EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Products => Crowd Funded Projects => Topic started by: EEVblog on February 08, 2015, 12:40:21 pm
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They have invented adhesive lined heatshrink :clap: :palm:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/217809965/sleev-protect-your-wires-from-damage (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/217809965/sleev-protect-your-wires-from-damage)
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You mean I can buy a short precut length of adhesive lined sleeving with a ultra high shrink ratio for only $$FARKHOWMUCH? I have some from RS that I used for cabling, and used a black variety in the military for connectors. Hellerman Tyton also has it in premade variable diameter types with a popular one being a Tee off connection for cabling, along with high voltage ones for cable jointing.
I small repackaging for rubes here.
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They actually could be innovative here.
For a regular shrink tube to be effective as a strain relieve you need the lining.
At least they got that right.
But it still does nothing for the bending problem.
The cable would eventually fail just next to the shrink tube, because after shrinking the wall would be thick and stiff on the cable end.
Of course you could get some preformed shrink tube, but that won't help you with existing cables.
What always baffled me you cannot get shrink tube with a thick wall on one end (connector side) and a thin wall at the other end (cable side).
THAT would be innovative.
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They've invented the idea of re-packaging adhesive lined heat shrink as something that can be sold as part of the whole "green" bandwagon. They'll probably get a patent for their 'novel' use of existing tech :palm:
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:-DD
The community here should have a contest of which technologies they can repackage and sell.
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:-DD
The community here should have a contest of which technologies they can repackage and sell.
The trouble with that, is that the application they've come up with is exactly what the product was for in the first place. I might just as well repackage and sell a pencil as a device for writing shopping lists; it would be no more or less original.
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If I don't just go buy some (expensive) adhesive-lined heatshrink at Jaycar (AUS)
OR - I cut tiny slivers of hot glue and stuff them inside regular heatshrink along with the wires or parts I'm locking up --- and believe it or not, heating the regulars sleeving makes the glue melt too... even better than lined tubing. - because it runs in between the conductors as well forming a linear water barrier as well!
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You're all laughing but they've made $6,000 so far...
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Why do they only show Apple cables? It looks like they are aiming for a specific target audience.
Those apple cables are actually of reasonable quality surviving about a thousand mating cycles. I've "lost" only 1 cable's isolation in the 3 years of my 4S and the cable still works.
It's funny how they've spent "months of work and prototyping", the heatshrink apparently had a long delivery time.
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Why do they only show Apple cables? It looks like they are aiming for a specific target audience.
Those apple cables are actually of reasonable quality surviving about a thousand mating cycles. I've "lost" only 1 cable's isolation in the 3 years of my 4S and the cable still works.
It's funny how they've spent "months of work and prototyping", the heatshrink apparently had a long delivery time.
I was told that the quality depatment was on vacation when the new "lightning" cable was made. It breaks. Thank GOD JOBS that there is a chip inside the cable, and no one can copy their piece of copper. But I'm sure this is like alien technology to most people.
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I like the detailed camerawork, the actual demonstration of the working product was what sold me on the idea.
The close up photos of the applied product on the cable were the icing on the cake.
I love how nothing is left for the imagination, that is a astoundingly good documentaion!
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I'm surprised someone hasn't tried to re-package post-it notes as a revolutionary analog human memory storage system...on Kickstarter.
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They actually could be innovative here.
For a regular shrink tube to be effective as a strain relieve you need the lining.
At least they got that right.
But it still does nothing for the bending problem.
The cable would eventually fail just next to the shrink tube, because after shrinking the wall would be thick and stiff on the cable end.
Of course you could get some preformed shrink tube, but that won't help you with existing cables.
What always baffled me you cannot get shrink tube with a thick wall on one end (connector side) and a thin wall at the other end (cable side).
THAT would be innovative.
Thats easy to prevent.
Multilayer thin shrink sleeve with slightly longer lengths on the cable and shorter on top layer to spread the bending moment over a longer section of cable.
I can achieve 5-10x the conductor life on a 4 core flex in this manner.
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Thats easy to prevent.
Multilayer thin shrink sleeve with slightly longer lengths on the cable and shorter on top layer to spread the bending moment over a longer section of cable.
I can achieve 5-10x the conductor life on a 4 core flex in this manner.
That's a good very good idea. I also like to top it up with a slightly longer piece of sleeve. This way, the finish is nicer, the underlying sections are covered and their ends will not fray as much.
