Ty-Rap® detectable cable ties help mitigate contamination risks in the food & beverage sector

Throughout its history, ABB has pioneered technologies that shape the world around us from the generation of power to clever innovations to make it easier for customers to focus on their core business. It is an ABB company which invented the Ty-Rap® cable tie in 1958. A humble product that is all around us, but that continues to be developed to meet a range of specific customer needs.

Our Ty-Rap cable ties were designed to perform, with having a unique “Grip of Steel” – a non magnetic stainless steel locking barb that firmly anchors inside the tie head and ensures a strong and long lasting fastening under demanding conditions. The surface is ribbed and stippled to prevent the ties from slipping around and along the bundle vibration conditions and external shock.  Today Thomas & Betts offers more than 500 types of cable tie and a range of accessories and tools, but the innovation continues – from flame retardant products developed for the rail industry to a solution for the food & beverage industry, the detectable tie rap, the focus is on supporting customers with very specific needs.

Franklin Sullivan, Senior Vice President Global Product Management, Marketing & Sales, Thomas & Betts, said: “We are proud of the heritage of the Ty-Rap® and continue to focus on innovation to meet a wide range of application requirements.  We have had particular success with our Detectable Ty-Rap®, which supports our food & beverage customers with their efforts to mitigate the risk of product contamination and potentially product recalls or even worse brand reputation damage. It enables customers to put in place a compliant HACCP system (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) and compliancy with  food safety legislation, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

“The Ty-Rap® Detectable Cable Tie is designed to be detected easily by metal detectors, X-ray equipment and vision detection systems.  Made of polymeric material that contains additives to increase the cable ties’ magnetism and density, they can be picked up by metal detectors and X-ray equipment. Additionally, the cable tie’s bright blue color makes it stand out, which is vital in food processing applications. When made of polypropylene, these cable ties have buoyancy for visual detection in liquid processing applications.”

One example of cable ties being used in food and beverage processing is a baked goods manufacturer in the State of New York. The facility’s head of electrical maintenance was faced with making changes in response to more stringent regulations due to a wave of contamination issues in the food & beverage industry generally.

The plant now uses them throughout its facility, not only to bundle electrical cable, but also to mount signage. For example, when the plant needed to segregate equipment used to process products with ingredients that can be allergens, such as peanut butter, detectable cable ties are used to post signs that indicate which equipment has been segregated for use with these ingredients.

The plant has used thousands of detectable cable ties in the last several years and they have proven to be easier to use than conventional or stainless steel cable ties. The head of electrical maintenance has found that switching to detectable cable ties has provided “peace of mind”.