If you’ve ever walked through a manufacturing plant, you’ve probably seen rows of cables snaking between PLCs, motor drives, sensors, and HMIs—most of those are industrial control cables, and they don’t just happen. When I started my industrial control cable supply business 12 years ago, I used to think raw materials were just “metal and plastic.” Back then, a customer would send a spec sheet with vague requirements, and I’d grab whatever wire I had in stock. After a few callbacks where cables failed because I skipped small-but-critical material choices, I learned that every raw material is non-negotiable for reliability. Today, I want to break down exactly what goes into making these cables, why each material matters, and how my team uses these components to build the products my customers trust—like our Multicore Control Cables, Shielded Multicore Control Cable, Flexible Control Cable, and Armored Control Cables.
First, let’s start with the core of every industrial control cable: the conductor. This is the part that carries electrical signals, whether that’s a tiny 24V signal to a sensor or a small power draw to a limit switch. Most of the industrial control cables my customers use rely on copper, and not just any copper—high-purity annealed copper. Annealed copper is heated and then slowly cooled, which makes it more flexible and easier to work with than hard copper. The purity is key because even a tiny amount of iron or aluminum impurities can raise electrical resistance, leading to signal loss or overheating in long cable runs. For specialty applications, like cold storage plants where temperatures drop well below freezing, we sometimes use tin-plated copper conductors. The tin coating prevents oxidation from moisture in cold, humid environments, which is a common failure point for standard copper. I remember a customer in a food processing plant tried to save a few bucks by buying cables with less-pure copper a few years back; within six months, 150 feet of cable had corroded through condensate, shutting down their packaging line for 12 hours. That’s when I doubled down on using only 99.99% pure annealed copper for all our conductor cores—no shortcuts.
Next, we have the insulation that wraps around each individual conductor. This isn’t just plastic thrown on to keep wires from touching; it has to resist extreme temperatures, chemicals, oil, and UV light, depending on the application. The two most common insulations for industrial control cables are PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene). PVC is the workhorse, great for general-purpose indoor use like assembly lines or control cabinets. It’s flexible, cheap, and resists most mild chemicals, which makes it perfect for our standard Multicore Control Cables that run inside factory walls or between stationary equipment. But PVC has a downside: it can’t handle temperatures above 105°C for long, and it gives off toxic fumes when burned, which is a hazard in enclosed spaces. That’s where XLPE comes in. XLPE is cross-linked through a chemical or thermal process that turns its molecular structure into a rigid, heat-resistant network. It can handle temperatures up to 150°C, resists harsh industrial chemicals like hydraulic fluid, and doesn’t release toxic fumes when burned. We use XLPE for our Shielded Multicore Control Cable that runs near high-voltage power lines, where heat buildup is a risk, or for cables used in outdoor settings where UV exposure would break down PVC over time. We also use a newer insulation material, TPE (thermoplastic elastomer), for our Flexible Control Cable. TPE is softer and more pliable than PVC or XLPE, so it can bend thousands of times without cracking—perfect for cables on robotic arms or moving conveyor belts that flex constantly. I once tested a batch of TPE-insulated cables by bending them 10,000 times at a 90-degree angle; only two of 50 failed, compared to 18 of 50 with PVC-insulated flexible cables. That’s why we don’t cut corners on TPE for our flexible lines.
Once the individual conductors are insulated, they need to be grouped together into a core bundle, and that’s where jacketing materials come in. The jacket is the outer layer that protects the entire core from physical damage, moisture, and harsh environments. Again, the choice depends on where the cable is going. Standard PVC jackets work for indoor general use, but when cables are exposed to oil, grease, or mechanical abrasion—like on a factory floor where forklifts occasionally drag cables—we use polyurethane (PUR) jackets. PUR is far more resistant to abrasion than PVC, with a tensile strength 2-3 times higher, so it can handle being dragged across concrete or knocked by heavy equipment. For outdoor applications, we use hybrid jacket materials that combine the flexibility of TPE with UV and moisture resistance, so cables don’t crack or degrade after years in the sun. The jacket also has to be durable enough for installation—when we ship cables to a customer, our team sometimes has to pull 500-foot runs through tight conduits, and a flimsy jacket would tear during installation. I’ve had more than one new installer tell me our jackets are tougher than the ones they used with other suppliers, which saves them time and money on reworks.
