Electrical Industry Article

Electrical contracting is, by its nature, a bespoke profession – that is, every installation features its own unique design quirks requiring customization. At the same time, though, contractors also now are often dealing with the need to do more with fewer workers. As a result, prefabrication is becoming a bigger part of many companies’ operations. Pre-assembling boxes, cutting cable to length and organizing necessary connectors and other fittings for individual installations in a warehouse or shop can offer both contractors and their clients a range of advantages.

Higher efficiency at the jobsite is one of the biggest benefits of this approach, especially for large, repetitive projects like hotels and office buildings. The simple move of kitting up individual outlet boxes with their respective fittings, for example, means installers need to spend less time locating and opening packaging for connectors and screws. As a result, fewer workers are needed to get a job done within possibly tight customer deadlines.

Quality control also can benefit by pre-assembling components in a controlled and supervised environment, where each prefabricated system can be inspected and tested. Bringing this work in-house also can provide good training opportunities for newer electricians to build their installation skills the right way before going out into the field.

Packaging assemblies with fittings that support easier installation adds to the efficiency prefabrication can offer. These include cable connectors that simply snap into place, instead of requiring screws or other separate fasteners that are time consuming to install – and easy to lose track of. These connectors are available to work with a wide variety of metallic and non-metallic cables and in curved and angled designs to meet every installation need.