NAI's operations location in Suzhou, China, recently started the development and manufacturing of complex harnesses for installation in explosion-proof cabinets.

The enclosures are placed within a mine to operate and control variable frequency drives (VFDs) and inverters to drive infrastructure such as conveyor belts, pumps, fans and brakes.

"In addition, they provide alerts and notifications for transformers, motors, cables and other components when they are not operating within the expected temperature range, voltage range or other parameters," NAI said.

"The control drives utilise rugged NAI harnesses designed specifically for mining applications."

NAI has designed ten different data and control cable harnesses, and those carrying power are in the planning and design stages. The company's typical data-control harness has more than 100 terminations, and the largest harness has more than 900.

"The customer for this mining project awarded the design and manufacturing of harnesses and box builds to NAI after producing the harnesses themselves internally," the company said, though the client was not identified.

"The company realized they were not as well suited to this kind of operation as NAI, and they ultimately preferred to focus on their main mining control equipment business and outsource this custom work to NAI."