Now, a critical component I almost skipped at first: shielding. Industrial plants are full of electrical noise—from motor drives, VFDs, welding equipment, and even radio signals. That noise can interfere with the weak control signals in our cables, leading to error codes, sensor failures, or even machine downtime. So most industrial control cables have a shield layer between the individual conductor cores and the outer jacket. The most common shield is a copper foil shield, which is a thin layer of copper wrapped around the core bundle, sometimes with a drain wire to ground the shield. For high-noise environments, like near large variable frequency drives, we use a braided copper shield. Braided shields are made of interwoven copper strands, which provide better mechanical protection than foil and more consistent shielding, even if the cable is bent. That’s why our Shielded Multicore Control Cable uses a combination: a foil shield for consistent high-frequency noise protection and a braided shield for mechanical durability. We also have a special shielded cable for high-voltage environments that adds a aluminum-mylar laminate shield, which blocks lower-frequency noise that copper alone can miss. I learned the importance of proper shielding early on when a customer’s conveyor belt would randomly stop because of noise from a nearby welding machine. They had used an unshielded cable, and adding our Shielded Multicore Control Cable fixed the issue immediately—no more unplanned stops during their overnight production runs.
For the toughest environments, like steel mills, mining operations, or outdoor installations where cables might be run through soil or exposed to heavy impact, we add armor to the cable. Armored control cables have a metal layer around the core bundle (or between the core and the outer jacket) to protect against physical damage, rodents, and even small punctures from rocks or debris. The most common armor material is steel: either a single steel tape wrapped around the core (for general armor) or a braided steel wire (for higher impact resistance). Our Armored Control Cables use a galvanized steel tape armor, which resists rust and corrosion better than bare steel. We also offer optional lead armor for underground installations, where the cable might be exposed to soil moisture that would corrode regular steel. I once had a steel mill customer tell me a competitor’s armored cables failed in just two years because their armor was made of low-grade steel that rusted through, leaving the core exposed to water. Our galvanized armor has lasted them seven years so far with no issues, which is why they now buy all their control cables from us.
There are also a few “hidden” raw materials that don’t get as much attention but are just as important. First is the core separator, which is a thin plastic layer that keeps individual insulated conductors from touching each other inside the cable bundle. If two conductors touch, it causes a short circuit, which can fry a PLC or a sensor. We use polyester film separators for most cables because they’re thin, flexible, and non-conductive, so they don’t take up extra space or add weight to the cable. Another hidden material is the filler, which is what fills the gaps between the conductors in the core bundle. Filler is usually made of polypropylene yarn or rubber, and its job is to keep the core bundle round, which makes the cable easier to pull through conduits and protects the conductors from shifting when the cable is bent. If there’s not enough filler, the core bundle can flatten over time, leading to kinks or broken conductors. I’ve seen this happen with cheap cables that use no filler at all—after a few months of bending, the core is lopsided, and one conductor breaks from constant stress.
One thing I’ve noticed in my 12 years in this business is that customers often undervalue the raw material choices because they only look at the upfront cost. A cable made with lower-purity copper, PVC insulation, and no shielding might cost 15% less, but if it fails every six months, the downtime cost—lost production, repair labor, emergency shipping—adds up to way more than the initial savings. Last year, a automotive assembly plant switched to a cheaper control cable supplier to save money, and they had 17 unplanned shutdowns over nine months, costing them an estimated $2.1 million in lost production. When they switched back to our cables, we worked with them to adjust our material specs slightly to fit their budget, and they’ve had zero shutdowns related to control cables since. That’s why I always tell new customers that the raw materials aren’t just components—they’re an investment in uptime.
Now, how do we turn all these raw materials into finished industrial control cables? The process starts with stranding: taking individual copper wires and twisting them together to make a solid conductor (or a strand of conductors, depending on flexibility needs). We can adjust the stranding count—more strands mean more flexibility, which is why our Flexible Control Cable has 37 strands per conductor, compared to 7 strands in our standard Multicore Control Cables. Next, we extrude the insulation and jacket: the copper conductor goes through an extruder machine that melts the insulation material (like PVC or XLPE) and wraps it tightly around the conductor at high speed. Once insulated, the conductors are grouped with separators, fillers, shielding, and armor, then run through another extruder to add the outer jacket. Finally, we test every batch: we do continuity tests to make sure no conductors are broken, insulation resistance tests to confirm no short circuits, and voltage tests to ensure the cable can handle the required voltage without breaking down. We also send sample cables to independent labs for third-party testing for oil resistance, UV resistance, and temperature ratings, so we can back up every spec we give customers.
At the end of the day, the raw materials for industrial control cables are more than just generic metals and plastics—they’re specialized components chosen for a specific job. Whether a customer needs a standard cable for a control cabinet, a flexible cable for a robot, a shielded cable to block noise near a VFD, or an armored cable for a steel mill, the right raw materials make all the difference. If you’re in the market for industrial control cables and want to talk about which materials are right for your application, feel free to reach out—we can walk through specs, show you test data, and make sure you get a cable that lasts.
References
- Industrial Control Cables: Materials and Selection Guide, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2021
- "Performance of Jacketing Materials for Industrial Cables," Cable Technology Association Annual Report, 2022
- Shielding Effectiveness for Low-Voltage Control Cables, National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), 2020
- "Flexible Control Cable Design for Dynamic Applications," Robotics Industry Association Technical Paper, 2021
- Armored Cable Corrosion Resistance Standards, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 1581, 2023
