Revolutionizing Wiring Harnesses: How a Design Upgrade Led to Faster Turnaround Times & Greater Efficiency

Innovative Transformation: Overcoming Wiring Challenges

The client is a forefront leader in the manufacturing of advanced materials and components for a range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, defense, and energy. They pride themselves on their commitment to innovation and their ability to deliver high-quality products to their customers. They were facing  challenges in meeting the increasing demand for their services while maintaining quality and productivity.

Untangling Complexity: The Initial Hurdles

One of their key challenges was redesigning the entire harness and undergoing all the process in order to implement a small change and/or modifications.

The company had been using traditional wiring methods, which involved following a process flow dictated by the design software. If any alteration in the design were to be implemented, the designer had to go through the entire process to reflect the change/modifications. However, this process was time-consuming, prone to errors and required significant manual intervention, resulting in delays in project timelines and increased costs. As a result, the company experienced frequent breakdowns and downtime, leading to significant losses in productivity and revenue.

To overcome these challenges, the company decided to go for a company which could help them in streamlining the design process and reducing manual intervention. 

In-Depth Exploration: Navigating Existing Wiring Complexity

We have a strong team that uses the latest harness design platforms and technologies. With the help of our past experience and the latest designing platforms, we brainstormed the prevailing situation. Our harness team decided to develop an advanced automation process using PTC Creo platform that could quickly incorporate upgrades/modifications to the mother harness and reflect the changes across all manufacturing drawings, maintaining the environmental properties and saving valuable time. The new custom template was created that could intelligently reflect data as the changes are made in 3D space

By absorbing information from a given schematics (from simple to high complexity) and by defining the path constraints (routing), we produced the following:

3D: Accurate modeling activity of wire/cable packing can be generated

Drawing: Using the Tool kit we can generate customized tables such as those below, which aid in streamlining the manufacturing process

• From/To list

• BOM/Parts List

• Connector list

• Splice table

• Custom table (as per client-specified configuration)  

As the data will be synchronized across the various outputs, future alterations and modifications can be carried out instantaneously by the client team. This system allowed for faster and more accurate routing of wires and connectors, reducing the likelihood of errors and increasing the overall efficiency of the process.

Efficiency Meets Excellence: The New Manufacturing Paradigm

The project was divided into four phases:

Analysis: The PTC Creo expert conducted a thorough analysis of the company's existing design process to identify the areas that required automation. The team analyzed the design guidelines, input data requirements, and the output files.

Development: Based on the analysis, the expert developed a customized workflow for electric wiring harness design services using PTC Creo. The workflow included automated design rules, custom templates, and scripts to generate BOMs and manufacturing drawings.

Implementation: The PTC Creo expert trained the company's design team on the new workflow and provided technical support throughout the implementation process. The company's design team started using the new workflow for their projects.

Testing and Validation: The new workflow was tested and validated by the design team to ensure that it met the quality and accuracy standards of the company. The expert fine-tuned the workflow based on the feedback received from the design team. 

Space Unleashed: Redefining Wiring Layouts

The use of advanced automation process resulted in significant benefits, including:

• Increased Productivity: The new workflow reduced the time and resources required for designing and manufacturing wiring harnesses by up to 30%.

• Improved Accuracy: The automation process improved the accuracy of the designs and reduced the errors that occurred due to manual intervention.

• Cost Savings: By reducing the time and resources required for design and manufacturing, the company was able to reduce their costs significantly.

• Scalability: The new workflow was easily scalable, allowing the client to handle a higher volume of design projects with the same resources. 

By implementing PTC Creo and developing an advanced automation process, the client was able to overcome the challenges it faced. The new workflow improved productivity, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness, allowing the company to meet the increasing demand for their services and improve their competitiveness in the market.