Are you a manufacturer or a trading company?

We are a wire harness manufacturer — cutting, stripping, crimping, sealing and testing are all carried out in-house at our Suzhou plant. We are also an authorised distributor of Xinya brand electronic wire, so you can source both the wire and the finished harness from one supplier.

What certifications do your electronic wires have?

Our electronic wires carry UL, VDE, PSE and CE approvals, together with RoHS and REACH compliance for the European market; TUV approvals are available for PV and renewable-energy wire. Certificates and test reports are issued by the manufacturer and can be supplied with your quotation on request.

How long is the lead time?

For electronic wire, popular styles such as UL1007, UL1015, UL1061 and UL1569 are normally available quickly; other styles, non-standard colours and cut lengths usually take around 7 days. Wire harnesses are made to order, so the schedule depends on your drawing, connector availability and quantity — we confirm it in the quotation.

What are your payment terms?

We commonly accept T/T (telegraphic transfer), PayPal and Western Union. Typically a 30% deposit is required before production, with the balance paid before shipment.

How do you ship the goods?

Samples and small orders are shipped by international express (DHL, FedEx, UPS, TNT) or by air freight. Larger orders normally go by sea to reduce freight cost. We can quote EXW, FOB, CIF or door-to-door terms and will recommend the option that best fits your budget and delivery date.

Do you have a minimum order quantity (MOQ)?

We keep a low MOQ to support your business. Generally the MOQ is 1 piece for standard models, although it may vary slightly for customised products. Small trial orders are welcome.

Can you build harnesses to our own drawing or sample?

Yes. We build to print and build to sample — send us a 2D drawing, a BOM, connector part numbers or even a photo of the part in use, and we will assemble, test and quote accordingly.

Can I get a sample before placing a bulk order?

Yes. We are happy to build a prototype first so that you can approve the fit, crimp and finish before committing to volume. Send the drawing and the target quantity and we will quote sample cost and lead time.

What information do you need to give a quotation?

For wire: the style or UL number, AWG, voltage and temperature rating, insulation, conductor, colour and length. For harnesses: the drawing or BOM, connector brand and part number, terminal and housing type, wire specification, cut length and tolerance, sleeving or tubing, label and packaging requirements, quantity and destination. If anything is unclear we will ask — or propose a construction for you.

Do you support OEM / ODM and private labelling?

Yes. We work with customer-specified connectors and brands as well as JST, Molex and HongXing, and can add printed markers, custom labels, printed bags and your own carton artwork for OEM and ODM projects.

How do you control quality?

Every order goes through incoming wire inspection, cutting and stripping checks, crimp height and terminal pull-force testing, 100% continuity and open-and-short testing, and a final dimensional and visual inspection. Inspection records can be supplied with the shipment when your project requires them.

Can you help with wire and connector selection?

Yes — our engineers help match wire gauge, insulation and temperature rating to your current, voltage and working environment, and select a terminal and housing combination that crimps reliably. Describe the application or send a sample and we will propose a construction.

Can you supply cut lengths and custom packaging?

Yes. Wire can be supplied in cut lengths, coils or spools, with PE bags, cartons, pallets and printed labels arranged to suit your warehouse or production line.

Do you ship worldwide, and can I visit the factory?

We ship worldwide, with regular shipments to Europe, North America, South-East Asia, the Middle East and Australia. You are welcome to visit our plant in Suzhou, and you can see our production lines in the factory videos on this site.

What happens if there is a quality problem after delivery?

Contact us with the order or batch number and photos of the issue. We will check it against our production and inspection records and, where the fault is confirmed on our side, arrange replacement or credit.

Terminal Crimp Quality: Crimp Height, Pull Force and Defects

Crimp quality is decided by three measurable controls: crimp height within about ±0.05 mm of the terminal maker’s window, pull force at or above the minimum for the wire gauge (for example roughly 50 N for 20 AWG strands), and a compression ratio near 80–90%. Specify these three values in writing and most field failures disappear.

A crimp is also the one joint in a wire harness that can no longer be inspected once assembled, so buyers have to judge it up front — on paper, then on samples. Yet crimping is the step most often left vague in RFQs. Drawings arrive with a terminal part number and a wire part number but no crimp height window, no pull force requirement and no acceptance criteria. That gap is where intermittent opens, high contact resistance and vibration failures are born.

Suzhou Fuxi Electromechanical Equipment Co., Ltd. (Xinya) has manufactured custom wire harnesses since 2008 and, as an authorised distributor of Xinya Electronic Co., Ltd., supplies more than 100 electronic wire styles with UL, VDE, PSE, CE, TUV, RoHS and REACH options. This article sets out the crimp numbers we put on our own drawings for products such as terminal crimped wire leads, so you can hold any supplier — including us — to the same standard. The full harness product line shows where these crimp standards are applied.

