St. Louis, Missouri-based Berco Tableworks, Ltd., a leading table manufacturer, has developed an innovative cable management system that includes an aluminum containment vessel and access door extruded by Hydro Aluminum.

“This container is not just a shoe box to hold wires,” said John Sassen, purchasing manager for Berco. The system allows Berco’s customers to specify wiring options that include electrical outlets. Customers also can separate data harnesses from the electrical wiring.

Berco manufactures tables for the contract furniture industry. They specialize in tables designed by architects, designers and facilities managers that are sold to the end user through dealers. You can find Berco tables in offices, schools, government facilities, restaurants and cafeterias.

Aluminum extrusion: The right choice

Why choose an aluminum extrusion over plastic or other materials for the cable management system? For Berco, the answer was obvious.

“We chose to go with an aluminum container for several reasons,” said Sassen. “Aluminum gives us the flexibility to attach optional features, such as the additional electrical outlets.”

Berco’s cable management system is installed under the tabletop. This is not always convenient, especially when the table is placed up against a wall or when tables are backed up to each other.

“With an aluminum extrusion, we can install an access door on top so that it opens like a car trunk. That way the user doesn’t have to crawl under the table,” said Sassen.

“Using an aluminum extrusion also allows us to mount the container at the end of the table when that configuration is more convenient for the customer,” said Sassen. “We powder coat our tables giving customers 60 colors to choose from so they can match their other furniture. If we were using plastic, we’d have to limit the color selection to the old Ford concept of ‘any color you want as long as it’s black,’ ” said Sassen.

Extruding to meet tight tolerances

The Berco aluminum containment vessel is extruded at Hydro Aluminum's North Liberty, Indiana plant. “It’s a complicated shape that must be produced to tight tolerances,” said Larry Platz, die and engineering manager at North Liberty. For example, the distance between the screw boss centerlines has to be accurate to within ±0.015 in.

Another challenge is holding the contour to match the end cap. This joint is highly visible and requires a tight fit for proper aesthetics.

“We run the parts on our 10-inch and 7-inch presses,” said Platz. “Strict cutting tolerances are achieved on our cut-to-length line.”

Beating the competition with aluminum extrusions

According to John Sassen, an effective cable management system has to do three things well:

• Provide storage space
• Bring data cables and electrical wiring to the table
• Meet the customer’s design criteria better than the competition’s product

“We want to be user-friendly, so the customer has fun doing business with Berco. We accomplish this by listening. It may also involve taking a unique approach such as redesigning a component to make it easier for the customer to put a table up against a wall or to put them back-to-back,” said Sassen.

“Aluminum extrusion gives us the opportunity to bring solutions to the market for the benefit of the customer. We’re not meeting our needs with aluminum extrusion, we’re meeting our customer’s needs.”