Let’s face it, when you need to get an oil change for your car, you don’t go to a bakery. This remains true in every industry where it is important to select the proper tools, suppliers and materials in order to maintain longevity as a profitable company.

Today we will look at many key factors when selecting the right outsourcing partner for Custom Wire Harnesses & Wire Leads that will help you in deciding how to best serve your company’s growth.

Why Outsource?

This question usually starts all debates in corporate offices seeking to grow and weighing the benefits/costs of doing so.

Why would a manufacturing corporation want to outsource part of their product to a Custom Wire Harness Manufacturer?

Certifications:

Any North American product that is human interfaceable and plugs into mains voltage meaning a person touches the electronic device to use it and it plugs into ac 120 volts. They must be certified by CSA in Canada and UL in The United States to guarantee human safety from electrical shock hazards. Products must bear a certification mark to be considered approved.

How does this affect the Wire Harness in a product?

When a machinery company builds their own electrical wire harnesses, they often opt to get a model certification with CSA & UL. This allows that same model to be created by certified drawing repeatedly by anyone certified to do the work.

Other companies opt for additional Certifications to be able to spec certified parts into their own products and build them so that it is considered certified automatically under the authority of the company making the product.

Cost is a huge factor here, where 2 separate certifications to build CSA and UL dual certified wire harnesses is in the 25k range plus yearly audit fees and stringent quality guidelines.

Custom Wire Harness Manufacturers take the guesswork out of certification by being pre-authorized by CSA and UL separately to do any certified power work for companies who need those certified parts in their end products.

Cost Reduction/ Quality Increase

In high spec applications like Wire crimps where thousandths of an inch matter, moving an assembly process to an outsourcing company means acquiring the result of their quality systems and processes. This fact can make or break the success of a product line in manufacturing because a lack of understanding of mil-spec processes by a company looking to outsource can mean selecting a processing company who cannot truly make the industry standard for quality in electrical power products.

Tooling decisions are critical to the resulting quality of wire leads and harnesses. Most manufacturers who end up outsourcing their electrical wire harness work start out using hand tools to apply terminals, and manual processes to cut, strip and house wires. The difference in wire quality capability between a hand tool crimping a contact and a 1.5 ton mil-grade stamping press is astronomical. We won’t get into the nitty gritty in this article about how those machines work, but know there is a huge difference. Learn more about crimp quality here

Run Rates

Run rates matter when considering outsourcing. Not only is the quality affected, but most of the time the driving factor for manufactures to outsource is speed increase and thus cost. It is on the manufacturer seeking a supplier to analyze the time lost due to inefficiency inside their own operation in order to justify the costs associated with outsourcing.

For example, as a custom harness manufacturer, we also complete crimps on occasion using semi-automated hand tooling when there are no mil-grade dies available for press production. The run rates of a hand tool are about 1/8th of the rate achievable by the same operator using a die press. Translate that time savings into cost reduction for feasibility auditing.

Repairs & Service

You have to weigh quality increase and back-end re-servicing of products when considering a move to a supplier as well. We know that mil-spec processes create wire products that last as long as 50-100 years under normal operating conditions. When wire terminals are hand applied using hand tools, they risk failing at any point due to the lack of metal bonding seen in pressed crimps.

It is hard to estimate the cost of re-servicing failed equipment because it is so variable in nature. By selecting a Wire Harness Supplier who uses mil-grade processes, you can ensure a long lasting product that will not need servicing as often.

Procurement Channel Curation

One of the most common areas we see cost improvement on a regular basis throughout the quoting process is the ability of wire harness manufacturers to acquire the raw materials to manufacture the harness at much lower rates than the company looking to outsource.

As a Custom Wire Harness Manufacturer, we take our vendors very seriously. First and foremost is the consideration of certified part quality. In order to guarantee supply chain flow for our customers, reliable suppliers must be found who not only create a repeatable raw product to use, but who can provide enough material over time to satisfy the customer’s sales.

Many times, a quoting company will come in with a fantastic price to win a bid, but then has issues on the back end performing for any length of time due to supplier choice and stocking issues.

It takes many years in business to curate a reliable vendor list for raw certified materials. Making orders for materials, seeing the products come in and their quality, lead time analyzation and volume cost breaks all must be top of mind as an outsourcing company to be able to provide a long service life for parts at the best prices.

Batch Ordering By The Outsourcing Company

Once an outsourcing company has enough clientele, raw materials used across multiple product lines for different clients can be aggregated to further enhance the cost savings offered by the outsourcing company. We can build a competitive edge for your product by obtaining pricing unreachable by other competitors as a result.

Just In Time Orders

Another area of gain from the buying side of an outsourcing relationship is the ability to have orders scheduled using release dates to get certain quantities of products on a regular basis from your vendor. This helps standardize production of products and guarantees that an outsourcing supplier can accurately plan for your jobs ahead of time, aggregate orders to offer the best cost, and provide a long term product flow.

How To Obtain Outsourcing For Your Wire Components

Step 1:

Find 3 prospective companies with a reputation for quality and who has proven their existence in the industry.

Step 2:

Get 3 Quotes to compare prices from different vendors. WORD OF CAUTION: The best price is not always the best choice!

Step 3:

Analyze Lead Times and Promises from quotation, as well as asking about processes used to create the part.

Step 4:

Establish the need if any for flexibility to change with your evolving needs if you know ahead of time

Step 5:

Consider the Ethics And Environmental Standpoint of the prospective outsourcing company to make sure your views align

Step 6:

Communicate Clearly and Consisely. Remember price is not the only factor in outsourcing. These decisions transfer to the future viability of your company’s partnerships

Most Importantly, Do Not Rush!

It is widely understood that a company will not look to outsource assembly processes until the need arises whether quality related or volume related.

It is paramount the decision on which partner to choose is not done without proper analyzation. The last thing a company needs when trying to grow is a vendor who cannot support their production.

We hope this article has helped in your outsourcing decision making process! If you feel this information is valuable to others, feel free to share it using the buttons below!