In this month’s Face to Face we speak with Glenn Ward, General Manager of Dunasfern, and find out more about the business and the industry sector it operates in.

Q. Can you tell us a bit about Dunasfern and what the company offers?

Dunasfern has been serving the data and communication market for over 43 years and has evolved into one of the leading suppliers of data infrastructure products across the UK. Breadth of product range and being commercially competitive are essential and a given in today’s world but at Dunasfern, the real benefit and differential we offer, is the market leading customer service and focus we dedicate to every customer and every order.

Q. How has the cabling solutions industry changed since Dunasfern first entered the market?

Since the birth of LAN data cables and the growth in networking computers, we have seen a massive increase in data demand and speed of transmission. This need to transmit more data and faster has continued and accelerated since the pandemic in 2020 with more hybrid working, streaming meetings almost continually and with the evolution of AI, this demand for data capacity and speed will only continue to grow.

Q. What products and solutions are popular with customers at the moment?

Within the whole communications spectrum, LAN data cables represent the largest volume and value, and we are continuing to see demand migrate from Cat5e to Cat6 and even Cat6a. There is still significant demand for low data use within CCTV environments and Cat5e is a perfect choice for this type of solution. Within the solar market, we are seeing Cat5e shielded SWA armoured cables installed to feed the CCTV cameras around the site. Further to this, we are seeing increasing demand for Belden type equivalent cables, alarm cables and even coax and telephone cables. The old 1308 BT type telephone cables are now being used in door entry systems due to them being a really cost-effective solution.

Q. What markets does Dunasfern operate in and how do requirements differ depending on environment?

Dunasfern is the leading supplier of data networking products to electrical wholesalers and in this market demand is mainly centred around Cat5e and Cat6 installations using PVC, LSZH and PE insulation and mostly unshielded. In a harsher industrial installation and in areas where power cables run close by, a shielded cable would be required to minimise data interruption. Coupled with this is the supporting infrastructure connectivity products such as plugs, modules, faceplates cabinets, wall boxes and all products within, such as patch panels power distribution, patch leads, etc. The demand for fibre cable installations is quite low but in larger commercial and data centre installations, fibre is the cable of choice rather than copper.

Q. Has the growing home automation market resulted in increased demand for structured cabling in homes?

The biggest increase in demand at home has followed on from the pandemic in 2020, with more people working from home, streaming meetings, whilst the children are streaming learning platforms or gaming. This has significantly increased demand for data but with increased performance from Wi-Fi networks and routers, the need to install data cables at home is currently quite low, unless the home is very large. This data demand is set to continue to increase with the development of AI, so it maybe the case that a need for data cables installed within homes will be required.

Q. What are Dunasfern’s plans for the year ahead?

Our plan is to continue to work proactively with our electrical wholesale partners, to help bring greater awareness of the wide range of data networking products available from them. We do this with a range of point-of-sale merchandise, a training programme designed to improve awareness within the branch staff to help them in their discussions with their customers and bespoke promotional activity at branch level. As our business continues to grow, we are always looking to strengthen the team and increase the resources to support our wholesale partners.

At Dunasfern, we want to continually strive to improve the proactive support we offer across customer service, product availability and commercial support. We take nothing for granted and our dedicated account managers are always on hand to discuss ways to improve our collaborative approach.

Find out more about Dunasfern here

Catch up on previous ‘Face to Face’ articles here

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