Why Does Crimp Height Matter So Much?

Crimp height is the single best predictor of a reliable crimp because it controls how tightly the barrel compresses the strand bundle. A correct crimp deforms the strands into a gas-tight mass at roughly 80–90% of their original cross-section: tight enough to expel air and block oxidation, loose enough that no strand is sheared.

Terminal manufacturers publish a crimp height window — typically a few hundredths of a millimetre wide, with working tolerances around ±0.02 to ±0.05 mm depending on gauge and barrel type. Below the window the barrel cuts strands; above it the bundle stays loose and pull force collapses. Because crimp height can be measured in seconds with a micrometer on a sectioned sample, it is the control checked most often: at set-up, after every reel change and at intervals during the run, with destructive pull testing reserved for sampled parts.

How Much Pull Force Does a Crimp Need?

Pull force is the pass/fail test: the crimped joint is pulled at a controlled speed until it fails, and the breaking value must exceed the minimum for the wire size. The table below lists values widely used across UL 486A-style acceptance criteria and major terminal maker application notes. Treat them as typical industry minima — the terminal manufacturer’s datasheet always takes precedence for a specific part.

Wire size	Typical minimum pull force	Approximate imperial
28 AWG	10 N	2.2 lbf
26 AWG	15 N	3.4 lbf
24 AWG	22 N	5 lbf
22 AWG	30 N	6.7 lbf
20 AWG	50 N	11 lbf
18 AWG	70 N	15.7 lbf
16 AWG	100 N	22.5 lbf
14 AWG	120 N	27 lbf
12 AWG	180 N	40 lbf
10 AWG	220 N	49 lbf

Two practical notes. First, the failure mode matters as much as the number: a correct crimp pulls the strands apart inside the barrel — the wire should never slide out of it. Second, test speed influences results; pull testers commonly run at 25–100 mm/min, and numbers from different suppliers are only comparable at similar speeds.

What Should a Crimp Specification Contain?

A complete crimp specification is short — about half a page — but it removes nearly all ambiguity. For each wire and terminal combination, ask your supplier to state:

Terminal and wire part numbers, including plating and strand class
Conductor crimp height window, plus the insulation crimp window where the terminal has one
Minimum pull force for the gauge
Strip length tolerance and the maximum allowed number of nicked or cut strands
Bellmouth requirement at the barrel entrance
Sample size and frequency for crimp height checks and pull tests

Our online harness builder captures exactly these fields — terminal, wire style, gauge and protection — so what you configure there converts directly into a specification our engineers can quote. If you already have a drawing, the same fields are listed step by step in our custom wire harness specification checklist, and the wire selector helps you lock down the wire side first.

Which Crimp Defects Cause Field Failures?

Six defects account for most crimp-related returns we see on crimped lead assemblies and panel harnesses, and all of them are visible on a sectioned or pulled sample:

Defect	Visual sign	Main risk
Under-crimp (height too high)	Loose strands, wire pulls out of the barrel	Intermittent opens, high resistance
Over-crimp (height too low)	Strands sheared or notched at the barrel bottom	Broken strands, vibration failure
Stray strand outside the barrel	A single strand escapes the conductor crimp	Short circuit to adjacent contacts
Insulation crimp piercing strands	Insulation bellmouth closed onto the conductor	Wicking, fatigue at the crimp edge
Nicked strands from stripping	Visible cut marks before the barrel	Reduced flex life, premature break
Missing bellmouth	Sharp barrel edge against bare strand	Work hardening and fracture at the exit

Most of these trace back to process setup rather than operator skill: a worn applicator anvil, the wrong strip length, or a terminal reel with different plating thickness. That is why a supplier’s crimp process — setup sheets, applicator maintenance, first-article discipline — tells you more than its marketing page.

How Is Crimp Quality Verified in Production?

Verification runs on three layers. Set-up: the applicator is set against the terminal maker’s window, and a first article is sectioned, measured and pull-tested to destruction before the batch is released. In-process: crimp height is checked with a micrometer on sample parts at fixed intervals and recorded; crimp force monitoring on the press flags any drift in the force curve even while height still reads in window. Batch: pull tests run at a defined sample rate — commonly three samples per reel or per shift for critical harnesses such as automotive and transport programs.

You can see this equipment and the operators who use it in our factory videos. The same verification flow applies whether the harness is destined for industrial automation panels, energy storage racks or appliance volume production.

What Should Buyers Check Before Approving a Supplier?

