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A round up of all of the latest Universeal UK news, tamper-evident security industry updates and product guides to make your supply chain more secure.
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Picture of Top 10 Applications for Metal Cable Seals

Top 10 Applications for Metal Cable Seals

We have put together the Top 10 Use Cases for Cable Security Seals, and explain in each case why cable seals are particularly suited for these types of applications.

Cable security seals are flexible and strong types of security seals popular across all types of industries, including freight and transport, food & pharmaceuticalindustrial and manufacturing and other sectors. We have put together the below Top 10 Use Cases for Cable Security Seals, and explain in each case why cable seals are particularly suited for these types of applications.

 

Top 10 Use Cases for Metal Security Seals

Use Cases of Cable Security SealsIllustration

Road Haulage / Trailer Security

Cable seals are often used to lock through the locking hasps of road trailer doors, as a stronger solution and more tamper-evident solution than easier breaking pull-through or fixed length trailer seals which can be used alternatively.

Our flexiGrip 150M seal is a HMRC Customs accepted seal, and road freight transiting the UK-EU customs borders can utilise customs-accepted cable seals as a cost-effective security seal solution for cross-border road shipments.

cable seals for road haulage

Shipping Containers

ISO17712 High Security Cable seals are strong barrier seals suitable for sealing of shipping containers transiting customs borders. Cable Seals are sometimes preferred to more conventional bolt seals for shipping containers to provide increased security, particularly for high value shipments involved in food/drink and pharmaceutical logistics:

        i.            Extra-long cable seals can seal around the vertical locking bars, which can provide superior security compared to sealing at locking hasps

       ii.            Our specialised double-locking Flexigrip 500MD is a heavy-duty cable seal which provides a double locking mechanism, for increased security shipments.

cable seals for shipping containers

Air Cargo Containers

Air cargo containers are often subject to vibration, knocks and shocks during air transport and ground movements, and as such lower-strength plastic pull-through seals are not often strong enough to provide effective tamper-evident security.

Cable seals provide higher strength security to ensure that seals do not open whilst in transit, providing a full chain of custody of sealed air cargo enclosures from point-to-point.

cable seals for air cargo containers

Rail Cars

Cable seals are ideal for sealing individual rail freight car doors. Our range of cable security seals have rugged design features to ensure chain of custody during rail freight movements.

cable seals for rail cars

Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs)

Light-weight cable seals with smaller apertures, for example 1.5mm cable diameters (100S and 150M Models), are suitable for sealing through apertures in Intermediate Bulk Container outlet points. Cable seals seal IBC’s against unauthorised or illegitimate access and maintains the chain of custody of full and empty IBC’s whilst transiting through the supply chain.

cable seal for intermediate bulk containers

Postal and Mail Sacks and Bags

Cable seals are well-suited as high-strength pull-through security seals, where the application in question demands increased strength or tamper-evident security.

For example, mail sacks might contain particularly sensitive items or cargo requiring the additional strength and tamper-evident protection of cable seals. Cable seals can withstand over 2000KgF of pulling strength force (depending on model) and will not break in transit accidentally.

cable seals for mail sacks

Bulk Tanker Hatches, Manholes and Valves

Chemical and fuel bulk tankers often have multiple points of access, and cable seals are an excellent way to seal these points of access so that legitimate users can maintain an audit and chain of custody of when, how and where tanker contents have been accessed.

cable seals for tankers, hatches

Open Top Barrels and Chemical Drums

Cable seals can provide a strong tamper-evident lock to sealing the metal clasp mechanisms of open top barrels, ensuring drums remain sealed until delivered to customers, or received back to depots etc.

cable seals for drums barrels

Valve Lockout

Cable seals, sometimes known as “car seals” when used in the context of valve lockout applications, can provide a safe and effective way to isolate valves of all kinds, including quarter-turn, 3,4,5-way valves, gate valves, and butterfly valves. Car seals / cable seals can prevent the actuation of equipment, assisting in isolation and inspection programs.

cable seals for valve lockout

Pallets & Crates

Our StrapSecure cable seal and pallet strapping solution is a convenient and cost-effective way to seal the intersection of strapping which can be used to seal pallets and crates being transported through the supply chain. StrapSecure is particularly suited for sealing of APHA agricultural and pharmaceutical consignments, as they provide security on the individual pallet-level.

cable seals for pallets crates

See our full range of cable seals for more information.

Please contact us at [email protected] or +44 (0) 1829 760000 to discuss your cable seals requirements today.

Thursday, November 2, 2023
Picture of A Guide to Cable Security Seals

A Guide to Cable Security Seals

In this article we explore the ‘flexibility of the flexiGrip’ – giving you an in-depth look into our range of metal cable seals used across the world, the benefits of using cable seals for your security, and the wide range of customisation options available to you.

What are Cable Seals?

Cable security seals, also known simply as ‘cable seals’ or wire rope seals, are flexible and strong types of security seals popular across all types of industries, including freight and transport, food and pharmaceuticalindustrial and manufacturing and other sectors.