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Jesus...H...Christ.
You mean, people have never heard of heatshrink?
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Why do they only show Apple cables? It looks like they are aiming for a specific target audience.
Those apple cables are actually of reasonable quality surviving about a thousand mating cycles. I've "lost" only 1 cable's isolation in the 3 years of my 4S and the cable still works.
It's funny how they've spent "months of work and prototyping", the heatshrink apparently had a long delivery time.
Because the MicroUSB and 30 Pin iphone cables can be purchased at the dollar store.
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Is this still alive ?
Just go order some here ! ...
http://search.jaycar.com.au/search?w=glue%20lining&view=list (http://search.jaycar.com.au/search?w=glue%20lining&view=list)
http://www.carroll.com.au/protection-products/heat-shrink-tubing/heavy-wall-adhesive-lined-tubing-lengths-hwl12-5w.html (http://www.carroll.com.au/protection-products/heat-shrink-tubing/heavy-wall-adhesive-lined-tubing-lengths-hwl12-5w.html)
http://www.heatshrink.com/pc_combined_results.asp?pc_id=92F2FE9EE162419280E075B694253B5F (http://www.heatshrink.com/pc_combined_results.asp?pc_id=92F2FE9EE162419280E075B694253B5F)
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If anyone is ever concerned about the intellect of "the average consumer", be concerned no more! It's as low as you could imagine, perhaps lower.
There really must be a lot of people with a lot more disposable income than brain cells to pre-purchase special heat-shrink on Kickstarter (of all places!) when they could just go to buyheatshrink.com (yes, a real site) and get it cheaper and shipped immediately.
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They are designed to break. Micro USB is as well - it is designed so that either the cable or the plug fails, not the socket. The socket is the expensive part on the expensive device that is hard to replace. The cable is cheap and you can buy a pack of 5 for a couple of bucks on eBay... oh. Well, it's still designed to break.
Of course, no wireless charging because that would defeat the purpose of having a weak cable that costs $$ to replace.
Hm, one thing I do like about Apple is if you bring your failed Apple cable in to them, they will replace it free of charge...
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HOW THE HELL THEY COULD RAISE SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS WITH THOSE HEATSHRINK PIECES?!?!? |O :palm:
This is quite ridiculous. |O
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HOW THE HELL THEY COULD RAISE SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS WITH THOSE HEATSHRINK PIECES?!?!? |O :palm:
Simple: Excellent marketing. Then again, doing a successful marketing campaign is perhaps not that simple.
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See my kickstarter for a tin/lead alloy that melts at (relatively) low temperatures that can be used to make reliable electrical connections.
I'll leave it for further innovators to come up with the lead free version.
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Why do they only show Apple cables? It looks like they are aiming for a specific target audience.
Those apple cables are actually of reasonable quality surviving about a thousand mating cycles. I've "lost" only 1 cable's isolation in the 3 years of my 4S and the cable still works.
It's funny how they've spent "months of work and prototyping", the heatshrink apparently had a long delivery time.
I've never seen an apple cable that made it more than few months before the insulation failed at the connector. They're notorious for it. The minimalist aesthetic design provides no strain relief whatsoever.
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See my kickstarter for a tin/lead alloy that melts at (relatively) low temperatures that can be used to make reliable electrical connections.
I'll leave it for further innovators to come up with the lead free version.
I'm just about to contribute to someone who has invented a novel electricity conduction device using multiple copper strands enveloped in a cylindrical polymer insulating layer, so your invention is very timely :)
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I've never seen an apple cable that made it more than few months before the insulation failed at the connector. They're notorious for it. The minimalist aesthetic design provides no strain relief whatsoever.
Funny, I've used Apple cables since I got my first iPod in like 2003, and none of my cables have ever failed. I'm pretty sure I still have my original 30-pin iPod cable from >10 years ago, as well as all of the 30-pin and lightning cables since then, again all of which are still in pristine condition.
Then again, I treat wires and cables properly. I don't tie them in knots, rip at them from the side, coil them up in 1cm diameter balls, or any other blatant abuse that the average consumer puts their cables through.
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Funny, I've used Apple cables since I got my first iPod in like 2003, and none of my cables have ever failed.
My guess would be, that you are not the target group.
When you charge your device you plug it in and let it sit on the bench till it is fully charged and then disconnect it, right?