Before placing a first order, ask for three documents. First, a crimp cross-section or crimp height record from a sectioned first article — the fastest way to see whether the process is actually controlled. Second, pull test data with the failure mode noted, not just a pass stamp. Third, the setup sheet showing the crimp height window the operator works to. Questions about any of these are answered on our FAQ page.

Also ask how wire supply is handled, because a harness is only as consistent as its wire. Common styles such as UL1015 hook-up wire are stocked in volume, while specialty insulations typically need about 7 days of procurement. Drawing on the PVC and SR-PVC hook-up family and other UL, VDE, PSE and TUV-listed styles as an authorised distributor keeps both sampling and repeat orders short. How these choices move the number on your quotation is covered in wire harness cost factors, and the approval workflow itself in build to print vs build to sample.

Frequently Asked Questions About Crimp Quality

How often should pull force testing be performed?

A pull test belongs in every first article, after any reel, terminal or applicator change, plus a defined in-process sample rate — commonly three samples per reel or per shift. Recording every result, including failures, is what turns the test into a trend you can audit.

Can buyers specify their own crimp height windows?

Yes. If your terminal maker’s datasheet defines a window, we build to it and copy it onto the setup sheet. If the data is not available, we work from the terminal manufacturer’s published specification and state the applied window on the first-article report so it can be checked on receipt.

What is the difference between open-barrel and closed-barrel crimps?

Open-barrel terminals — the stamping-style contacts common in JST, Molex and automotive connectors — are closed in a press applicator, which allows crimp height measurement and high-volume production. Closed-barrel terminals are closed with a hand or pneumatic tool and suit low and medium volumes. The pull force requirement is the same for both; only the measurement method differs.

Do you accept customer-specified terminal brands?

Yes — JST, Molex, TE and customer-furnished terminals are routine. Genuine parts and the correct applicator keep crimp height inside the published window; no-name substitutes or wrong tools are the usual root cause behind “identical” terminals that fail pull testing.

What comes with a crimp qualification report?

Crimp height measurements against the stated window, pull force values with the observed failure mode, wire and terminal lot references, and photographs of the sectioned sample on request. Keep this report with the harness drawing so repeat orders can be compared against the approved baseline.

How fast can crimped samples be supplied?

Harnesses built on stocked wire styles — UL1007, UL1015, UL1061, UL1569 and similar — move into sampling quickly; wires outside stock are typically sourced in about 7 days. Production scheduling then follows the drawing and quantity, which is why complete drawings shorten the whole cycle.

Get Your Crimp Specification Reviewed

Send us your drawing or terminal list and we will return a quotation with crimp heights, pull force values and the test plan written out. Request a quote or configure your requirements in the harness builder, and our engineers will confirm the numbers before any sample is made.

Build to Print vs Build to Sample Wire Harness Assembly

Build to print means you own the drawing and the assembler builds exactly to it. Build to sample means the assembler develops the design from a physical sample or a performance brief. Print keeps design risk with the buyer; sample moves it to the supplier. That single difference drives cost, lead time and change control.

Both routes end at the same place: an approved harness in a box. The difference is who holds the acceptance criteria when the first unit comes off the bench and something does not fit.

What do build to print and build to sample actually mean?

Build to print is a manufacturing contract. You supply a controlled drawing package, the assembler supplies wire, terminals, labour and test, and conformity is judged against your drawing. Build to sample is a development contract: you supply something that works, or a description of what must work, and the assembler produces the drawing inside the quotation.

A print package is only complete when it carries all of the following. Missing any one of them turns a print contract into a sample contract by accident, usually after the first delivery.

Wire style and gauge per circuit, by UL or VDE style number, not a colour name.
Connector and terminal part numbers down to housing, seal, retainer and plating.
Cut length, strip length and branch geometry with tolerances and one measuring convention.
Splice locations, shielding, sleeving, heat-shrink and overmoulding call-outs.
Test requirement: continuity, dielectric withstand, pull force, insulation resistance, report format.
Marking, labelling and packaging, including any barcode or customer part number.

Build to print vs build to sample: a comparison table

The table is the version we use when a buyer asks which route is cheaper. Read it as a contract map, not a price list.

Dimension	Build to print	Build to sample
Design ownership	Buyer	Assembler, approved by buyer
Input required	Released drawing, BOM, test spec	Working sample, photos, or performance brief
Who writes the drawing	Buyer’s engineering team	Assembler’s engineering team
Tooling and applicators	Quoted separately, often buyer-owned	Usually inside development cost
First article	Verification against drawing	Joint definition, then verification
Change control	Buyer issues ECN, assembler implements	Assembler proposes, buyer approves
Cost profile	Lower unit price at volume, higher engineering load on buyer	Higher first-lot price, lower engineering load on buyer
Time to first good unit	Shorter if the drawing is truly complete	Longer, because definition happens inside the project
Main risk	Drawing errors reproduced exactly and at scale	Scope drift between what was asked and what was built
Best fit	Repeat programs, transferred production, mature designs	New products, obsolete originals, cost-down work

What does build to print require from you?

