We are often asked what is new or has changed in the wire harness industry in the last five or ten years. Most people see the only changes to the industry as the additions and subtractions to the different terminals and connectors. The reality is that the most significant changes have been in the area of quality.
In the past wire harness was often seen as a key warranty item. Wires could be pulled from the terminals and electrical connections were often poor. Improvements were made with the connector supplier specifications of crimp height and width accompanied by a pull test. While a marked improvement, it was still a methodology that was lacking. At times the insulation crimp was not released prior to doing a pull test and even if the crimp was good, a terminal not seated properly in the housing could still be a field issue.
Thermtrol has developed the ability to consistently build products at the highest quality level using state of the art quality systems and world class manufacturing processes. We have invested well over $1.5M in test equipment that includes cross sectioning, environmental chambers, press analyzer, Dynalab Cable Testers, Cirris Cable Testers, motorized pull force monitors, temperature rise capability and much more.
Cross section equipment was initially added at Thermtrol in 2006. Originally the equipment was added for use in the quality lab. Once the true value and equipment potential was fully understood, more equipment was added so that we can perform cross sectioning on the production line before during and at the end of each shift to insure the tooling is not starting to wear and the crimp is consistently well within specification. In addition to having equipment at our primary manufacturing location, we also have similar capability at our Ohio headquarters.
With the Push Click Pull we have developed a process to 100% confirm the terminals are properly seated in the housing. Each of these and all assembly test fixtures are made in house and where possible, include a Poka-Yoke to insure repeatability.
With Thermtrol quality is more than a series of process, policies and procedures. Thermtrol Quality is a manufacturing mindset.