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The Wire Harness Manufacturing Process: A Guide for Electronics Engineers - Ouopio42 - 01-24-2022
Today, as I work with wire harnesses that are built for electronic devices, I am reminded of those days coaching the kids on how to put the play together. First, the wire harness specifications are drawn up in the same way we would diagram the play. Then, the harness is meticulously laid out, just as we demonstrated to the kids how to execute the play. There’s a lot more to the process of course, and thankfully, the wire harnesses usually don’t talk back to us. Here are more details of the PCB wiring harness manufacturing process that your contract manufacturer should go through when building your assemblies.
Input: What Your CM Needs for the Wire Harness Manufacturing Process
Contract manufacturers often build both flat ribbon cable assemblies and wire harnesses. To distinguish between the two, a multicore cable assembly is an external connection to devices and will have different environmental considerations, such as their thickness, insulation type, and flexibility. A wire harness, on the other hand, will provide the connectivity between systems in an electromechanical assembly, such as connecting a power supply to a motherboard.
With the documentation in hand, you should expect your contract manufacturer to follow a general process in building your wire cable harness assembly:
Design review: First off, your CM will examine your bill of materials and other documentation to make sure that everything they need is in place. They will also evaluate your specified parts to see if those are the best choices due to cost, availability, and performance. If not, they will search for available replacements.
Materials preparation: Once the bill of materials is finalized, the CM will next purchase the components and materials needed for production and test of the harness.
Assembly documentation: At the same time as procurement, the CM will be creating assembly documentation for the manufacturing floor based on your input. This will include detailed assembly steps, images and illustrations, and test procedures. Additionally, the assembly panel will be created with all the necessary pegs set at the specified locations.
Wire harness production: Now, the harness will be built. The assembly technicians will cut the PVC insulated wires to length, and lay it out on the assembly panel according to the build instructions. Connectors will be added, bundles of wires will be tied together, and labels will be attached.
The Dos and Don’ts of Having Your Wire Harness Built
The component manufacturer usually provides termination recommendations for how the high temperature wires should be attached. Be sure, then, to use those recommendations—such as stripped and bare or stripped and tinned—as that is what the component is built for. The same goes for torque values on fasteners, in which you should also use the manufacturer’s recommended values.