It requires a drawing a stranger can build from without asking a question. That is a higher bar than most internal drawings meet, because your own team fills the gaps from memory. An external assembler cannot.

Three things decide whether a print contract runs cleanly:

A revision letter on every page. Two pages at different revisions is the most common cause of a wrong first lot.
One measuring convention. State whether length is pin-to-pin, over the housing, or along the wire path. A 300 mm harness measured two ways can differ by 20 mm and both readings are defensible.
A named approver for deviations. When a terminal is on 12-week allocation, someone must be allowed to say yes to an equivalent the same day.

Our specification checklist lists the fields we need before quoting, and the harness builder walks the same structure for buyers who have no drawing yet. If you already have a package, the custom wire harness page shows the format we accept.

When does build to sample make more sense?

Build to sample wins when the design is not written down yet. That covers a new product where the harness is still moving, a legacy machine whose original supplier has gone, and a cost-down project where the current part works but is over-specified.

It is also the normal route in repair and aftermarket work, where one sample and a photograph with a ruler in frame are often all that survives from a discontinued machine. Three signals point to sample rather than print:

The harness interfaces with a housing or mechanism that is still being prototyped.
You can describe the function but not the part numbers, because the connectors are unmarked.
You want the assembler to propose a lower-cost construction, which means they must be allowed to change the design.

Houses that quote sample work keep an engineering function for it. Ours sits with the assembly services group, and the factory video page shows the cut, strip, crimp and test stations any drawing is written against.

How does sample approval change cost and lead time?

Sample approval adds a gate, and gates cost calendar time. A typical cycle runs three phases: definition, first sample, approved sample. Each ends with a document the buyer signs, and nothing moves until it is signed.

Approval gate	What is fixed	Typical quantity	What the buyer signs
Definition	Wire styles, connector families, routing, test level	Paper only	Specification sheet
First sample	Build method, tooling, crimp settings	3-5 pieces	Sample evaluation report
First article	Dimensional and electrical conformity	3-5 pieces from production	FAI report, signed drawing
Production	Process frozen until an ECN	Order quantity	Release note per batch

On cost, the sample route carries the engineering hour inside the first lot. That is why a 50-piece sample order can price 30-50% above the same harness at 5,000 pieces, and why the gap is not a negotiation position. Once the drawing exists it becomes a print job and the premium disappears.

On lead time the logic runs in reverse. A complete print package can go to the line almost immediately, while a sample job needs a definition round first. Common UL1007, UL1015, UL1061 and UL1569 constructions are normally available quickly; other wire styles and connector families typically take about seven days, and every harness is scheduled against its drawing and approved sample.

Why do most programs fail at the drawing, not the assembly?

Because assembly is mechanical and repeatable, while the drawing is a communication artefact. A crimp press either meets its pull-force window or it does not. A drawing that omits a retainer clip is a silent defect that passes every electrical test.

Four faults account for most rework on incoming print packages:

Missing seal or retainer. The housing is listed, the secondary lock is not, and the harness unmates under vibration.
Nominal-only dimensions. A length with no tolerance is not a specification; the shop picks a convention and you reject the lot.
Wire style by trade name. “Thin-wall hook-up wire” is not a style. UL1007 at 80 °C and 300 V is, and it is a different part from 105 °C XLPE.
Test level left to the shop. Continuity only, or continuity plus 1,000 V DC dielectric withstand and 500 V DC insulation resistance above 100 MΩ? The two price differently.

Where the drawing is genuinely incomplete, convert the job to build to sample and price the engineering openly. A print contract signed against a partial drawing pushes the gap into inspection, the most expensive place to find it. Our quality process describes the incoming review that catches these first.

How should you handle deviations and change control?

Write the rule into the purchase order before the first shipment. A workable one: no substitution without written approval, and every approved substitution recorded on the drawing at the next revision.

Three documents move between the two teams. A deviation note covers a one-off: this terminal, this batch, this quantity. An engineering change notice covers a permanent change and updates the revision letter. A first article report closes the loop by proving the changed part still meets the drawing.

The commercial detail that matters is who carries an obsolete batch. If you change the drawing after 5,000 housings were ordered against the old revision, that material is consumed or written off. Agree the liability cap, and agree how much finished stock the assembler may hold without a release.

How do you choose between the two?

Choose print when the design is stable, the volume is real and the drawing has survived at least one build. Choose sample when any of the three is untrue. Most programs do both in that order: sample for the prototype, print for production.

