Automotive wiring harnesses are like the nervous system of vehicles, comprising wires and connector assemblies of different shapes and sizes. All commercial vehicles, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and heavy machinery use them in various control systems, such as driver assistance systems, connectivity systems, safety distribution systems, etc. Wiring harnesses require quality and precision. Thus, it would help if you had reliable Automotive Wire Harnesses Manufacturers.
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Production of automotive wire harnesses
The wire harnesses production process includes two phases.
Phase I Design to production.
The first step is the design and development of automotive wire harnesses. Usually, wire harness manufacturers receive the design drawing with various variants based on the different possible vehicle models.
Secondly, engineers use these drawings to create a production plan. Along with this, they also make a list of the corresponding parts needed. If this process is done manually, the error rate is high due to frequent changes in the drawing design. Thus, manufacturers mostly prefer a software-controlled system that uses a scripting language to define rules for the production plan. The rules are flexible, so manufacturers can make changes in the production steps where and when needed.
After analyzing the drawing, the software system generates the production data and parts lists based on these rules. The software can also create production documents based on the delivery schedule. With these systems, the chances of manual error become minimal and save time. Now, once the design and all copies are finalized, the manufacturing process enters into the next phase of production of wire harnesses.
Image: automotive industry, manufacturing wiring harnesses
Phase II The production of automotive wire harnesses
It is further divided into three steps.
Cutting
CST (Cut, Strip, and Terminate) machines cut the wires into specific lengths, strip off the insulation, and terminate the ends by applying seals. Some complex machines can also perform the process of twisting wires. Wires are put into bundles and sent for the next step.
During this process, manufacturers use unique MES for the required quantities of wires to different machines to ensure high productivity. Also, MES controls the quality and traceability of the wire bundles. Though the CST machines mainly ensure precision in wire cutting and quality, the MES sends the control data to the connected machines, equally important in maintaining quality. Additionally, MES provides different quality assurance steps such as barcoding and scanning the wires and their terminals, performing pull tests, enforcing crimp height, and monitoring tool upkeep cycles.
For traceability, MES assigns a unique ID to every wire bundle produced and manages it throughout its life.
Pre-Assembly:
The pre-assembly process is a manual one. Firstly, the technicians collect the wire bundles from the cutting area and assemble them into simple kits through crimping, twisting, or ultrasonic welding. While producing a kit, manufacturers give a new ID to all the components included in the kit and update the history.
Image: worker packing automobile wiring harness
Final Assembly:
As evident with the name, manufacturers now assemble wire harnesses on the wire harness boards in the assembly plants. In this process, wire harness makers put the wire harness boards on a moving assembly line. The assembly personnel stands near this moving line, and each person mounts one or more wires on the harness board. In this step, every employee must complete the step correctly.
Wire harnesses are sometimes customer-specific, so the working steps can differ from harness to harness. Thus, there are high chances of error, and makers need to work hard for quality assurance.
The MES provides complete information for the assembly process on display monitors. While working, employees can confirm the steps to ensure quality in wiring harnesses. Finally, manufacturers update the history.
The finished wiring harnesses have hundreds and thousands of different components, and the MES systems retain the history of all those components. It includes the details of the machine, employee, and tool used to produce the particular circuit and components of wiring harnesses. It helps identify and repair any issues that come with the wire harness of any batch.
Image: Production room withstands for manufacturing electric wiring for cars
Custom Automotive Wire Harnesses at Gloom
Gloom is an eminent automotive wire harness manufacturer that delivers high-quality automotive wire harnesses for your requirement. We have exceptional and modern robotic equipment that gives versatile and cost-competitive products to meet your specifications. Apart from the standard wiring harnesses for vehicles, we also offer custom wire harnesses that can work seamlessly with your automobiles.
Automotive manufacturing aim
The main aim of the production of automotive wire harnesses is to deliver high-quality and flexible products in minimal time without any production losses. The production process is labor-intensive, and thus to avoid high labor costs, manufacturers look for plant locations mainly where they can get a lower-cost, skilled workforce.
We have a team of skilled application engineers who can provide you with a design consultation to get a refined automobile wire harness. Our experts will guide you to a better, quicker, and cost-effective production process. From the design to the production process, our technicians, designers, and engineers work with you to offer you optimized solutions that meet the exact needs of your applications and the demanding environments.
Manufacturers and suppliers of Electrical components
Gloom collaborates with prominent automotive component manufacturers to ensure an in-stock inventory of superior quality products and materials needed for wiring harnesses production. Our partnership with these manufacturers ensures that you receive the best and most durable automotive wire harness assemblies as per your requirements and on time.
Some of the automotive companies we work with include:
- Molex
- Furukawa electric co.
- Deutsch
- Delphi
- Sumitomo
- Bosch
- TE Connectivity (formerly Tyco)
- ITT Cannon
Quality and performance testing
All products that we make meet SAE and IPC/WHMA-A-620 quality standards and comply with ISO. Cloom has certifications from UL and CSA, and our production facilities are RoHS compliant. The focus is on sustainable production and green manufacturing processes, and thus we try to recycle all the scrap and waste material from the industrial setups.
Conclusion
Wire harness in vehicles connects various digital components to make multiple systems of your vehicle functional. Any failure in the individual components and the wire harnesses can cause heavy losses. Thus, quality requirements in the wire harness production sector are increasing dramatically, which mainly depends on the manufacturer. Contact us and discuss your requirements for your cable assemblies and wire harness manufacturing.
