IEP : 70 years of octopus cables
The business unit expanded substantially with Maisons Phénix (now Geoxia), equipping half the 6,000 houses the construction company built every year. Today IEP works primarily for single-family home builders, for which it installs octopus cables and, since 2010, heating and plumbing systems.
90% of the octopus cables are customised (IEP does little work on housing estates). The cables are incorporated in risers and false ceilings. They are not incorporated in concrete due to quality issues and the need for specialist worksite personnel, which would destroy the octopus cable’s advantage of being installed by drywall workers rather than electricians. An electrician, hired by the builder, is only needed to handle meter and Enedis connections.
IEP’s main selling point is its responsiveness, which is based on an estimating, design and fabrication sequencing tool. The tool uses a VISIO macro to design the octopus cable based on the architect’s drawings, in compliance with regulations and the customer’s specifications (number and quality of terminals). The tool automatically draws up a comprehensive octopus cable nomenclature. It is interfaced with the workshop machines so that fabrication can start immediately when the customer approves the file.
Because it takes less than three hours to design and validate each file, an octopus cable ordered in the morning can be delivered the next day. This responsiveness and reliability, together with the quality of the equipment used (premium suppliers, special finishing interfaces) and continuous optimisation of internal processes, have boosted IEP’s performance.
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