Dr. Horace Pops, an industry guru/presenter on the causes of wire breaks and fines, has continued to share his expertise as a consultant. The Past WAI President (1992-93) believes the industry has not fared well the last few years, and that there is more than one reason why. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

I wanted to share my thoughts in regards to the technical status of the wire and cable industry. As you might have guessed, I’m concerned, although the picture is not bleak. I was pleased to read about global R&D activity by the industry in the November 2022 issue of Wire Journal. Yet as an active consultant since 2005, I look at the overall industry and I see problems.

It’s not surprising that my activity has almost shut down completely since the onset of the Covid pandemic. I haven’t lost my desire or ability to travel, but overall, personnel are traveling to and from plants less. I may not be physically at plants, but I keep in touch with people, and I hear that many of these plants have the same processing and quality issues that occurred just a few years ago. It’s easy to cite Covid, but I believe what is going on predates that: many companies just do not have personnel with sufficient tenure or knowledge to solve these issues.

It appears that, outside of companies like Southwire and Prysmian, relatively few people with a STEM background are now employed in the wire and cable industry. I’m convinced that the percentage of employees at most wire and cable companies with a solid knowledge base has continued to decrease, and it only gets worse as more veteran employees retire. At the same time, more technical or R&D corporate facilities have either been reduced in size or even eliminated to cut overall costs. You don’t have to have a PhD to know that that is a bad combination. The result is that there are far more common production problems, such as wire breaks, excessive amounts of wire drawing fines, poor surface finish, and internal defects within castings and wires. The origin for those are well understood. They shouldn’t be happening, but they do.

There’s another contributing factor, and it’s related to hiring. Companies may be able to hire young people to fill key positions, such as engineers, but often they leave after just a few years of service because they can get higher salaries in other fields. It makes it hard to groom someone to get beyond the early stages where they are learning to be the ones who can be depended on.

Consequently, many plants in our industry do not have employees with a strong enough background to help solve the aforementioned quality issues. Although global in nature, this problem seems to be worse in North America. And I’m sorry to add to my list of perceived woes, but I think another trend that overall has made things worse is that many face-to-face conferences and meetings for technological societies have been replaced with virtual activities. There is less interaction, and while the virtual sessions may be easier to attend, the learning experience just does not have the same sense of depth. Finally, I see fewer technical articles being prepared and presented because many companies see little benefit.

So what does all of this mean? My above comments could be seen as what today is called a “soft quit” or “quit quitting.” Per Google, “Employee disengagement occurs when an employee backs off from their typical or expected levels of productivity. They quit going above and beyond in their role. Instead, many employees are prioritizing a better work-life balance by refusing to do extra work beyond their defined job descriptions.”

Albert Einstein once said, “The source of knowledge is experience.” When young employees are already more inclined to not stay in the same job—any job—for a long time, the industry needs to find a way of making the field a place where it can foster growth to that level.

Editor’s Note:
This occasional section will present information and perspectives in multiple fields by experts from the industry, think-tanks, associations, academia and other sources that provide thoughtful “big picture” analysis. Have an issue you’d like to discuss? Send the details to WJI at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – IEWC has been named a “2023 Top Workplaces USA” award-winner. This is the second consecutive year that IEWC has been recognized with the Top Workplaces honor. In 2022, IEWC received its first Top Workplaces award as a regional winner. For 2023, IEWC has been recognized as a national winner.

The Top Workplaces honors are awarded by Energage, a company that specializes in surveying employee engagement. The awards are given to those companies that demonstrate “exceptional workplace cultures.” The global survey allows US-based companies to measure their performance against other companies, and awards are given for regional, national, and market-specific categories.

IEWC performs this annual survey for its 600+ global employees, measuring employee engagement and assessing various aspects of IEWC’s culture. The employee feedback is used to identify and ultimately address areas where IEWC can continue to improve as a company. It’s that commitment to continuous improvement which allows IEWC to build upon its successful culture.

