The Hidden Problem with Cable Tray Installs

When you’re fixing cables to perforated cable trays, the biggest time-waster is simple: bending every standard cable tie by hand so it can hook through the tray slots.

With a straight tie, every single fixing usually looks like this:

bend → aim → push → twist wrist → adjust → push again → pull through → wrap
    

It doesn’t sound like much, but on a long run with hundreds of ties, this repetitive process is:

• Slow – every tie needs extra handling and fiddling.
• Awkward – especially overhead or in tight spaces.
• Hard on wrists – constant bending and twisting adds up over a shift.
• Inconsistent – speed and quality vary between installers.

Why Perforated Cable Trays Make It Worse

Perforated cable trays are great for ventilation and weight, but their slots were never designed specifically for standard cable ties. Common slot sizes include:

[ 20×7 mm ]   [ 25×7 mm ]   [ 28×7 mm ]   [ 30×7 mm ]   [ 35×7 mm ]
|--------|   |--------|   |--------|   |--------|   |--------|
    

These elongated slots don’t naturally “catch” a straight tie. So installers have to manually form a hook on each tie, guessing the angle and hoping it finds the slot.

On small jobs that’s manageable. On large projects, it’s where hours of labour disappear.

The Toughest Places to Use Standard Cable Ties

Straight cable ties are most frustrating – and slowest – in the places you probably work every day:

1. Ceiling Voids & Suspended Ceilings

• Working overhead, often at full reach.
• Visibility is poor – you can’t clearly see the slots.
• One hand is usually supporting the cable bundle or tools.

Result: you’re trying to bend and feed a tie blind, hoping it finds a slot on the first try.

2. Risers & Vertical Shafts

• Tight vertical space with limited movement.
• Trays often run close to other services.
• Awkward body positions make two-handed bending difficult.

3. Above Ductwork & Services

• You’re reaching over bulky ducting or pipework.
• Hard to line the tie up with the slot at the right angle.
• Bending a tie in mid-air while off-balance is slow and tiring.

4. Behind Trunking & In Corners

• Line of sight is blocked.
• Slots must be “found by feel” rather than seen.
• Straight ties snag, miss the slot, or fall away.

How Pre-Formed Cable Ties Solve the Problem

Bendy Cable Ties are the only patented cable ties specifically engineered for perforated trays. Unlike standard straight ties, Bendys feature a pre-formed hook geometry that naturally follows the slot path, making tray installs dramatically faster and easier.

With a pre-formed hook, the process becomes:

hook → pull → wrap → done
    

On real-world installs, this usually makes tray work 2–3× faster – that’s roughly a 50–67% time saving compared to standard straight ties.

It also means far less repetitive bending and twisting, so wrist and finger strain is greatly reduced, especially on big jobs.

Standard vs Pre-Formed: The Hook Path

Standard Tie Path

Front of tray          Behind tray           Front again
┌──────────┐          ┌──────────┐
│ [SLOT]   │ → bend → aim → push → twist → find slot → pull → wrap
└──────────┘          └──────────┘
    

Pre-Formed Tie Path

Front of tray          Behind tray           Front again
┌──────────┐          ┌──────────┐
│ [SLOT]   │ → hook → pull → out next slot → wrap
└──────────┘          └──────────┘
    

Less handling, fewer steps, and a motion that quickly becomes second nature for installers and apprentices alike.

Why This Matters to Contractors & Site Managers

Time on site is money. If your team is securing hundreds or thousands of ties on a project, saving 50–67% of the time spent on each one adds up quickly.

• Lower labour costs on large tray jobs.
• Faster programme delivery on time-sensitive projects.
• Less installer fatigue, especially on repetitive overhead work.
• More consistent results across different installers and apprentices.

Where Pre-Formed Cable Ties Make the Biggest Difference

They’re most effective on jobs that combine volume and awkward access:

• Long corridor and riser tray runs.
• Data centres and comms rooms with dense tray layouts.
• Plant rooms with trays above and around other services.
• School, office and hospital rewires.
• Out-of-hours or fast-track installation windows.