Customer: Fellten

Industry: EV modification

Project: Streamline all wire-harness design processes going forward

Solution: Arcadia Design Suite

Consistency in design and production

With a presence across three continents, Fellten designs, engineers and manufactures bolt-in systems to convert classic cars into electric vehicles (EVs). Their electric systems deliver original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) levels of performance and reliability to improve safety, handling, comfort and usability, while introducing sustainability. These are not merely iconic cars for enthusiasts, but designed for everyday needs. 

Challenge

Fellten pride themselves on their exceptionally high standards, pouring over every detail to produce work of unmatched quality. The result of a merger between Zero UK and Jaunt Motors in Australia, the new company experienced accelerated growth that required their processes to scale with them. 

Working by hand and using Excel to design their wire harnesses, they struggled with poor version control, inconsistent and error-prone designs, and hard-to-find faults. Another issue: Fellten had to track changes and BOM manually, which guaranteed that the final collaborative drawing would have a host of BOM and manufacturing issues. These issues had to be worked out before a prototype could be built to print. 

To meet customer demand and their own high standards, they needed to improve the design process, which in turn would help them save time and outsource wire-harness production for consistent results. 

Solution

Fellten turned to Arcadia, the cloud-based design suite that enables engineers to capture and automate their work, while reducing their workload. The software includes the online training course Quickstart Guide, which taught Fellten engineers how to optimize the design process with the rich features of Arcadia, all in just a day. 

Fellten was quickly up and running, streamlining their design process with the intuitive and easy-to-use interface. Design rule checks ensured that their wire harness drawing could be built correctly the first time, while ensuring reliable manufacturing. 

The Component Database – another tool built into Arcadia – supported them with quick access to the components they needed, such as connectors, and the accompanying manufacturing data sheets. They were even able to purchase the components right then and there, further streamlining the process. Fellten could also automatically create clear and dependable BOMs, wire lists, reports and other documentation to make manufacturing a seamless operation. 

Result

Arcadia enabled Fellten to standardize their wire-harness designs and manufacturing processes, resulting in significant savings in time. 

Consistency: Using a standardized design system means that Fellten no longer have to go back to square one to design a new wire harness. They now have the ability to carry over parts of existing harnesses into new designs. 

Version Control: No more guesswork. All changes are automatically tracked and documented, making it easy for Fellten to refer to earlier versions of harnesses. 

Time savings: Fellten has experienced time savings across the board in the design phase, but also in one unexpected place: communication. Before using Arcadia, time-consuming, back-and-forth emails had to take place with their manufacturer in China. Precise and complete documentation generated by Arcadia has eliminated that need, freeing up engineers to focus on other tasks. 

Productivity: Cloud-based collaboration allows all users to see the DRC. With manual processes a thing of the past, the BOM is automatically updated, avoiding issues and time delays, and the drawing can be built correctly the first time.

Ongoing support

While the cost savings of working with a manufacturer in China are beneficial, the time delay is a hindrance. To that end, Fellten have plans to start their own prototype shop, and will be using Arcadia software to guide and train their harness builders. 

7-day free trial, forever-free demo

Talk to us about our end-to-end SaaS suite of software, covering every area of the quoting, design, and manufacturing phases. You can try before you buy with a free 7-day trial. We’re also happy to give you a free demonstration to show you how easy it is to use, and all the advantages that your chosen bundle delivers.