TP7 -

TP7 - Digital product description (KBL/VEC)

Sub-project 7 (SP7) is the central sub-project for all topics relating to the digital description of guideline sets. It focuses on the development and standardization of data profiles that can be used not only to describe design guidelines, but also to check them digitally. TP7 thus makes a decisive contribution to consistency - because automated production cannot work without structured, machine-readable data.

The starting point is the realization that wiring harnesses are often not designed for automation in practice. The reasons for this lie not only in technical limitations, but also in the lack of industry-wide standards for digital description - both at component level and at the level of the overall wiring harness.

This is precisely where TP7 comes in: The aim is to derive specific data requirements from the design guidelines of DIN 72036, which can be clearly stored and validated in digital development tools. The exchange formats KBL (wire harness list) and VEC (Vehicle Electric Container), which are established in the industry, form the basis. In order to make the formats usable, binding data profiles were defined for the first time in SP7, including

• a VEC-based profile for components,
• a VEC-based profile for wire harnesses,
• and a KBL-based profile for line sets.

These profiles specifically define what information must be available in order to be able to check compliance with minimum bending radii, branching points, cable structures or tolerance windows on the software side, for example. The following applies: only verifiable design guidelines can be enforced. Component guidelines are currently an exception, as they cannot always be evaluated fully digitally - here TP7 relies on supplementary strategies.

The first data profiles were already included in DIN 72036:2024 - as a separate chapter with defined requirements for the digital product description. In standard version 2, these profiles were further developed in a targeted manner, specified in terms of content and adapted to the current status of data formats, in particular the VEC. SP7 assumes technical responsibility for the associated standards chapter (Chapter 6) - including quality assurance, consistency checks and updates in the course of each new version of the standard.

TP7 also coordinates the systematic reporting of technical gaps ("issues") to the responsible standardization committees of the VEC. The aim is to continuously develop the formats in order to ensure an industry-compatible, interoperable and sustainable database - not only for the standard itself, but also for downstream software solutions and production systems along the entire Wire Harness.

In the course of work on version 3 of the standard, new aspects of the digital product description are also coming into focus - including, in particular, component attributes, test characteristics and process-relevant information that is crucial for automation along the entire production chain. In order to systematically develop this content and consistently integrate it into the process landscape, sub-project manager Mr. Becker is actively contributing his IT-oriented perspective to the Processes task force. This ensures that digital product and process data are seamlessly interlinked - and that the standard is also future-proof in terms of data flows, test processes and automation interfaces.

TP7 is the data conscience of SILS: it translates technical requirements into testable data models - and thus creates the basis for genuine automation on a digital basis.