A practical test is to ask what you would do if the first lot failed. If the answer is “reject it against the drawing”, you are ready for print. If it is “argue about what we meant”, you need the sample route and a written specification first.

Volume changes the economics too. Two application examples show the split. Industrial control and machine wiring is usually print work, because the panel layout is fixed by the machine builder. Robotics and drag-chain harnesses more often start as sample work, because bend radius and strain relief are proved on a moving axis rather than on paper. The price drivers behind both are the same ones set out in the seven cost factors.

Frequently asked questions

Is build to print cheaper than build to sample?

At volume, yes. The engineering is already paid for and the unit price reflects material, labour and test only. At low volume the gap narrows, because setup and tooling spread over fewer pieces.

Can you build to print from a PDF drawing only?

Yes, provided the PDF is dimensioned and carries a revision letter. A 3D model or native CAD file shortens the review, but a complete dimensioned PDF is enough to quote and build.

What if a sample is the only documentation I have?

That is a normal starting point. We measure it, identify the connector families from the housings, confirm wire styles from the markings and insulation wall, and issue a specification sheet for your approval before any tooling is set.

Who owns the drawing produced during sample development?

Agree it before the first sample, because it is a commercial term rather than a technical one. The usual arrangement is that the buyer owns the drawing and the assembler retains process knowledge such as crimp settings and fixture design.

How many samples should I ask for?

Three to five. One is not enough to judge repeatability, and five lets you keep one for reference, test one to destruction and still have units for fit checks.

Does the route change the warranty?

It changes what is warrantable. On a print contract the assembler warrants conformity to the drawing. On a sample contract they also carry part of the design intent, so the specification sheet must define performance, not only dimensions.

Next step: send the drawing, or send the sample

Either input is enough to start. If you have a released drawing package, request a quotation and attach it; the review comes back with any gaps listed before pricing. If the design is still open, configure the specification in the harness builder and that document becomes the basis for a sample. For wire-only questions, the wire selector filters by voltage, temperature and approval, and the FAQ page answers the 25 questions buyers ask most often.

Suzhou Fuxi Electromechanical Equipment Co., Ltd. (Xinya) has built harnesses since 2008 and supplies 16 harness categories across 7 application groups, together with the wire: we are the authorised distributor of Xinya Electronic Co., Ltd. electronic wire, covering UL, VDE, PSE, CE, TUV, RoHS and REACH listings. Export packaging and labelling are agreed per order.

Wire Harness Cost: 7 Factors That Change Your Quotation

Wire harness cost is set by seven factors: wire style and gauge, terminal and connector choice, length and branch count, order quantity, test and documentation level, mechanical protection, and packaging and freight. Wire and terminals usually account for 50-60% of the unit price; labour and test time decide the rest.

That is why two quotations for the same drawing can differ by 30% and both be honest. One quoted UL1007, an unsealed connector and a continuity check; the other quoted 105°C XLPE, a sealed connector and a full first-article report.

Use it to read a quotation, challenge a line item, or write an RFQ that returns comparable numbers.

What actually drives a wire harness quotation?

A harness is priced from four pools: material, labour, test, and overhead plus freight. Material is the largest and most visible. Labour hides in the per-termination time, which is where a ten-branch harness quietly becomes expensive.

Only one pool is negotiable. The other three were fixed at the drawing stage, and they can still be changed there at no cost.

The seven cost factors at a glance

The shares below are indicative ranges from typical industrial builds, not a price list; a 30 mm harness and a 3 m harness do not split the same way.

Cost factor	What changes the price	Typical share of unit price	Where the buyer has leverage
Wire style and gauge	Insulation material, temperature class, stranding, tinning	20-35%	Specify the lowest rating that meets the environment
Terminals and connectors	Brand, plating, sealed or unsealed, applicator tooling	15-30%	Allow an approved equivalent where the housing is not critical
Length and branches	Number of terminations, wire waste, cut-and-strip cycles	10-20%	Realistic tolerance, one measuring convention
Order quantity	Setup time, tooling amortisation, material minimums	10-25% spread	Batch size, blanket order, annual volume commitment
Test and documentation	Continuity, dielectric withstand, pull force, first-article report	5-12%	Define the test level once, per drawing
Protection and sealing	Braid, sleeving, heat shrink, overmoulding, IP class	8-20%	Apply only where the environment actually requires it
Packaging and freight	Labelling, reels, carton size, Incoterms, export documents	3-8%	Consolidate shipments, agree the Incoterm early

How does wire style change the price?

Wire style is the largest material decision. UL1007 is 80°C, 300 V thin-wall PVC and the cheapest common choice. UL1015 is 105°C, 600 V with a thicker wall. XLPE styles such as UL3266 and UL3398, and fluoropolymer styles such as UL1330 FEP, sit in a higher bracket again.

