Products eligible for this year’s Product of the Year competition were those introduced to the market between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2025. A hand-picked panel of judges ranked the 144 products entered into this year’s contest based on a list of scoring criteria, ultimately selecting 35 category winners for the first phase of the competition. These category winners were then narrowed down to just three finalists through an online poll available to our readers on the EC&M website. By casting their votes, EC&M subscribers determined the platinum, gold, and silver award-winning products of the year.

On an exterior panel upgrade, an electrician faced a challenge: The inspector wouldn’t allow a like-for-like replacement of all the individual cables entering the electrical panel through the same single large knockout. To comply with the inspection, Hunter Franssen and his father, who is also an electrician, drilled 12 individual holes in the back of a panel that only had a single large knockout factory-punched into it. Like all inventors in the trade, they thought there had to be a better way to solve the problem.

After researching the major brands and discovering nothing like it on the market, they started their journey to invent a new product — the Wire Waffle — in partnership with Rack-A-Tiers Manufacturing.

Travis MacLachlan, vice president of sales and product development for Rack-A-Tiers, said the Wire Waffle saves labor by reducing the number of knockouts electricians need to open while also keeping panels clean and making future panel upgrades easier.

“Electricians love the fact that they now have a more efficient, Code-friendly way of running their cables to a panel mounted on the outside of a house,” he said. “They can also bring all the wires into one connector, especially during remodel work.”

EC&M subscribers voted this product the Platinum award winner over 34 other category winners selected by a panel of judges from a record number of 144 submissions in the 2026 EC&M Product of the Year competition.

Researching and testing the product

In the electrical industry, many inventions are born out of a long-standing industry challenge. For example, before the invention of the Wire Waffle, non-metallic (NM) connectors were only able to accommodate up to two wires. This product, however, takes that number up to 16 in one connector and accommodates NM wire sizes 14/2 to 6/3.

Electricians can install the Wire Waffle in 2.5-in. panel knockouts to perform a panel change in a finished wall without damaging the drywall. When the inventors first came up with the idea for this new product, they drew the original sketch and then hired a professional to create the CAD drawings. The product’s design evolved through many iterations, which were based on the CAD professional’s injection molding experience.

In 2017, Franssen filed for a patent, which was issued three years later. Before he and his father could bring the product to market in April 2025 with the help of Rack-A-Tiers, they invested years into research, development, and prototyping. The most significant challenges were gaining a basic understanding of plastics and earning a UL listing.

“Prior to this, the inventor had no knowledge of how exceptionally complex plastics are or all the components that determine their properties,” MacLachlan said. “They knew the product needed to be listed, so they pursued the universally recognized industry leader — UL.”

UL tests all the properties of the listed components to the extreme, he said.

“Nothing could have prepared them for the rigorous testing that UL would put it through, and Hunter and his father were fortunate enough to be invited to UL’s testing lab to witness the tests being performed,” MacLachlan said.

Bringing the Wire Waffle to market

To bring their idea to life, the inventors not only tested their product but also partnered with Rack-A-Tiers Manufacturing. Back in 1995, Rack-A-Tiers launched with just one tool, a tri-fold brochure, and a home office above the garage. Over the last three decades, the company, which focuses on the residential electrical market, has grown to more than 1,000 products, including tools, fasteners, connectors, power monitors, and others related to the electrical industry and beyond.

“Rack-A-Tiers has helped many inventors get their ideas to market,” MacLachlan said.

For example, the Wire Waffle helped to meet an industry need. For decades, Franssen said electricians have violated NEC Sec. 312.5(C) because no product on the market could comply with that specific Code requirement.

“They took a different approach to developing the product than what is the norm,” MacLachlan said.

For example, instead of first developing a product and then lobbying to get the NEC to write a change that allows or requires the product, they discovered a Section of the Code that couldn’t be satisfied. They then built a product around satisfying that existing Code rule.

MacLachlan said the Wire Waffle generally retails between $12 and $15.

“The Wire Waffle is the ultimate wire connector, and it was designed by an electrician with electricians in mind,” he said. “That is what Rack-A-Tiers saw as a perfect fit within their growing line of connectors. We want to continue to push innovation in the industry, and this product is a perfect example of that.”

Learn more about the Wire Waffle multiple NM cable connector.