HellermannTyton:
A helping hand around wires and cables Wherever power flows along a wire or data is transmitted along a fibre optic cable, a HellermannTyton product is never far away. From humble beginnings 83 years ago in Germany, the company has become one of the leading global suppliers of products used to fasten, fix, connect, insulate, protect and identify electrical and digital cabling. TEXT: JAMES HILL I PHOTOS: HELLERMANNTYTON
Paul Hellermann probably did not imagine just how big his 1935 Hamburg startup would grow. The company still sells rubber grommets and cable binding tools like the ones he invented to protect cable sheaths from damage. But the product portfolio is now considerably broader. HellermannTyton supplies thousands of items used to route, fasten, protect and mark the wiring in vehicles, machinery and buildings. The company is present in 38 countries and operates 15 world-class manufacturing facilities. An Anglo-German success story In 1937 Hellermann extended his business to the UK in a joint venture with Jack Bowthorpe - who was later awarded 78 | Issue 61 | April 2018
a CBE for his service to British industry. As wiring became more complicated, Bowthorpe was one of the first people to realise that the colour of cable sleeving and a numeric system could be used to identify their purpose. With the Hellermann Binding System and cable markers in hand, Hellermann Electric Ltd. and a string of Bowthorpe companies were ideally placed to serve the wiring needs of the booming post-war aerospace industry. Before his death in 1958, Hellermann sold his original company and shares in the British partnership to Bowthorpe, under whose leadership the company was quick to adopt plastic injection moulding and extrusion technology. It
was precisely the right time to capitalise on the advent of the plastic cable tie. Automatic bundling wins acclaim The cable tie business really took off in the 1960s. The aptly named Heinrich Kabel, head of product development at the German site, invented the continuous strap bundling system in 1965. His patented method was dubbed the ‘Tyton System’ which was an immediate hit with cable harness makers worldwide. Cables could now be bundled using a handheld pistol that looped a strap through a plastic buckle and pulled it tight before cutting it off. Riding the wave of industrial interest in Tyton, the company embarked on a round of unprecedented international growth. The group incorporated the name when it rebranded under HellermannTyton in 1999. Much more than just cables ties The Tyton System has since evolved into the Autotool 2000 CPK, an electrically operated automatic bundling system which