But now, think of the brainless smartphone zombies.
They plug the device in and keep playing with it, putting constant strain of the stress relief of the cable.
On top that, they keep the charger with them at all times because they are afraid to run out of battery in the pub.
Just think how it would be if they were unable to instragram the fancy cocktail they just ordered.
At least those are the people who i hear complaining about the cable quality.
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Dear....
you can protect to your sleev wire from damage...
and thiswire already hasthe followin functionality.....
there is minimal chemical reaction between copper and concrete, and the sleeve is meant to protect the area where the ground wires exit the concrete, assuming you seal it up with silicone. Is there any reference material discussing ground wire installation methods in concrete. This is not technically for a Ufer ground, but it is meant to keep all metallic objects at the same potential, including rebar.
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Of course many phones have wireless charging now and on Android you can run an FTP server for transferring, so there is no need to ever actually plug your phone in. Naturally Apple will never allow that, because then they couldn't screw you with expensive cables.
Err, Apple has had complete wireless management for _years_. You need to plug your phone/pad/pod into iTunes exactly _once_ to authenticate it, then you can do everything wirelessly. No screwing around with ftp, wired/wireless it works exactly the same..
As a data point, I've had 2 30 pin cables fail, but both of those were (freakin expensive) 3rd party cables. None of my Apple cables have failed.
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Apple cables are insanely expensive
Of course many phones have wireless charging now and on Android you can run an FTP server for transferring, so there is no need to ever actually plug your phone in. Naturally Apple will never allow that, because then they couldn't screw you with expensive cables.
Yes it's more expensive than a micro USB, but c'mon...the device comes with one, and they work through all models, all generations, iPhone, iPad, iPod, iWhatever. How many do you really need to buy over the next, say, 5-10 years? 1? 2? At $17 each it's not that bad, you're just being hyperbolic.
Frankly, I'm happy to spend $15 more one time (or two times, or zero times if you're fine with just having one cable) if it means I don't have to deal with micro USB for the next five years, micro USB is horrible.
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What's wrong with µUSB? It's mechanically very well-designed, it's awesomely compatible with everything, handles power just fine, you can mix&match brands without issue... I mean, if we're comparing all this to Apple's 30-pin and thunderbolt: micro-usb is just objectively better except maybe for design aesthetic? Which I still find very questionable in regards to the 30-pin.
The biggest issue I can see is that micro-usb is an open market, so you're bound to have bad examples here and there. But overall.... pretty good.
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What's wrong with µUSB? It's mechanically very well-designed, it's awesomely compatible with everything, handles power just fine, you can mix&match brands without issue..
Which is all well and good if all you ever want is USB and low power...
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So you are forced to install some of the worst crapware ever written, just to transfer a few files? Even if you can do it wirelessly after the the first time, you still need iTunes to actually copy the files and you still need to plug in just to charge your device.
No, not really. There are alternatives on a number of operating systems.
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Which is all well and good if all you ever want is USB and low power...
The connector is designed for USB, the next best i could find is rated a 1,8A.
Why would you ever want to use a connector that is designed to transmit USB signal for something different.
Even at 1A current, nearly all devices designed to use this connector will charge in a acceptable time.
The µUSB connector is just fine, you seem to have some irrational hate towards it...
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What's wrong with µUSB? It's mechanically very well-designed, it's awesomely compatible with everything, handles power just fine, you can mix&match brands without issue...
Adoption has nothing to do with whether or not it's a good connector, so compatibility with various brands is irrelevant. I'm talking about the connector itself, it's shit. Orientation is difficult to figure out (try doing it in the dark), the sharp corners means you can't connect it unless the alignment is perfect, and after ~100 mating cycles the retention is gone and you need to replace the cable. That's pathetic. I despise using µUSB on my devices that require it, and would happily pay 5x the price to get a connector with none of those problems, which it just so happens the Lightning connector is exactly that.
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Even at 1A current, nearly all devices designed to use this connector will charge in a acceptable time.
I beg to differ. My Nexus 10 has a 9Ah battery. 1A may not charge it fully overnight.
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Er, no... My old iPod 3rd gen doesn't charge off USB at all, only Firewire. Then they changed to an compatible Lightning connector.
Heaven forbid they change the connector TWICE in 11 years to keep up with the times. How many times has Samsung, Motorola, etc. changed the connector on their phones, mp3 players, etc.?
