Understanding Wire-Harness Development, from Design to Manufacturing 

Wire harnesses are the behind-the-scenes heroes of countless devices, ensuring organized and protected electrical connections. From automotive and aerospace industries to household appliances and consumer electronics, electrical-harness design plays a crucial role in facilitating reliable and efficient electrical systems. The process of designing, developing, and manufacturing wire harnesses involves multiple key stages, each demanding careful attention to detail and adherence to industry standards.

We’ve put together this wire-harness-design guide to provide a basic overview of the process, offering insights and best practices for each stage. Use it as a checklist or, if you’re a beginner, to familiarize yourself with the wire-harness process. 

1. Electrical Schematic Design

Crafting a well designed electrical harness is crucial for ensuring reliable and efficient operation within a system.

Know What’s Required

  • Identify electrical requirements: Determine the voltage, current, and signal requirements of the system.
  • Component specifications: Gather specifications for all components that will be connected by the harness.
  • Environmental considerations: Account for factors such as temperature, humidity, vibration, and exposure to chemicals or UV light.

Schematic Design

  • Create an electrical schematic: Develop a detailed schematic diagram that illustrates all electrical connections. Plan the wire paths to minimize length and separate high-power from low-power wires to prevent interference. Also focus on conveying clear component information. This includes part numbers, specifications, and ratings for each component within the electrical system.
  • Signal integrity: Ensure proper routing for signal integrity, especially for high-frequency signals.

Mechanical Layout

  • 3D modeling: Use CAD software to create a 3D model of the wire harness within the device or system.
  • Routing paths: Check that paths are clear for wire routing, ensuring minimal interference with other components and ease of assembly.
  • Connector placement: Strategically place connectors to optimize accessibility and maintain system reliability.

Material Selection

  • Wire type and gauge: Select appropriate wire types and gauges based on current load, voltage drop, and environmental conditions.
  • Insulation and shielding: Choose suitable insulation and shielding materials to protect against electrical interference and environmental factors.
  • Connectors and terminals:  Choose connectors and terminals that meet electrical and mechanical requirements, ensuring they also feature adequate environmental sealing. This protects against moisture, dust, and other environmental factors, enhancing reliability and durability.

Best Practices

  • Standardize components to reduce complexity and cost, emphasizing symbols per ANSI or IEC guidelines.
  • Involve manufacturing early in the design phase to ensure manufacturability.
  • Perform Design for Manufacturability and Assembly (DFMEA) to identify potential assembly issues and optimize the design.
  • Ensure compliance with relevant industry standards and regulations to guarantee safety and reliability.

Tip: Use Cloud-Based Software for Optimal Results

Best-in-class Arcadia Schematic enables the intuitive creation of a detailed electrical-harness design, optimizing wire paths to minimize length and interference. Arcadia Harness specifies connectors, splices, and their configurations directly from schematics. You can also take advantage of 3D modeling capabilities with Arcadia MCAD Gateway.

2. Wire-Harness Design  

This involves a detailed and iterative wire-harness process to ensure it meets all functional and quality standards.

Prototyping

  • Build prototype: Create a prototype of the wire harness to validate the design.
  • Testing: Perform electrical and mechanical testing to ensure the harness meets all design specifications.
  • Iterate: Make necessary adjustments based on testing results and revalidate.

Documentation

  • Bill of Materials (BOM): Compile a comprehensive BOM listing all of your components, materials, and part numbers.
  • Assembly instructions: Develop detailed assembly instructions to guide the manufacturing process.
  • Testing procedures: Document testing procedures to ensure consistent quality control.

Best Practices

  • Early validation: Prototype early to catch and address design issues before full production. This reduces costly rework and ensures a smoother production ramp-up.
  • Cross-functional collaboration: Involve engineers, designers, and manufacturing teams in prototyping and documentation phases to leverage diverse expertise and ensure comprehensive validation.
  • Consider lifecycle: Design to account for serviceability with modular design recommendations. 
  • Documentation integrity: Maintain meticulous documentation accuracy throughout BOM, assembly instructions, and testing procedures. Clear and precise documentation supports consistent quality and operational excellence.

Tip: Take the Integrated Approach

Arcadia Schematic integrates with MCAD Gateway to obtain routing information and design geometry. The Arcadia Harness software reduces errors in retrieving cavity parts, simplifies component selection, and ensures accurate documentation, including wire cut list and the Bill of Materials (BOM)

 3. Wire-Harness-Manufacturing 

Manufacturing a wire harness requires meticulous planning, precise assembly, and rigorous quality control to ensure a reliable final product.

Production Planning 

  • Manufacturing workflow: Develop a manufacturing workflow that outlines each step of the assembly process.
  • Tooling and equipment: Ensure all necessary tooling and equipment are available and properly calibrated.
  • Supplier coordination: Coordinate with suppliers to ensure timely delivery of materials and components.

Assembly

  • Cutting and stripping: Use automated machines to cut wires to precise lengths and strip insulation as required.
  • Crimping and soldering:  Use automated crimping machines for high-quality crimps and soldering machines to create reliable joints that are less prone to mechanical stress.
  • Harness assembly: Follow documented assembly instructions to route and bundle wires, securing them with ties or other fasteners.

Quality Control

  • Inspection:  Inspect crimped and soldered joints, including visual checks for crimp heights and mechanical testing, such as pull tests to meet standards.
  • Electrical testing: Conduct comprehensive electrical testing to verify continuity, insulation resistance, and signal integrity. Use advanced testing systems equipped with real-time data analysis for faster results than the traditional methods.
  • Functional testing: Ensure the harness performs correctly within the actual or simulated application environment. Leverage automated testing systems where possible to improve efficiency and accuracy.

Best Practices

  • Standardized processes: Implement standardized assembly procedures and testing protocols to ensure consistency and quality across production cycles.  You should also invest in engineering solutions such as CAD tools and PLMs that can help you to rapidly create designs and reduce the time to quote.
  • Documentation and traceability: Maintain comprehensive documentation of production activities, including assembly records, test results, and quality inspection reports. Use digital documentation systems for improved traceability and searchability of production data.
  • Foster effective collaboration: Invest in integrated digital tools to establish a single source of truth, ensuring consistent and up-to-date information accessibility across all departments. 
  • Adhere to IPC/ISO quality standards: This ensures reliability, compliance with industry best practices, and facilitates efficient manufacturing and regulatory compliance.
  • Advanced production scheduling: Implement advanced production scheduling to optimize assembly sequence and labour usage, enhancing efficiency and reducing lead times.

Tip: Streamline the Wire-Harness-Manufacturing Phase

Arcadia’s suite of software designed for the manufacturing phase can help you generate automated reports, create digital formboards, and test directly from CADs for fewer errors and faster production.

From Design to Manufacturing, Arcadia Software Makes it Easy

Arcadia’s suite of cloud-based software is designed for engineers by engineers to make the wire-harness process easy. By incorporating Arcadia software early in your design and wire-harness development, you can significantly enhance efficiency, mitigate errors, and achieve seamless integration into manufacturing processes. 

Ask us for a free demo

We’re happy to give you a free demonstration of our innovative solutions, so you can see the results for yourself. If you have any questions about any of the steps in our wire-harness-design guide, we’re always happy to help.