Three details inside the same style still move the number:

Stranding. A 22 AWG conductor can be built as 7 strands or a much finer bunch. Finer stranding costs more but survives flexing; a static panel harness rarely needs it.
Tinned versus bare copper. Tinning adds a real premium per kilogram and matters in humid or high-temperature service. It is wasted money inside a dry enclosure.
Colour and print. Ten colours from stock are cheap. A custom colour with a printed legend on every metre is not, and it raises the material minimum.

Our UL PVC hook-up wire family and XLPE hook-up wire family pages publish the construction table for each style, the wire selector filters by voltage, temperature and approval, and UL1007 versus UL1015 covers the two PVC workhorses.

Do connectors and terminals really move the price?

Yes, and on short harnesses they move it more than the wire does. A 300 mm assembly with two connector halves can carry 40% of its material cost in the housings and terminals. Sealed connectors typically cost two to three times their unsealed equivalents and need a different applicator.

The brand is a cost question. JST, Molex and HongXing families are widely available, and an approved equivalent with the same pitch and plating often quotes lower and ships faster. Where the housing is customer-specified, that part’s lead time becomes the harness lead time.

Terminal choice decides tooling. A standard open-barrel terminal runs on a standard applicator; a non-standard terminal needs a dedicated one, charged either as an amortised cost or as one-time tooling. Ask which.

What pull force should a crimp hold?

Crimp quality is verified by pull force, and the acceptance value comes from the terminal maker’s specification, not from a generic rule. The figures below are typical minimums used during first-article checks.

Conductor size	Typical minimum crimp pull force
22 AWG	45 N
20 AWG	70 N
18 AWG	90 N
16 AWG	130 N
14 AWG	220 N
12 AWG	310 N

A crimp that looks correct and fails at 60% of the specified force is the most expensive kind of defect, because it reaches the customer. Our terminal-crimped wire leads page covers crimp height and pull-force routine, and the specification logic is in the 12-point harness specification checklist.

How do length, branch count and routing add cost?

Every branch adds terminations, and terminations are where labour lives. A single 1 m lead has two ends. A ten-branch harness with a common connector has eleven connector positions and twenty or more crimped contacts, plus branch joints, sleeving cuts and handling between stations.

Two numbers explain most of the variance: termination count and time per termination. Automated cut-and-crimp stations run a few seconds per end; manual work on a small batch runs far longer.

Length tolerance is the quiet cost. ±10 mm forces a measured cut on every lead; ±25 mm on a panel harness allows a programmed cut and less scrap.

Why does order quantity change the unit price so much?

Setup does not scale. Each wire style needs a machine setup, each connector a reel or tube loaded, and the first piece a check. On a small batch that setup spreads over a few hundred units; at volume it disappears into material cost.

Moving from 100 to 1,000 pieces of a mid-complexity harness often takes 20-35% out of the unit price. The curve then flattens, because material dominates and material does not get cheaper with volume. A blanket order with scheduled releases usually beats one large shipment.

What do testing and documentation add?

Testing is the cheapest insurance in the quotation and the first line item buyers delete. The basic routine is 100% continuity on every circuit plus a dielectric withstand test, commonly 500 V DC on low-voltage harnesses and never above the rating of the lowest-rated component.

Above that come sample pull force per batch, dimensional checks on the first piece, and a first-article report with the measurements written down. A full report pack typically adds 5-12% to the unit price, and it settles who is responsible when a harness fails at the customer’s line. The FAQ page covers the acceptance questions we are asked most often.

How much do protection, overmoulding and sealing cost?

Protection is priced by the metre and by the operation. Braid, spiral wrap and heat shrink are material plus labour, and heat shrink adds a step per branch. Overmoulding needs a tool, a one-time cost that only pays above a certain annual volume.

Sealing is the expensive end. IP67 or IP68 needs sealed connectors, interface seals, correct grommet sizing and often potting or a moulded boot, plus a test that proves the seal. Specify the class the installation actually sees; an indoor cabinet harness rated IP68 pays for water resistance it never uses.

Our over-moulded cable assembly page explains where moulding replaces a separate boot, and continuous-flex routes are covered under robotics and drag chain harnesses.

What about packaging, labelling and freight?

This is the smallest pool and the one that causes the most disputes. Harnesses are bulky and light, so cartons go volumetric and freight is charged on space. Label content, barcode format and label position are specification items.

Agree the Incoterm before the quotation. EXW, FOB and DDP produce three different totals for the same goods, and comparing them as one number is the most common mistake in a quotation review.

