Innovation Initiative

On 12 and 13 October 2021, the ninth edition of the international congress “Automotive Wire Harness” took place online. With over 200 participants and ten exhibiting/supporting companies, the congress brought together a diverse and international community involved in the wiring systems of the future.

Georg Sterler, former Head of Onboard Electrical System Development at AUDI, chaired the congress and moderated the expert presentations, which were held on various topics under the umbrella theme of “Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Mobility”.

The congress’s main focuses were:

• Electrical systems in new vehicles (BMW iX, Daimler S Class and EQS)  
• New electrical system architectures and future bus systems
• Automation in production  
• Increasing the reliability of wiring systems and their components  
• Environmental targets of the VW Group for future wiring systems

As ARENA2036 research coordinator and head of the Innovation Initiative Wire Harness, Georg Schnauffer was the speaker and gave a keynote speech on the project goals and current project status of the automation of the wire harness.  

In 2022, the “Automotive Wire Harness” congress will also celebrate its 10th anniversary.  

More information and registration: https://www.bordnetze.eu

This year, the first virtual IIWH forum was organised by the Innovation Initiative Wire Harness on 25 March 2021. Over a period of six hours, the participants were given deep insights into the development, manufacturing and production of the wire harness, and the focal points and challenges of the individual sub-projects were presented and discussed.

Around 90 participants from various areas of the wire harness value chain were given a comprehensive overview of the project. The subsequent discussions with experts from the IIWH led to an interesting exchange of content-related topics and new points of contact that could possibly play a role in the IIWH’s sub-projects in the future. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all participants for their interest as well as all of the partners of the IIWH who support the Innovation Initiative Wire Harness project.

Furthermore, we would also like to draw your attention to the next IIWH Forum, taking place next year on 24/03/2022. We look forward to your participation.

In 2020, the 8th International Conference Automotive Wire Harness and Electronic Distribution System was held in Ludwigsburg. The main topics of discussion were the current trends and challenges in on-board electrical system development and production such as,

• Resource conservation,
• Smart signal transmission,
• Innovative architecture concepts,
• Robust power supplies and
• Release complexity.

Alongside some interesting and varied presentations by some of the industry’s heavyweights, there was a premiere to celebrate: the first public appearance of the Innovation Initiative Wire Harness (IIWH) in front of an expert audience. In addition to topics that affect the entire industry, such as the strategic challenges for automated wire harness development, production and assembly, various scenarios were presented that will affect the wire harness of tomorrow. The feedback from the professional audience suggested that the topics presented really struck a nerve. Today, we can confirm this with the help of 17 partners who are involved at various phases of the value chain.