"Our biggest goal with the change to the ultrasonic splicing was the quality factor," concluded Cook. "Before the harness is taken off the build board and all of the splices are complete, we do our finished testing." At the touch of a button, Harley-Davidson can quality check each harness to ensure that first quality is being built. The immediate payback is in customer satisfaction that results in fewer warranty claims. Harley-Davidson has eliminated bench top operations and introduced total quality control by utilizing ultrasonic splicing and the proper build process.
Wiring harness manufacturing has been around as long as the automobile. Wiring harnesses typically contain several splice junctions of multiple wires. Traditionally, there have been two processes most commonly and most reliably used for wire splicing. The clip and dip method of splice making is probably the oldest. With this method, an operator crimps (terminates) the splice with a metal clip. The splice is then dipped in an acid flux solution to clean the surfaces prior to solder clipping. The clipped assembly is then dipped into a liquid solder solution to maximize the mechanical and electrical reliability of the splice. Today, though, there is an industry-wide trend to move away from the clip and dip process. Chemicals, fumes, heat, and the generation of hazardous waste materials make it labor intensive, and there is also the material cost of the clips, flux, and solder to absorb. Another process, resistance welding, has been reliably used for many years to make splices. Resistance welders require a moderate capital investment initially, but the real costs of resistance welders are in their operation because they use a significant amount of energy.
