Automotive wire harnesses are the wire assembly within an automobile, and they are one of the most important components of a vehicle. Without wire harnesses, a car simply just won’t work because it would lack the power to start up. For this reason, manufacturing wire harnesses is a big business, valued at $ 94.19 billion in 2023. This means that it will be an attractive business to break into and capitalize on.
That said, wire harness manufacturing is quite a complicated process with many steps. You will have to master this process before you can become the next industry leader in wire harness manufacturing and gain massive profits.
The Wire Harnesses Manufacturing Processes: Step-by-Step
Wire harnesses have to go through several manufacturing steps before they become functional components of a vehicle.
Design
At the design stage, the design engineers will work together to design how the wire harness looks as well as its properties. Mechanical engineers and electrical engineers will collaborate to ensure that the wire harness works as intended and is resistant to other environmental damage, which could cause dangerous defects as well as accidents.
Prototyping
The next step will be to create prototypes and test these prototypes. In the ideal scenario, the engineers should be given access to a real-life vehicle so that they can test the prototype in real-life scenarios, which greatly improves the testing efficiency as well as accuracy. Customers will also receive a prototype so that they can run their own tests as well.
Purchasing
After the prototype has been thoroughly tested and approved by the internal team as well as the customer, the production team will source materials from suppliers. They will get materials for the wires as well as other important components such as the insulation, the terminals, and the connectors. All of these components will work together to create a high-functioning wire harness.
Production
Now comes the most important part of the process! Wire harness production will take place in a production plant that has a wide variety of machines for different purposes. Most of the production steps will be handled by humans, but some can be automated to cut down on costs and production time.
Here are some of the most important parts of the production process:
- Wire cutting: the wires are cut so until they reach the appropriate length according to the plan.
- Stripping and Connection: The end of the wires is stripped so that only the core remains. Engineers will then add the connectors and terminals to this end.
- Assembly: Wires are gathered based on purposes or other factors depending on the design at the assembly board.
These crucial manufacturing steps are done by experts in the field to make sure that the wires fit the plan to the T. Even though automated tools are readily available to help the engineers at this step, most of the operation will still be done by hand to ensure high accuracy as well as to keep defect levels at a minimum.
Testing
After the production step comes the testing stage. At this stage, engineers will test the wire harnesses in real-life conditions to make sure that everything is working as intended. The testing team will make sure to detect any defects as well, as defects can potentially cause dangerous accidents that put the life of the driver at stake.
After the quality control team has confirmed the safety and efficiency of the wire harnesses, they will be shipped to the customer for the next step of the larger car assembly process.
The Best Materials for Wire Harnesses
During the designing process, the engineers will have to determine the materials that will be used for the wires in the wire harnesses. Here they will have plenty of choices, but the most popular ones will be copper and aluminum. Both of these materials are highly conductive, making them the perfect choice for electrical wires. Copper wires are somewhat more popular than aluminum wires, and they are more durable. However, if you wish to save costs and opt for a more flexible option, aluminum wires will also be a great choice.
The Best Production Methods for Wire Connectors and Terminals
Connectors and terminals are among the crucial components of wire harnesses, so they will also have to be a part of the equation as well. Wire connectors are mostly made from thermoplastic materials, so the best production methods to produce them are injection molding and compression molding. Both of these methods are highly scalable, and they work wonders with thermoplastic materials.
The scalability of these methods is also worth discussing. Choosing a highly scalable production method means that you can adjust the scale of production depending on the order volume, ensuring that you will not have to wait for complicated adjustments. For example, if you are not receiving enough orders, you can easily scale down production to save costs. When you are getting mass orders, both injection molding and compression molding are well-suited for fulfilling them due to the high level of automation these methods possess.
With over 20 years of experience in injection molding as well as compression molding, Shanghai Arttangent is here to help you with producing the best wire connectors and terminals. Our team of highly capable engineers will also help you with designing wire harnesses and producing wires. Contact us now for more information!
The manufacturing process for wire harnesses starts with designing the harnesses, creating prototypes, purchasing the materials, producing the wire harnesses, and finally, testing them. This is the basic process that can be adapted or scaled depending on the needs of the client or the team. If you need more information on wire harnesses, don’t hesitate to check out our other blog posts!
Reference:
https://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/wire-harness-market
