RELY · Case Study · Thermal management wire harnesses
- 174Harnesses produced in 2025
- 2,000+Engineering hours saved annually
- 28Different SKUs
- $20KStagnant inventory eliminated
THE CHALLENGE
Engineering was spending high-value time building prototype, engineering-build, and service wire harnesses while also chasing parts, tooling, and print clarifications. The work was expensive, below the engineering skill set, and created a bottleneck for new product launches, especially as harness complexity and connector variety grew. The internal operation was also tied to a fixed union cost center with limited staffing flexibility, while floor space and inventory were getting squeezed by growth. The client needed a turnkey partner to take full ownership of estimating, procurement, build, test, and program management without sacrificing quality or speed.
RELY'S SOLUTION
- Converted the internal harness cost center into a profit-driven outsourced operation with full estimating, quoting, and program management
- Implemented JIT procurement with supplier coordination plus min/max replenishment, eliminating $20K in stagnant inventory
- Consolidated 130+ connector SKUs into a managed catalog with inventory visibility and engineering change control
- Added AI-driven print review during quoting to flag incompatibilities and print errors before production
- Built vertical integration with in-house braiding and label-making to control lead time and quality
- Standardized 100% continuity testing for every harness before shipment
- Eliminated a $38/hr union cost center across 5–6 FTEs (roughly $400K+ annually) while freeing engineering resources
PROGRAM SCOPE
- Volume ramp: 7 harnesses/week at launch to 25+/week across multiple customers
- Orders: 1 to 45 harnesses per order, average order size of 6
- Output: 174 harnesses produced in 2025 across 28 SKUs
- Complexity: up to 300 components and 90 circuits
- End-to-end build: braiding, labeling, testing, and packaging
- Connector management: 130+ connector catalog with supplier coordination and change control
- Speed: 4–5 day quote turnaround for full procurement jobs; 3-week prototype cycle (materials/tooling, board build, production)
Start here
Discuss a similar program.
Start with a description, photo or sample. A complete RFQ is not required.