Rising labor costs reduce the return

The manual production share is still very high despite mature technology, which is why labor costs are a significant factor. In addition, wages are rising significantly in some regions, meaning our customers’ profitability is suffering. 

Shortages and turnover of staff generate additional expenses 

The demand for labor exceeds the supply in certain areas. Customers experience difficulties in recruiting and retaining employees, who earn more in nearby foreign countries or in other industries and are no longer available to work in wire harness production. The high level of staff turnover leads to additional training costs and makes it more difficult to avoid errors. 

Production relocation has its limits

As a result of the staff situation, production is being relocated from Romania to North Africa, for example. But the scope for such shifts is constrained and increasingly pushed to its limits. This is because relocation also has negative effects in some areas, including on the procurement of raw materials, delivery logistics costs, reaction speed and CO2 emissions. The latter could potentially be subject to sanctions in the foreseeable future.

The required quality can rarely be guaranteed through manual labor

The increasing quality requirements of car manufacturers present a challenge for wire harness manufacturers. Zero tolerance for manufacturing defaults is difficult to put into practice with less qualified workers. The future with autonomous vehicles will probably entail even stricter requirements regarding seamless traceability. It is very difficult to ensure comprehensive quality with manual labor.

Miniaturization: manual interventions are prone to errors 

Wire harness components are being deliberately miniaturized. On the one hand, the installation space is limited, but on the other hand, the weight needs to be reduced to save fuel. The direct consequences are thinner wires and smaller terminals. In addition, the control units have an ever-increasing packing density at the interfaces, which makes it increasingly difficult to manually load small cavities. 

Increasing content of wire harnesses add another complexity which calls for automation

Electric and electronic content in cars is progressively being expanded by e.g. driver-assistance systems, infotainment and comfort applications. At the same time, the demands on wire processing are increasing due to faster data transmission and higher voltage levels. Moreover, the exact specifications of a wire harness – at least in Europe – is customer-specific! This results in an almost infinite number of wiring harness configurations that our customers have to produce within a short time. 

Digital consistency is becoming increasingly important

Wire harnesses are often subject to changes. In many places, there is a lack of digital consistency to automatically bring the adjustments to the assembly lines. As a result, work instructions have to be reissued and control mechanisms adapted. These manual interventions are a potential source of error and make no contribution to the actual added value.

Higher levels of automation have never been so urgently needed as today 

Car manufacturers and their 1st tier suppliers are striving for greater automation in order to tackle the challenges to come. In order to ensure reliable wire processing and stable supply chains in the future, a higher degree of automation is essential. The Komax Group sees its central task in fostering higher levels of automation so as to provide real added value to our customers.