More over even different versions of the 30 pin connector were not compatible. My friend got a really expensive dock for his iPod a few years back. Then he got an iPhone, and despite the connector being the same it wouldn't work with the dock at all. The connector has analogue audio, but even that wouldn't function, let along the controls. This was a licensed, approved product from some big manufacturer (I forget which, they were a big name), not some cheap rubbish, and less than a year old.
I can't say I've experienced the same. All of the 3rd party accessories I purchased for my iPod 4th gen (click wheel) worked with everything up through the iPhone 4S without issue. All of the ones that were USB-based have continued to work with the Lightning connector as well (DACs and the like).
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Orientation is difficult to figure out (try doing it in the dark)
I can feel the 'up' marker..
after ~100 mating cycles the retention is gone and you need to replace the cable. That's pathetic.
I've been using the same cables to charge my devices for four years. The phone goes on every night. Still holds well.
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I beg to differ. My Nexus 10 has a 9Ah battery. 1A may not charge it fully overnight.
I can not see were this makes my statement not true, read again what i wrote...
And in addition, a Nexus 10 does not need the µUSB connector.
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What's wrong with µUSB? It's mechanically very well-designed, it's awesomely compatible with everything, handles power just fine, you can mix&match brands without issue...
Adoption has nothing to do with whether or not it's a good connector, so compatibility with various brands is irrelevant. I'm talking about the connector itself, it's shit. Orientation is difficult to figure out (try doing it in the dark), the sharp corners means you can't connect it unless the alignment is perfect, and after ~100 mating cycles the retention is gone and you need to replace the cable. That's pathetic. I despise using µUSB on my devices that require it, and would happily pay 5x the price to get a connector with none of those problems, which it just so happens the Lightning connector is exactly that.
I agree that the orientation of micro/mini/standard USB is a pain in the pass, but the idea that with micro you get 100 cycles before the retention is gone? That's just nonsense. My Galaxy phone uses a micro connector and I plug it in at least twice a day (at night and at work) and have since I got it in September of 2012 and it locks perfectly fine. And many times I've picked up the phone while it's connected and forgotten and wrenched on the cable, or had it fall off the desk or nightstand onto the wood floor.
The newest implementation of USB has a orientation free connector - IIRC. That's really the only problem with the connector now I'd say... should have been orientation neutral from the get-go. An example of engineers being out of touch with what the market wants and doing what is "technically better".
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the idea that with micro you get 100 cycles before the retention is gone? That's just nonsense.
That's been my experience. 6 months to a year of daily or semi-weekly use and the retention is down significantly, to the point where the cable falls out if I bump the device with my elbow and move it an inch while it's charging.
Orientation-free would be a huge improvement. Add to that some rounded corners and edges so that it aligns itself like a funnel when you go to plug it in, rather than catching and refusing to mate, and it won't be so terrible.
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the idea that with micro you get 100 cycles before the retention is gone? That's just nonsense.
That's been my experience. 6 months to a year of daily or semi-weekly use and the retention is down significantly, to the point where the cable falls out if I bump the device with my elbow and move it an inch while it's charging.
Two years of daily use, still solid. Odd.
Perhaps you should buy well built devices?
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Two years of daily use, still solid. Odd.
Perhaps you should buy well built devices?
The cable sold with my phone "broke" after 3,5 years of daily use.
Thats well over 1260 cycles...
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the idea that with micro you get 100 cycles before the retention is gone? That's just nonsense.
That's been my experience. 6 months to a year of daily or semi-weekly use and the retention is down significantly, to the point where the cable falls out if I bump the device with my elbow and move it an inch while it's charging.
Orientation-free would be a huge improvement. Add to that some rounded corners and edges so that it aligns itself like a funnel when you go to plug it in, rather than catching and refusing to mate, and it won't be so terrible.
I agree that orientation free is a big step forward.. I'm not sure if you've seen the latest USB-C connector?
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/reversible-tiny-faster-hands-on-with-the-usb-type-c-plug/ (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/reversible-tiny-faster-hands-on-with-the-usb-type-c-plug/)
Not sure when it will start showing up in the wild. One thing is clear... love or hate Apple, they don't often do really stupid things in terms of usability like many others do. I don't know who didn't think "orientation free would be better" when they were coming up with micro USB. It's not like every person ever in the world hadn't dealt with some level of frustration at the polarity needs of type-A and type-B.
