IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1497169
IPC COMMUNITY 63 SPRING 2023 IPC/WHMA-A-620 is on a three-year revi- sion cycle, although Revision E was published in just 35 months, and Teresa expects to see the next revision within a similar period. "There is a lot of technological change that can happen very quickly in wire harness manu- facturing," Cathy says. "There are ways of doing things that changed quite a bit for Revision E. We took out a chapter on wire wrap, and that's not common in the industry anymore. In this revision, we will be focusing on some changes to Section 7—ultrasonic welding—which is coming to the forefront more often in making wire harnesses." Ultrasonic welding is frequently used in electric vehicles, so it was an important sec- tion to be reviewed, in order to bring the best and latest information to it. "Electric vehicles are bringing in new technologies that will need to be addressed eventually," Cathy continues. "When we were at Gnomeapalooza last October, we were talking about electric vehicles where there is a battery cable that is much beefier and has drain wires and overall shielding. That's com- pletely different than how battery cables are typically constructed, so I can see that we will be addressing how to manufacture using these different styles of cables and the materi- als that we will be using to manufacture them." While A-620E already has a space adden- dum, it's possible an automotive addendum could be included as well. "One portion of the group is working on a high voltage cable addendum, so instead of saying that we'll do an automotive addendum, the group felt this was the best way to approach it," Teresa says. "But they are just getting started." High-mix, High-volume Representation To form such a committee requires a range of expertise; both Cathy and Teresa feel the committee of about 100 members is well rep- resented. "Everybody on the committee represents some function in wire harness making, from start to finish," Cathy says. "My professional focus is the actual manufacturing of the wire harness. I work on things from when we quote it to when the routing sheets get out on the floor, and it first gets made. We also have engi- neers, technicians, suppliers—it's really a wide range of anybody who has anything to do with making a wire harness, from designing it on a piece of paper to physically putting it together with their own hands." She acknowledges she would like to see even more representation on the committee, particularly those outside of aerospace. "We make wire harnesses for every industry possible, from fire protection and medical, to landscape equipment, and so forth," Cathy says. "Typically, if I'm around WHMA folks, I'm trying to get them to send people to this com- mittee." "The number of members also varies," Teresa chimes in, "as people come in and out of the group. You know, they're all volunteers, so at times they're assigned other areas of work, or they have competing company interests. You also come in and out of the group because you want to work on a specific chapter and it's your area of expertise." Cathy Hanlin