Porsche356supersport
Automotive
During some recent competitor sample evaluation we've noticed our competitors are overmoulding grommets and fastners onto the wire harness of a sensor. We did some investigation inhouse regarding the cost benefit of inserting the grommet (using a waffle machine) vs overmolding the grommet/fasteners. Our determination was that inserting the grommet was still the most cost effective. The basis we used for the calculation was three seperate overmold stations. I am just wondering if we missed a trick here? Is it possible to use a shuttle table to synchronouosly mold three to four components onto the harness at once? Typically these harnesses are up to 1.5M long....we had thought about a system where the cable could be feed off a roll, pulled into the mold press, overmolded with components and then cut to length. Is this a dream or is there equipment on the market that can handle this type of operation? In the end I am wondering if people can give some feedback on why overmolded grommets/fastners are being used. The benefits for positioning, quality of seal and retention are clear but does it justify the cost?.....and yes this is a high volume production scenario.