On the 100 cycles thing... I'd guess it was a shitty cable. I have the original cable from my phone at home and got one of the Amazon branded ones for work... both have hundreds if not >1000 cycles on them and click and hold nicely.
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Blackberry Bold 9900 from 2011, plug it everyday at least once and the connector and original cable lock just fine. I also hook it to my PC at least once or twice a week to transfer data with the same data cable I use to charge it.
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The µUSB connector is just fine, you seem to have some irrational hate towards it...
Pardon? I _never_ said a bad word against the µUSB connector. I simply pointed out that the connectors people are moaning about (the Apple 30 pin and the new Lightning) are not just there to be arbitrarily different or complex, but they are used for far more than just power and usb. If you only want low power and/or usb then the USB standard connectors are fine. 2.1A into the USB connector is pushing the friendship, and I've yet to see one do component video or HDMI.
I think you best check who you're replying to before launching off like that.
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What's wrong with µUSB? It's mechanically very well-designed, it's awesomely compatible with everything, handles power just fine, you can mix&match brands without issue...
Adoption has nothing to do with whether or not it's a good connector, so compatibility with various brands is irrelevant. I'm talking about the connector itself, it's shit. Orientation is difficult to figure out (try doing it in the dark), the sharp corners means you can't connect it unless the alignment is perfect, and after ~100 mating cycles the retention is gone and you need to replace the cable. That's pathetic. I despise using µUSB on my devices that require it, and would happily pay 5x the price to get a connector with none of those problems, which it just so happens the Lightning connector is exactly that.
I'm not saying adoption proves the well-designedness, I'm flat out saying the engineering on it is very good. I don't recognize your problems with it at all, even orientation is no problem for me with any of my devices. A good quality connector (on most reasonable brand mobile hardware) will last a lifetime. I'm designing all my own products with µUSB and have had much fewer problems on the technical side as well. This is definitely a step up from basically all combined power/data connectors of the past.
That being said, USB 3.x micro-C will improve on the orientation as well as power delivery issues.
Every small connector, including custom jobs like Apple's connectors, will have issues in some way or another. Cheap knockoffs will have looser tolerances, bad board design will cause connectors to rip off, badly designed cables will twist and break. The fact that Apple's products are generally at least midrange in build quality doesn't mean fundamentally that their connector design is better, only that their manufacturing tolerances are up to spec.
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:-DD
The community here should have a contest of which technologies they can repackage and sell.
The trouble with that, is that the application they've come up with is exactly what the product was for in the first place. I might just as well repackage and sell a pencil as a device for writing shopping lists; it would be no more or less original.
And I can repackage bamboo skewers made for Shish Kabobs as non conducting circuit tracing tools. Skycraft here in central FL sells the same thing for quite a bit cheaper. I have some here that I insulate long phillips screwdrivers with. I don't use them on mains power, low voltage DC only.
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Two years of daily use, still solid. Odd.
Perhaps you should buy well built devices?
You mean like the Asus built Google Nexus 7 tablet I have? The cable is literally falling out of the connector with a slightest movement, using the original cable that shipped with it 2 years ago. Pretty much 6 months and the connectors were worn out and the device was getting only light use, spending most of its time plugged in charging.
My HTC Desire HD phone had the same problem after a few months too. Changing cable helps only for a short while, until the retention latches wear out and/or the connector in the phone stretches/bends even more from the constant use.
It is a mechanically piss-poor weakly designed connector, period. Add to that the usual gripes about how difficult is it to insert the cable in it, especially in the dark or where you cannot see it well. I have never had a mini USB or a standard sized USB connector wear out, but with micro USB it is starting to look like a planned obsolescence already.
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Two years of daily use, still solid. Odd.
Perhaps you should buy well built devices?
You mean like the Asus built Google Nexus 7 tablet I have? The cable is literally falling out of the connector with a slightest movement, using the original cable that shipped with it 2 years ago. Pretty much 6 months and the connectors were worn out and the device was getting only light use, spending most of its time plugged in charging.
My HTC Desire HD phone had the same problem after a few months too. Changing cable helps only for a short while, until the retention latches wear out and/or the connector in the phone stretches/bends even more from the constant use.
It is a mechanically piss-poor weakly designed connector, period. Add to that the usual gripes about how difficult is it to insert the cable in it, especially in the dark or where you cannot see it well. I have never had a mini USB or a standard sized USB connector wear out, but with micro USB it is starting to look like a planned obsolescence already.
