Digital

Initial situation and motivation

Wire harness production in the automotive industry is still largely carried out manually. Technical approaches to automate the production process, at least in part or even completely, have been known for several years. There are also specialized companies that offer corresponding machines and systems commercially. Nevertheless, the proportion of value added by automated production in the industry has remained at a consistently low level. A trend towards changing this situation is not discernible today, although various reasons indicate a clear need for action towards automation[see Reasons for automation].

A key reason for this situation is that the current design of wiring harnesses is generally not suitable for automated systems. This is also due to the fact that the complexity of vehicle networking has been increasing for years and the wiring harnesses primarily follow the requirements of the vehicle and the product function to be achieved. Requirements for automation-compatible design still play a clearly subordinate role in industrial practice today.

Current focus of work

Against this background, the aim of the sub-project is to establish requirements and recommendations for the digital product description on the basis of known automation obstacles and associated design guidelines for the Wire Harness. This is done by standardizing data profiles for the digital component and Wire Harness based on the standard data formats KBL (wire harness list) and VEC (Vehicle Electric Container).

In project phase 2.1, the first version of DIN 72036 was created together with the project partners. Sub-project 10 derived data format-independent requirements for the digital product description in the form of data requirements from the design guidelines listed in the standard. The sub-project then projected these requirements onto the KBL and VEC data formats and ultimately defined three data profiles in this way:

• A VEC-based data profile for wire harness components
• A VEC-based data profile for line sets
• A KBL-based data profile for line sets

The intended benefits of the data profiles defined in the standard basically extend to all stakeholders involved in development and production. This is because the data profiles make it clear in an unambiguous manner which data is fundamentally required in the process in the context of automated wire harness production and how it is to be mapped digitally. This creates orientation for all stakeholders, prevents unnecessary iteration loops and can promote the development of tool solutions that can be used throughout the industry.

In the course of defining the above-mentioned data profiles, expansion requirements were submitted to the responsible standardization bodies in order to close existing gaps in the data formats with regard to the digital product description.

In project phase 2.2, the aim is now to continue on the path we have taken and to maintain and expand the data profiles in line with the other sub-projects. The basis for this are all activities for the provision of a new version of DIN 72036 in the course of the planned scope extension, e.g. to the high-voltage application area, as well as all new topics such as the introduction of an automation key figure. Furthermore, the VEC and KBL data profiles are to be published in PROSTEP using corresponding XML schemas.

Outlook

The primary result of the sub-project is the creation of a contribution to a standard to be developed as part of the ARENA 2036 IILS. The aim is to standardize data profiles for the digital component and Wire Harness based on the standard data formats KBL (wire harness list) and VEC (Vehicle Electric Container).

The background to this is that the aforementioned standard data formats tend to avoid setting strict requirements for minimum filling. This applies in particular to the VEC data format, which, in contrast to the KBL, is explicitly not only focused on the use case of Wire Harness, but also wants to be able to serve an indefinite number of other conceivable usage scenarios. However, if the goal of being able to check compliance with design guidelines on the basis of digital data is to be achieved, dedicated requirements for the content and scope of the digital product description must be met. The data profiles serve the purpose of making this transparent.

As a secondary result, the sub-project is working on expanding the above-mentioned data standards in order to close existing gaps that are relevant for assessing the suitability of the wire harness with regard to automated production. Corresponding tickets will be submitted to the relevant standardization committees.