Cable seals generally consist of a metal or plastic body, with the cable / wire rope permanently cinched or clamped at one side of the body, and with a one-way tamper-evident locking chamber at the other end of the body. The wire rope is inserted into this locking chamber and progressively tightened to suit the application. The seal can only be opened by cutting the cable; our cable seals feature non-preformed cable which frays when cut, preventing re-insertion and providing a clear indication of seal tampering.

 

Why use Cable Seals?

One of the chief benefits of metal cable seals is the combination of the strength and flexibility of the wire cable construction – a cable seal can be tailored in terms of its diameter and length so that it may provide an effective tamper-evident sealing solutions for many applications – from small-scale drums and crates, and all the way through to heavy-duty sealing of shipping containers.

Thinner cable diameters (< 2.5mm diameter cables) are pliable and flexible, and are ideally suited to small-scale applications, whereas heavier gauge 3, 4 and 5mm diameters are much stronger, and can securely seal large-scale sealing applications, such as around container locking bars, or large valve lockout applications.

Cable seals, from lightweight 1.5mm diameter to heavyduty 5mm cable diameter 

  

Cable Seals versus Plastic Seals

Cable seals have much higher pulling strengths than plastic pull-through seals which are sometimes used in their place – some of the strongest plastic pull-through seals might have pulling load resistances of up to 50KgF, but even the most light-weight cable seals are twice as strong as this, and our strongest cable seals (the 325M and 500M) are over 20 to 50x times stronger than plastic seals! This makes them ideally suited to use cases where it is important that seals do not accidentally break in transit, for example crates which are being transported in vehicles.

Security and High-Security Classification Cable Seals

Another benefit of cable seals over plastic seals are the ISO and other national security standards that our cable seals are certified to. The Flexigrip 150M cable seal is certified by the Security Seal Testing Authority (SSTA) as an accepted HMRC customs seal, and for international shipping containers sent by sea freight, our Flexigrip 325M Flexigrip 500M seals are ISO17712 'H' High Security Classification and C-TPAT compliant - suitable for US customs entry. These certifications make cable seals more suited to customs movements.

 

Our Range of Cable Seals

flexiGrip cable seals are available in many configurations, including metal or plastic bodies, and in cable diameters from 1.5mm up to 5mm. Below chart provides an overview of our range…

Cable Seal Model

Cable Diameter

Load Resistance

ISO17712 Class

Use Cases

flexiGrip 100S

1.5mm

101kg

Indicative

Road and Rail Freight, Cargo Trucks, Postal and Mail Sacks, Drums, IBC’s, Airline Trolleys, Drums, Boxes, Cash Bags

flexiGrip 100/150ZP

1.5mm

259kg

Indicative

flexiGrip 180ZP

1.8mm

400kg

Indicative

Flexigrip 150M

1.5mm

256kg

Indicative

HMRC Customs, Bulk Tankers, Railway Cars, Valves, Drums, Open Top Barrels

flexiGrip 250M

2.5mm

413kg

Security

Bulk Tankers, Valves, Drums, Open Top Barrels

flexiGrip 325M

3.25mm

1193kg

High-Security

ISO17712 Customs Movements, Shipping Containers, Bulk Tankers, Industrial Valves

 

flexiGrip 500M

5mm

2039kg

High-Security

ISO17712 Customs Movements, High Value Shipping Containers, Bulk Tankers, Industrial Valves, Railway Cars, Heavy-Duty Sealing,

 

flexiGrip 500MD

5mm

2039kg

High-Security

StrapSecure Pallet Seal

1.5mm

256kg

Indicative

Pallet and Crate Security, APHA movements

 

Customisation Options

FEATUREDESCRIPTIONILLUSTRATION
Custom Cable LengthWe can produce our cable seals with extra-long lengths, such as 2metres. These long length cables are useful for large-scale valve lockout applications, and for sealing around the vertical locking bars of shipping containers and trailer doors.extra long cable seals
Cable Material

As standard we supply with galvanised corrosion-resistant steel – however, for increased corrosion resistance we can also offer in full stainless-steel cable options, particular suited to marine and maritime applications.

galvanised and stainless steel cable selas
Custom Engraving

Customisation options are endless, including but not limited to :-

  • Alphanumeric custom markings
  • Barcode 128/39/EAN etc
  • QR / Data Matrices
  • Multiple Line Print
  • Double-Sided Print
cable seals with qr code
Colour Customisation

We offer 12 standard colours as standard, to enable customers to take advantage of colour-coding in their operations

cable seals in a range of colours
Counterpart LabellingWe can produce cable seals with counterpart labels for duplicate barcode numbering, for application of labels onto paperwork etc. This can reduce possibility for mistakes due to human error / transcription errors.cable seals with counterpart labels
ABS EncapsulationAvailable on 325M and 500M models, we can produce cable seals with fully encapsulated ABS overmouldings, protecting the laser-engraved anodised aluminimum surface, for the ultimate tamper-resistant cable seal solution.encapsulated cable seals

You can also view our guide to the Top 10 Applications for Cable seals here.

Please contact us on +44 (0) 1829 760000 or [email protected] to discuss your cable seal requirements today.

Thursday, November 2, 2023