Reducing Wire Harness Lead Times for a Specialty Commercial Truck Manufacturer
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Key Takeaways from Our Specialty Truck Wire Harness Project
The Challenge
Managing sharp demand spikes for specialty commercial trucks while dealing with 4-8 week lead times.
The Solution
Heale was awarded 100% of the client’s volume, producing 15-40 assemblies monthly and building a 6+ year business relationship.
At a Glance
Industry: Commercial trucks
Product: Six primary custom wire harnesses
Application: Bulk storage tank and vacuum trucks
Production volume: Low volume runs
Lead time: 4-8 weeks
Project Overview: Specialty Truck Electric Wire Harnesses
A regional manufacturer of commercial bulk storage tank trucks and vacuum trucks needed better availability of wire harnesses as their demand for wire harness configurations varied. Leveraging Heale Manufacturing’s low-volume, high-mix expertise, the two companies collaborated to create a safety stock program anchored in mutual trust. We identified repeat wire harness builds that required immediate availability to satisfy demanding customer lead-times.
The Challenge
The commercial bulk storage tank truck and vacuum truck markets are highly competitive; lead-time can make or break a sale. This small business found the normal 4-8 week lead-times associated with procuring custom wire harnesses was hurting their ability to grow. They needed a nimble supplier that could manage shifting supply demands. Before they found Heale, the customer was solving this dilemma by shopping wire harness lead-times and pricing among several vendors and selecting the best option at that time.
The component: Six primary custom wire harnesses
The hurdle: Managing volatile demand with long wire harness lead-times and variable pricing left the customer guessing and sitting on inventory
The stakes: Longer production lead-times for wire harnesses limited the customer’s reaction time to their market for commercial trucks, sometimes causing lost orders due to availability
The Heale Solution
Heale’s niche of producing high-quality custom wire harnesses in low volumes was a perfect match for the customer’s application. Heale came up with a win-win solution that would provide immediate custom wire harness availability. In exchange for the stocking agreement with fixed six-month pricing, Heale was awarded 100% of their volume. The customer had seven primary assemblies that needed to be available within days of ordering. Required monthly inventory levels were between 15-40 assemblies, a number that’s right in our wheelhouse.
Heale and the customer agreed on safety stock levels to be maintained monthly. The customer would provide one release for multiple assemblies at the beginning of each month. We then had a month to replenish the inventory to safety stock levels for the following month’s release. Pricing was fixed for a 6-month period and covered by an annual Blanket PO that enabled us to efficiently purchase components and respond quickly.
Our customer-centric mindset and small business agility to respond to customers’ requests is what made this partnership possible. The trust we established and continue to maintain with this customer has forged the bedrock of our relationship.
Long-Term Results
Throughout Heale’s nearly six-year run with this customer, there have been many challenges along the way: initially getting to the agreed upon inventory levels for all seven assemblies prudently, temptations to put off backfilling the safety stock levels due to more pressing orders, multiple drawing revisions and engineering change notifications (ECNs), unforeseen material cost increases, and releases exceeding the safety stock level. Once, we even drove parts to the customer rather than rely on an overnight shipping carrier.
The overall results from this 6+ year collaboration have been very successful. Our customer has kept their inventory levels low by receiving wire harnesses from Heale only in the month they are being installed on their trucks. Pricing has been predictable at 6-12 month intervals, allowing for material cost increases along the way; however, pricing has been fairly stable as we were able to “buy long” on key components knowing there was a stocking agreement in place. Our reliability and quality have improved over this time due to the routineness of maintaining the safety stock. The customer is very pleased with the results and has great confidence in Heale’s capabilities.
Custom Wire Harnesses for Every Industrial Application
Since 1957, Heale Manufacturing has been a trusted leader in high-quality, low-volume wire harnesses and cable assemblies. From the U.S. Department of Defense to commercial OEMs, we tackle complex challenges with fast RFQs, unmatched engineering experience, and a personal touch at every stage.
Ready to start your next project?
1231 The Strand, Waukesha, WI 53186
262-542-4496
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