Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1542458
46 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2026 in the top left corner, and the technician can stick it right on the magnet clamp. It's a significant advan- tage; you no longer need to be trained for months to know how to assemble a harness. Can you kit out the wires? Harvell: Yes, and you know it will be right because you've already modeled it before you start building. It seems like this would change workforce avail- ability and floor space use. Harvell: Skilled labor force is an issue. Zuken is making this more efficient, so design shops will be able to handle more harnesses. Previously, we discussed the storage requirements for all these plywood formboards. Suddenly, you only have the one projection unit. You're storing data on discs now, which, of course, is a lot smaller. Having the design connected to all the manu- facturing equipment is a huge time-saver. In the past few years, we've added functionality. We can cut the wires, but how do we order them? Can we arrange them in an order that is more intuitive for installation? Can we cut all the black wires first and then cut the red wires? That makes it faster for the wire-cutting operator. Can you put that data into a tester? If you have to type everything by hand, you're losing the bene- fits of automation. You have to automate the auto- mation. Harvell: Yes, Komax have started using the EFB format file to drive their testers. The EFB file is so detailed in terms of point-to-point connectivity that it can be used to run everything needed from this collection of work instructions. Maintaining a digital model offers numerous advantages. How does using these tools change the job function? Harvell: The re-use element is a huge advantage. If you have a similar harness to make, designers save time by simply changing a few things. If you try to change one connector for another, Harness Builder ensures that all the wires still fit correctly. We track mating connectors inside the application. Test equipment always requires a mating list to determine how it plugs into the harness for testing. Even with a dynamic change, if we switch from one connector series family to another, the tool will take that into account. Designers will speed changes. It used to be common for engineering to rethink,