Partnering with Techflex to Provide Cable Sleeving Solutions

Written By: Kassie Teagarden, Senior Content Marketing Specialist, LAPP Tannehill

LAPP Tannehill interviews manufacturing partner Techflex to discuss cable sleeving solutions and their various applications and industries.

As a trusted Techflex distributor, LAPP Tannehill provides Techflex cable sleeving management products and value-added services.

We’ve interviewed Steve Botarelli, Vice President & Sales Manager at Techflex and Ryan Bieber, Technical Sales Consultant at Techflex to discuss their solutions and why you may want to consider cable sleeving for your next project.

For more information on EV sleeving market solutions, read our article, Techflex Award-Winning Sleeving Solutions for Electrification.

What is cable sleeving and when would I use it?

Cable sleeving is a braided or woven product that is made of various fabrics or monofilaments that cover wires, cables, and hoses from abrasion, extreme temperatures, and UV. There are many uses for sleeving in basic cable management and harnessing any types of wiring one could have. End users can use sleeving for thousands of different applications.

What should everyone know about Techflex?

Techflex is a highly innovative, family-owned company. We’re constantly coming up with custom solutions for various use cases. There are so many niche solutions that we offer that fit a specific requirement for an application – wherever there is wired cable, we try to design something that we anticipate our customers will need. So, you never know what’s going to take off.

And although we’re known for our sleeving solutions, we also have tubing, tape, insulation, and other tools and accessories.

Where is Techflex located, and how easily can I shop for Techflex products from LAPP Tannehill?

Techflex is located on the east coast at 104 Demarest Road in Sparta, New Jersey. This is where we’ve been at for the last 10 years or so, and before that we were a mile down the road at a smaller facility. The original location still exists and is used as a warehouse space as well as a few other properties in Sparta, but we relocated our headquarters to our current facility because we have matured and grown as a company over the years.

Techflex also has a manufacturing facility in Laredo, Texas which is very close to LAPP Tannehill’s Houston, Texas location – this proximity in relation to our partnership allows for faster lead times, more available inventory, and cuts down on shipping charges for anyone purchasing Techflex products from LAPP Tannehill in the western and southern parts of the U.S. We all know shipping charges are incredible these days, so any alleviation to cost is always helpful.

If you’re purchasing through LAPP Tannehill, as a trusted Techflex distributor – LAPP Tannehill has an ecommerce site that allows you to request quotes, place orders, track real-time shipping info, view pricing, order on account terms or credit card, and ship with your preferred carrier. If your project requires reoccurring orders, you can easily re-order on the LAPP Tannehill website when logged in.

How do I know if I need expandable sleeving or wrappable sleeving?

Techflex offers a wide variety of expandable sleeving and wrappable sleeving. Expandable cable sleeving conforms to fit comfortably to the tubular shape and path of any wire and cable whereas the lateral split of wrappable sleeving allows the tube to open up for adjustable bundling requirements.

If your cables are already connected you may find it easier to install wrappable sleeving because sometimes it’s hard to feed cables through a tubular sleeve. And although we see tubular expandable sleeving being purchased more, most of our products are available in tubular format because it’s just not possible to design and develop a wrappable version.

Let’s take our popular Techflex Flexo® Rodent Resistant (RRN) Expandable Sleeving for example. This product is tubular and works for a lot of applications, but our customers have told us that they are also interested in a wrappable version of the same product. I can’t tell you how many times our customers come to us and tell us they love this product, but they can’t slide it over their application. They tell us they need to wrap it. We listen to our customers, so that's our hint at what may be coming next.

Who is the end user of cable sleeving solutions and what industries are they in?

A lot of our end users are enthusiasts in the automotive industry using cable sleeving solutions in both assembly and aftermarket applications. In the aerospace industry, enterprise companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Airbus all use our sleeving to protect hoses, wire, and cables from extreme temperatures and flames. Other typical end users are in industrial, military, audio/video, solar, and EV.

Black cable sleeving is the most popular color sleeving aside from auto enthusiasts who like to buy kits, color code, and match their equipment. While orange cable sleeving has become popular recently with EV applications.

What LAPP Tannehill value-added services can be paired with Techflex products?

One of the best value-added services that you can leverage from LAPP Tannehill with the purchase of any Techflex product is cutting to length.

LAPP Tannehill is a distributor for a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing facility in Minnesota that produces fluid management technology that regularly needs high volumes Techflex cable sleeving cut to lengths of 6 feet.

LAPP Tannehill stocks bulk sleeving from Techflex that can be cut to the length of your choosing so that you can also leverage this value-add for your own project and/or specifications.

What pain points do you hear the most from your customers and what are they looking to solve?

Most end users of our products are looking to solve their problems from an abrasion or high temperature standpoint. Those that are looking for abrasion resistant sleeving want to avoid any chafing from continuous movement of the cable, and they need a barrier to protect that cable. Those looking for high-temperature resistant sleeving are looking for protection from weather, flames, or other harsh conditions in the cable’s environment.

What are your top-selling, most popular products per customer requirements/applications?

For abrasion: Dura Wrap (DWN), Gorilla Sleeve® (NHN), Flexo® Super Duty (SDN)

For high temp: Insultherm® (FGN), Insultherm® Tru-Fit (FGL), ThermaShield® T6 (T6F), ThermaShield® Tube (TTN), FireFlex® (FIN)

For cable management: Flexo® F6 (F6N), F6® Woven Wrap (F6W), Clean Cut® (CCP)

For UV: Flexo® F6 (F6N), Foam Protection Wrap (FPW)

For electrical insulation: FR Silicone Flex Glass® (SFA/SFC), Acrylic Flex Glass® (AGA/AGC)

What are your top-selling, most popular products per industry?

Industrial: Dura Wrap (DWN), Flexo® Heavy Wall (HWN), Gorilla Sleeve® (NHN), Dura Flex® (DFN), Dura Flex® Pro (DPN), Flexo® Super Duty (SDN)

Automotive: Flexo® F6® (F6N), F6® Woven Wrap (F6W), Insultherm (FGN), FireFlex (FIN), Fabric HS (H2F), ThermaShield T6 (T6F), ThermaShield Tube (TTN)

EV: Flexo® F6® (F6N), F6® Battle Wrap (B6W), Gorilla Sleeve® (NHN), Battle Braid® (BBN)

A/V: Clean Cut® (CCP), F6 (F6N), Flexo® Wrap (FWN)

What are the newest products from Techflex and why should consumers know about them?

F6® Battle Wrap (B6W)
The F6® Battle Wrap won the SEMA Global Media Award, a program that recognizes manufacturers who produce unique specialty products for the automotive market. This heavy-duty, cut-resistant wrappable sleeving was designed to protect wire and cable from heavy impact and punctures. The F6® Battle Wrap can be used in brake lines and wire harnesses exposed to extreme temperatures and is used in EV applications where cable protection and easy identification is required.

>> Read more about Techflex award-winning EV solutions

Flexo® PET Plus (PTP)
This cost-efficient expandable sleeving is resistant to chemicals, UV, and abrasion and can be used in electronics, automotive, marine, and industrial applications. Flexo® PET Plus has a fray-resistant resin coating which easily cuts with scissors for easy installation (no hot knife required).

Flexo® FR Plus (FRP)
The Flexo® FR Plus is an expandable sleeving for electronic and high-tech applications with the same fray-resistant resin coating used in Flexo® PET Plus to cut easily with ordinary scissors. It also has the added benefit of being flame-resistant and complies with railway standards.

If you’re looking for sleeving products, fill out the form with your requirements and a LAPP Tannehill representative will reach out to help you find what you need.