How to compare two harness quotations fairly

Put both quotations against the same eight checks. Most price gaps collapse once the differences are named, and the ones that remain are real.

Wire style and temperature class — the same UL style number, not just the same AWG.
Connector brand and plating — equivalent family, or a different one.
Termination count — count on the drawing, not on the BOM summary.
Length tolerance and measuring convention — pin to pin, or overall including connectors.
Test level — continuity only, or continuity plus dielectric withstand plus pull force.
Documentation — first-article report included or extra.
Tooling and setup — amortised into the unit price, or invoiced once.
Packaging, labelling and Incoterm — the delivered total, not the ex-works number.

Send those eight points with the RFQ and every reply becomes comparable. The wire harness configurator builds that specification sheet from a set of dropdowns, including the wire recommendation and the branch list.

Where to start

Send the drawing, the BOM or a physical sample. Suzhou Fuxi Electromechanical Equipment Co., Ltd. (Xinya) has assembled custom wire harnesses since 2008 and is the authorised distributor of Xinya Electronic Co., Ltd. electronic wire, so the wire and the finished assembly are specified together.

We build to print and build to sample, and we quote prototypes below production volume so the first article is approved before tooling is committed. Common UL1007, UL1015, UL1061 and UL1569 constructions are normally available quickly; other styles and connector families typically run about seven days, and harness assemblies are scheduled against the drawing and the approved sample. Start with the request a quote form, browse the wire harness catalogue, or watch the assembly and test stations on the factory video page. Buyers who need an application view can start from industrial automation or assembly services.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a custom wire harness cost?

There is no catalogue price, because the same drawing can be built at several specification levels. Material is usually 50-60% of the unit price, with wire and terminals dominating. Send the drawing or the eight-point summary above and the number comes back against a defined specification.

Why is my new quotation higher than the last supplier’s?

Usually because it is a different product. Check the wire style, connector brand, test level and whether tooling was amortised. A quote 30% lower often uses a thinner insulation class, an unsealed connector or continuity testing only.

Can you quote from a sample instead of a drawing?

Yes. Send the sample, or clear photographs with a ruler in view, and note anything that must change. We reverse the specification from the sample, confirm the wire styles and connector families, and quote against that confirmed list.

What is the minimum order quantity?

It depends on the connector and the wire style, because both carry supplier minimums. Prototype quantities are quoted separately from production, and a blanket order with scheduled releases is often the cheapest route to a production price.

How long does production take?

Common UL1007, UL1015, UL1061 and UL1569 constructions are normally available quickly. Other wire styles and connector families typically take about seven days, and every harness is scheduled against its drawing and approved sample.

Do you supply the wire and connectors, or only assemble?

Both. We are the authorised distributor of Xinya Electronic Co., Ltd. electronic wire, so the wire is specified with full construction data, and we source standard JST, Molex and HongXing families or build with parts you specify or supply.

Can you reduce the cost of a harness we already buy?

Often. The usual levers are consolidating several wire styles into one, allowing an approved equivalent connector, relaxing a tolerance the installation does not need, and increasing the batch size. Each change is documented so drawing and price stay in step.

How to Specify a Custom Wire Harness: 12-Point Checklist

Every custom wire harness order starts with a specification. When that specification is complete, the quotation comes back faster, the first sample is approved without rework, and production runs without clarifying emails. When it is incomplete, the harness house has to fill the gaps with assumptions — and assumptions are usually corrected later, at your cost.

This guide lists the twelve points that decide how a harness is built, tested and priced. Use it as a template for your drawing or BOM, or answer the questions directly in the wire harness configurator and export a specification sheet.

Why a complete specification pays for itself

A wire harness is not a catalogue part. Two harnesses that look identical on a photo can differ in conductor stranding, crimp tooling, sealing class and test routine — and those differences drive both the price and the field failure rate. A specification that names each of them removes three common sources of delay:

Clarification loops. Every undefined point becomes an email. Ten undefined points become a week of back-and-forth before the quotation is even issued.
Sample rework. A harness built to an incomplete specification is correct only until the first test report or the first fit check on the machine.
Quotes that cannot be compared. If two suppliers interpret your requirement differently, the cheaper number is not cheaper — it is a different product.

The 12-point harness specification checklist

1. Wire style and standard

Name the exact wire style, not just the gauge. “18 AWG wire” is a size, not a specification: UL1007, UL1015, an XLPE style and a fluoropolymer style can all be 18 AWG and behave completely differently. State the UL style number, the harmonised designation (for example H05V-K or H07V-K) or the equivalent standard, and link the construction data. Our UL PVC hook-up wire family, XLPE family and fluoropolymer family pages publish the construction tables for each style.