Asus are not a high end brand, no matter their marketing, and HTC fell out of favour, wonder why.
Multiple Samsung phones down the road, many years of abuse.. tight USB sockets still.
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I have had both a Samsung Galaxy S2 and S4 with USB problems. The S2 required the port to be cleaned every 2-3 months or it would go into Car Mode occasionally (I'm guessing it's sensing some resistance between lines.) The S4 refused to sync or charge properly unless the cable was bent inwards, so I sent that one back.
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I'm thinking of a new crowd-funded project for people that need to rework their heat-wrapped cables & connectors.
Heatshrink sleeving without adhesive lining. what do you think?
Is it worth pursuing...
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Asus are not a high end brand, no matter their marketing, and HTC fell out of favour, wonder why.
Multiple Samsung phones down the road, many years of abuse.. tight USB sockets still.
Ah, right, I should have realized that! :palm:
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I was told that the quality depatment was on vacation when the new "lightning" cable was made. It breaks. Thank GOD JOBS that there is a chip inside the cable, and no one can copy their piece of copper. But I'm sure this is like alien technology to most people.
They are designed to break. Micro USB is as well - it is designed so that either the cable or the plug fails, not the socket. The socket is the expensive part on the expensive device that is hard to replace. The cable is cheap and you can buy a pack of 5 for a couple of bucks on eBay... oh. Well, it's still designed to break.
Of course, no wireless charging because that would defeat the purpose of having a weak cable that costs $$ to replace.
The weakest part of micro USB is the stupid surface mount PCB mounted connector. Search Ebay for tablets that "Don't Charge Anymore" and you will have a bunch of examples of people breaking the connector off the PCB.
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You know what? It's actually a brilliant idea. They are marketing a product that already exists, but this time catered to the consumer. When this hits the shelves of walmart they are gonna be rich, while you stay poor. Marketing 101. And, no, I still think you won't be able to convince most people that there's a DIY solution called heat shrink. Remember most people are afraid of technology and DIY, for no reason.
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OMGOMG!! I just came up with the followup product for these guys...
Imagine this.. It's a device for holding two things together....
I call it..... SKRUUU!
Here is a concept picture!
(http://image.made-in-china.com/43f34j00ueJQdmDGrkoI/Hex-Head-Self-Tapping-Screw.jpg)
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OMGOMG!! I just came up with the followup product for these guys...
Imagine this.. It's a device for holding two things together....
I call it..... SKRUUU!
Here is a concept picture!
(http://image.made-in-china.com/43f34j00ueJQdmDGrkoI/Hex-Head-Self-Tapping-Screw.jpg)
Exactly. Now, report to wallmart and tell them about your new invention, release 10 commertials, give product samples and come up with a slogan. You'll be rich.
Sarcasm aside, things like this have happened before. Just go to your favorite TV channel at 5 in the morning and look at all the infomertials.
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Sarcasm aside, things like this have happened before. Just go to your favorite TV channel at 5 in the morning and look at all the infomertials.
Watch out buddy!!! George Foreman totally invented the panini press all by himself!
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You know what? It's actually a brilliant idea. They are marketing a product that already exists, but this time catered to the consumer.
However, they are claiming that they invented the tubing from raw materials and developed prototypes, while it is pretty clear that they took common adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing that has been manufactured for years for this exact purpose, cut off a short piece, and lied about inventing it. That pushes this beyond clever marketing and into the territory of scams.
When this hits the shelves of walmart they are gonna be rich, while you stay poor.
Walmart wouldn't pay them a single Canadian penny. Walmart would call up a long-established Chinese manufacturer of adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing and say "hey, cut it into 2cm lengths and cram it into bags for us". Then the manufacturer would slide the automatic tubing-cutter's stop block from the 1m position to the 2cm position, or draw another line on the workers' tables, depending on how automated their long-established process is.
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P.S.: This is where I buy my "Sleev":
http://www.mcmaster.com/#heat-shrink-tubing/=w7gmcg (http://www.mcmaster.com/#heat-shrink-tubing/=w7gmcg)
It's amazing how many specialized varieties of the stuff there are:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#heat-shrink-tubing/=w7gn9k (http://www.mcmaster.com/#heat-shrink-tubing/=w7gn9k)