Plantronics Cable Tester
IDE, Inc. and Plantronics, the world leader in audio headsets, have a long and successful relationship. IDE has helped Plantronics develop and design some of their leading-edge products, including the M3000 Bluetooth headset.
Recently, though, Plantronics approached us with a different, albeit interesting, request. Their Quality Assurance Lab asked IDE
to design and manufacture an improved cable test machine. This new unit would test the flexure life of all the cables and wires
used in Plantronics' various products. The tests had to run for thousands of cycles using "live" cables; that is, with current
running through them. The rack-mountable unit would be controlled and monitored via a PC interface and Plantronics-provided software.
With the basic requirements in hand, IDE quickly created a design concept for a new mechanism and sent in a sketch to Plantronics.
The design concept was presented to and approved by Plantronics QA. We then completed the engineering and design details and
manufactured a unit for testing at Plantronics Santa Cruz headquarters.
After a successful evaluation by the QA Lab, Plantronics was so pleased with the cable tester, they asked us to build and ship
three additional units for use at their manufacturing facilities in Asia and Mexico.
