, and the team was able to increase machine speed by 8% because the control system no longer had to wait for erroneous signals.

What Did the Client Say?

“We replaced all signal wiring with LiYCY CE and the noise problems disappeared. It wasn’t the shield; it was the consistent quality of the cable and the easy termination. Our machines now pass EMC tests on the first run.” — Electrical Engineering Manager.

What Lessons and Recommendations Can Be Shared?

• Invest in a properly shielded cable specification from the beginning. Relying on unscreened wire to save money leads to expensive troubleshooting and rework in the field.
• Terminate the braid correctly. A shielded cable is only effective if the shield has a low-impedance connection to the ground bar at one end.
• Keep signal and power cables in separate trays. The 50 mm separation rule proved more effective than any ferrite bead.
• If the project were repeated, the team would use a foil-and-braid double-shield cable for the most sensitive encoder lines instead of a separate cable type. Having singi-cable supply sample lengths for rapid prototyping accelerated the validation process.

References

• EN 50525 Series: Electric cables — Low volt-level energy cables of rated volt-levels up to 450/750 V. This series defines construction and performance requirements for PVC-insulated control cables, including LiYCY types.
• UL 758: Appliance Wiring Material (AWM). For customers exporting to North America, an equivalent UL-listed shielded cable may be required; the same cable design principles apply.