Madison Express, the largest wholly Australian owned distributor of non-power cabling products, has further expanded its portfolio, signing a partnership deal with LEONI. National Program Manager Alex Price explains the benefits to the industry.
Cabling systems play a critical role in the design and operation of control, alarm, and communications systems in such diversified areas as building automation, transport systems and underground or tunnel infrastructures.
To support these major projects, Madison Express has recently signed a distribution agreement with LEONI India, expanding on its already impressive armoury of fibre optic, structured cabling, industrial, security and transport cables.
From a small wire factory in the Fanconia region of Bavaria, today the LEONI group of companies generates over €4 billion ($6.24 billion) in annual sales and employs nearly 100,000 staff.
Madison Express has already seen the benefit of adding the LEONI product range to its portfolio, as Alex Price, National Program Manager at Madison Express explains.
“The Leoni agreement creates a significant expansion in our range of cables. Our own Garland brand has been focused on standard local designs but as we receive more and more requests for cables to international standards, we decided to add the famous LEONI brand to our portfolio to offer these options,” Price says.
Madison Express was recently awarded with the supply of optical fibre and communications cables for Sydney’s Rozelle Interchange Project – The new underground motorway interchange in Sydney’s Inner West that is the final stage of the WestConnex project.
“This significant win includes over 100 kilometres of LEONI fire-rated instrumentation cables,” Price says.
A versatile cable range
The LEONI ICON range supplied by Madison Express covers a wide range of cable designs that utilise various compounds and materials to repel adverse chemicals, offer flame retardancy and circuit integrity.
The ICON Base instrumentation cables, for example, are suitable for all standard industrial applications, while the ICON Flex series comprise of flexible control cables for all kinds of control applications of machines and tools. The LEONI Power and Control cables are low-voltage cables suitable for electricity supply and control in public networks and industrial plants from 300 volts up to 0.6/1KV.
For Madison Express, the breadth of LEONI’s spectrum of products is matched by the markets and segments they supply to, Price says.
“Industries such as oil and gas require cables that can resist the impact of oil and chemical spills. The pharmaceutical industry often requires cables with treated jackets that do not encourage bacterial growth. Within the infrastructure sector, circuit integrity, robustness, and an ability to resist continuous abrasion is critical. This is where the versatility of the ICON range allows us to offer them for various environments, be it harsh or standard environments,” Price says.
Customised designs
But the distribution agreement between Madison Express and LEONI is not limited to LEONI’s existing ICON range, Price explains.
“The beauty of our agreement with LEONI is that it allows us to order customised cable variants for our customers,” he says. “Most major infrastructure and transport projects have unique requirements and standard products don’t normally fit the bill. Our arrangement with LEONI allows us to custom design and build cables for these installations using all the knowledge and expertise that over 100 years in the cable industry brings to the table.”
Being located in the Asian region also gives Madison Express the benefit of a faster delivery timeframe on these custom cables when compared with European or North American manufactured products, Price adds.
“The early successes we have had gives us a very positive feeling that the agreement between Madison and LEONI will increase our ability to service our customers and offer unique solutions to the local market. Our mission is to be front of mind when it comes to cabling for major projects within the region,” he says.
With four major warehouses located around the country, Madison Express is one of the largest wholly Australian owned distributor of non-power cabling products into the Australian market. Their product portfolio covers a wide range of cable including instrumentation cables for the industrial sector, optical fibre and structured cabling for the communications sector, RS-232 and twin core cables for the security sector, and custom designed cables for the transport sector. Brands currently on offer include their own Garland brand, R&M, MOXA and Harman.
The inclusion of LEONI within this portfolio now gives Madison Express one of the most diversified product offerings within the cabling industry.
This article was originally published in the December edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.