“The fact that we are being recognized in two consecutive years, and that we’re being recognized on a national level, is something all of us at IEWC can be very proud of,” said Brian Hinton, Chief Human Resources Officer at IEWC. “Our wonderful culture is built on a foundation of strong values, none of which is possible without an incredibly engaged workforce. The IEWC team is thrilled to be recognized once again as a “Top Workplaces” winner.

 “The companies recognized as Top Workplaces have high performance, people-first cultures,” said Greg Barnett, Ph.D., Chief People Scientist at Energage. “These companies are successful because they put their people at the center of all they do. By prioritizing the employee experience, they are known to out-produce, out-innovate, and out-deliver the competition.”

About IEWC - (www.iewc.com)

IEWC is a global distributor of wire and cable products, manufacturer of custom fiber assemblies, and provider of value-add solutions that advance a connected world. As a partner to thousands of companies in a wide array of manufacturing and infrastructure industries, IEWC has been an entrusted partner supporting customer supply chain, logistics and product quality initiatives for 60 years. IEWC is an employee-owned company with nearly 30 locations in seven countries, serving customers in almost 100 countries. Having grown organically and through acquisition during its 60-year history, today IEWC spans the globe with divisions in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe (under the Premier Cables brand) and serves the telecommunications industry under the Cablcon brand.

Lars Fagerholm, President of the group, states, "Maillefer continues to commit to and demonstrate sustainable value in how we operate and in the performance of our technology. We continuously drive our operations toward more sustainable processes, fully utilize 100 % green energy resources, and invest in our organization and the way of working to meet sustainable and best ethical values. With a leading technology portfolio and our House of Experts commitment, we support our customers as they strive to make the world more sustainable. Our technology portfolio stands for long-lasting performance. It is always focused on optimal material utilization, waste management, and high-quality end-product production. We are committed to continuously drive our technology to the next level, and we implement sustainability as a top criteria in our R&D pipeline activities. We are committed to staying on the path. ... We are happy to receive recognition for the environmental management systems we've put in. The ISO 14001:2015 certificate shows our commitment to stay on the path of sustainability."

WAI is returning to its technical mission, this year offering two international technical conferences (ITC): one in Italy and the other in Mexico. For each event, WAI has issued a Call for Papers.

Wire & Cable Milan 2023 will be held Oct. 16, 2023, at the Palazzo Giureconsulti in Milan, Italy. The event is being put on with ACIMAF, the Italian wire machinery association, led by President Ferruccio Bellina, a long-time supporter of such efforts. WAI last held an event in Italy in Verona in 2019, with other events there in Milan (2013), Bologna (2007) and Stresa (2003).

WAI’s Mexico ITC will be held Nov. 13-15, 2023, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, in Monterrey, Mexico. It was last held at the same location in 2016, at which time it drew 190 participants. The WAI had held two prior ITCs in Monterrey (2008 and 2010), and one in Querétaro (2004). At all those events, WAI Past President Antonio Ayala served as a key volunteer and organizer.

For both events, the Association is seeking presentations on technical subjects, but also on topics such as sustainability, workforce issues, operating best practices or general business influences in the wire and cable industry.

For Milan, the abstract deadline is Feb. 28. If that date is a concern, authors can contact WAI staff for a possible extension. Acceptance notifications will be sent March 31, and the manuscript deadline is July 31.

For Monterey, the abstract deadline is April 17. Notification will be made by May 22, and the manuscript deadline is Oct. 1. The program will include a presentation about market conditions in Mexico, Central America and South America.

WAI to hold annual meeting at Interwire

At Interwire 2023, the Wire Association International will hold its annual meeting, a requirement of the Association’s bylaws.

WAI President Kurt Breischaft will preside over the meeting in the morning session on Tuesday, May 9. It will follow the Keynote presentation by Srinivas Siripurapu, the Chief Innovation Officer and R&D Officer for Prysmian.

The concise meeting will include a review of past and current activities, including the development of additional training education resources for the industry. The session will also include presentation of awards.

Following the annual meeting, at 10 am there will be a session on Industry 4.0, followed by a workforce session. Of note, the exhibit floor will also open at 10 am, and remain so through 5 pm, and again on Wednesday.