Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1542458
42 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2026 I N T E RV I E W BY N O L A N J O H N S O N , I - C O N N ECT0 07 Zuken Automating Wire Harness Design Tools H istorically, wire manufacturing has not been a particularly digital business model, but that is changing. Zuken USA, a stalwart in CAD tools, has recently announced multiple new tools in the wire harness space. In a conversation with Zuken's Paul Harvell, vice president of engineering, and Geof- frey (Geo) Ng, technical marketing manager, we get details on how Zuken is helping wire harness design and manufacturing catch up and, in some ways, leapfrog the current state of the art in EMS digitization and automation. Nolan Johnson: It's a common perspective that wire harness techniques are more comfortable in the 19th century than the 21st century; I still hear of huge sheets of plywood with nail beds that capture the harness structure. However, tell me what has led to digital wire harness design tools? Paul Harvell: Your perceptions are quite right. The formboards, of course, took up a lot of room, so there were these massive storerooms filled with old boards, with different versions. It was horrible and inefficient.