Cost comparison bettwwen ribbon cable and individual wires.

[nengaw]

I was looking at wiring harnesses used with desktop power supplies and it seems that you can get both two types of output wiring harness. The first is the conventional bundle of wires with a sleeve or wire-ties. The second is a ribbon cable with the appropriate number and size of conductors.
My question is how do the costs add up for each method?
I would think that stripping a ribbon cable and preparing it for connectors would involve more labor or more expensive tooling compared to the simpler needs of individual wires. However the costs of stocking multiple colors of wire is a cost that a ribbon cable won't have.
The ribbon cables seem like a "premium feature" but I would like other opinions.

 

[davidbeach]

Ribbon cable is usually terminated with insulation displacement connectors and there is no stripping required.

 

[itsmoked]

Ribbons would be good if you had a termination as David describes that would then mate to whatever you test or use the desktop supply for.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[chemionix]

Preferred Ribbons Cable.. Altough they are premier feature but they are easier and advantageous as compared to other..