CASE STUDY
How Harness Suite Helped a Global Wire Harness Manufacturer Reduce Overhead and Improve Pricing Accuracy
2
Countries of operation
~1,000
Employees
90%
Reduction in combined quoting and engineering staffing requirements
Customer Profile
- Wire harness manufacturer operating in two countries
- Approximately 1,000 employees
- 40 engineers supporting quoting, engineering documentation, and shop travelers
The Challenge
Despite its size and experienced workforce, the manufacturer was losing money and struggling with excessive overhead. Leadership lacked the visibility needed to determine why costs were increasing or which products and processes were contributing to the losses.
Quoting and engineering relied heavily on manual data entry, inconsistent standards, and outdated pricing. Without a centralized system, the company could not reliably calculate its true material and labor costs.
What Harness Suite Discovered
After the company's data was migrated into Harness Suite, several significant issues became visible:
- Labor rates used for pricing were inconsistent, with some rates dating back decades.
- Component prices varied widely, and some had not been updated in seven to ten years.
- Copper pricing was inconsistent and did not reliably reflect current market rates.
- Labor standards and production-operation times varied across the organization.
- Many operational standards did not align with industry benchmarks or equipment manufacturers' recommended production rates.
- Certain manufacturing operations were not included in customer pricing because the company had no consistent method for assigning direct labor to them.
These findings revealed substantial discrepancies between the company's quoted prices and its actual production costs.
The Harness Suite Solution
More Accurate and Consistent Quoting
The Harness Suite Quoting module centralized and standardized the company's estimating process. It applied:
- Component costs based on standard pricing from the company's ERP system
- Accurate labor standards and operation times
- Current NYMEX-based copper pricing
- Direct labor costs for operations that had previously gone unaccounted for
- Consistent pricing rules across facilities and quoting teams
The discovery of outdated and omitted costs was an eye-opening moment for the company. Harness Suite gave management a clear understanding of why certain products had been underpriced and where profitability was being lost.
Less Manual Data Entry
Import and export capabilities, along with API integrations, reduced duplicate data entry and improved the flow of information between Harness Suite and the company's existing business systems.
This automation reduced administrative work while improving the accuracy and consistency of quoting and engineering data.
Greater Pricing Transparency
Harness Suite enabled the manufacturer to present customers with supporting documentation based on standardized labor calculations, current material costs, and market-based copper pricing.
With objective cost data, the company could approach customers with well-supported requests for appropriate price adjustments.
Real-Time Executive Visibility
The Harness Suite executive dashboard provided immediate visibility into cost and market changes. Management could identify pricing risks, evaluate their financial impact, and update multiple quotes and prices efficiently.
Instead of reacting to losses after they occurred, the company could respond proactively to changes in copper rates, component costs, labor expenses, and other market influences.
Integrated Harness Engineering
The customer also implemented the Harness Suite Engineering module, which integrates directly with the Quoting module. This integration reduced duplicate BOM entry and allowed quoting data to flow into the engineering process.
The platform also used component characteristics and compatibility rules to help prevent human error. For example, the system could flag an attempt to assign a terminal designed for 16-gauge wire to a 4-gauge wire.
Additional engineering capabilities included AI-assisted generation of nexus connections and visual circuit diagrams, helping teams understand and validate harness designs more efficiently.
The Results
By standardizing pricing, automating repetitive work, and integrating quoting with engineering, the manufacturer achieved substantial operational improvements:
- More accurate labor, component, and copper pricing
- Identification of previously unbilled manufacturing operations
- Improved visibility into product costs and profitability
- Faster quoting and engineering workflows
- Less duplicate and manual data entry
- Fewer component-selection errors
- Stronger documentation for customer price adjustments
- Proactive responses to material and market changes
- A combined reduction of approximately 90% in quoting and engineering staffing requirements
The resulting cost savings were substantial, while the company gained a more scalable foundation for future growth.
A Pricing Model That Supports Growth
Harness Suite is offered at a flat rate rather than through per-user or per-transaction pricing. Customers are not penalized for processing more quotes, completing more engineering work, or expanding their operations.
As the business grows, its Harness Suite subscription cost remains predictable. Manufacturers can increase productivity, improve quality, and support higher volumes without automatically increasing software costs or adding administrative staff at the same rate.
With Harness Suite, manufacturers can do more work, complete it faster, improve quality, and operate with less overhead, all through a platform designed specifically for the wire harness industry.
See What Harness Suite Could Find in Your Numbers
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