2. Conductor size and construction

Give the AWG and the stranding, for example 18 AWG / 16 strands x 0.254 mm. Stranding decides flexibility, flex life and how well the conductor crimps into a small terminal. Add whether the copper is bare or tinned — tinned copper resists corrosion and helps in high-temperature or humid environments, but it costs more and is not always necessary.

3. Voltage and temperature rating

State the working voltage of the circuit and the maximum conductor temperature the harness must survive, including the ambient temperature inside the enclosure and any radiant heat from a motor, lamp or inverter. The lowest-rated component in the assembly sets the limit, so the rating of the connector and the sleeving matters as much as the wire.

4. Insulation, jacket and colour code

Define the insulation material, then the colour scheme. Write the code out explicitly — for example “power red, return black, signal blue/white striped with a printed legend per wire” — or attach a colour chart. Where several wires share a colour, printed legends or numbered markers prevent assembly errors on the line.

5. Shielding and drain wire

Say whether the harness is unshielded, foil shielded with a drain wire, braid shielded, or foil plus braid. For shielded constructions, also specify the coverage percentage and how the shield terminates: a pigtail drain, a drain crimped into a spare contact, or a 360-degree termination at a metal shell. Shield termination is one of the most common omissions and one of the most common causes of EMC problems in the field.

6. Connector and housing

Give the manufacturer, the series and the exact part number, plus the gender, pin count, keying and whether the connector must be sealed. “A three-pin connector” is not enough: a JST, a Molex and a HongXing part with the same pin count are not interchangeable in tooling, mating cycles or current rating. If the connector is customer-specified, provide the part number and, where possible, the mating half.

7. Terminal and crimp specification

Name the terminal part number and the termination method — crimp, solder, or ultrasonically welded — and state the inspection criteria you expect. For crimped terminations this normally means the conductor crimp height, the insulation crimp, and a minimum pull-force value. If your industry requires it, ask for a sample pull-force record with the first article. Machine-crimped leads to a defined specification are covered on our terminal crimped wire leads page.

8. Sleeving, tubing and strain relief

Specify heat-shrink where a joint or shield termination must be insulated, braided sleeve where the bundle needs abrasion protection, split loom where wires may be added later, and a boot or grommet wherever the harness passes through a panel. If the assembly is over-moulded, say so — it changes the tooling and the lead time, as described on the over-moulded cable assembly page.

9. Branching, breakouts and geometry

Describe the topology: how many breakouts, the length of each branch, where the ties or clips sit, and the overall bundle diameter. For tight installations, add the minimum bend radius and any fixed tie-down points. A 1:1 drawing of a physical sample is the fastest way to communicate a three-dimensional shape.

10. Cut lengths and tolerances

Define what the length refers to — pin-to-pin, end-to-end including the terminals, or end-to-end excluding them — and give the tolerance, for example ±5 mm on branches under 300 mm. Length is the single most frequent reason a harness does not fit. Ambiguity here is worth more discussion than the wire gauge.

11. Testing and inspection

List the tests the harness must pass and the evidence you want to receive. Typical requirements are 100% continuity and open/short testing, a hipot or insulation-resistance test on higher-voltage assemblies, dimensional checks, and a first-article inspection report. Ask for the test data in the format your quality department files — a signed report, a CSV export from the test fixture, or the fixture’s own printout.

12. Labelling, packaging and traceability

Decide what the label must carry: part number, revision, date code, batch or serial number, and any customer barcode format. Then define the packaging — individual bag, layered tray, carton with a divider, quantity per carton — and the traceability requirement, which determines how long production records must be retained. This point is easy to defer until the first shipment, and expensive to change afterwards.

A worked example: a control-panel harness

The table below shows how a twelve-point specification looks when it is written for a real assembly, in this case a sealed control-panel harness for industrial machinery.

Point	Example entry
Wire style	UL1015, 105 °C, 600 V
Conductor	18 AWG, 16 x 0.254 mm, tinned copper
Voltage and temperature	24 V DC control circuit, 90 °C maximum at the conductor
Insulation and colour	PVC; brown, blue, black and green/yellow, printed legends on each wire
Shielding	Unshielded for power, foil plus drain on the encoder pair
Connector	Sealed 6-pin plug, IP67, customer-specified part number, keyed, with mating socket
Termination	Crimped terminals to the connector manufacturer’s specification, pull-force record supplied
Protection	Braided sleeve over the main run, heat-shrink over each branch end, grommet at the panel entry
Topology	Two breakouts, 180 mm and 320 mm, one tie point at 450 mm from the plug
Lengths	Main run 1,200 mm ±10 mm, measured pin to pin
Testing	100% continuity and open/short test, dimensional check, first-article report
Labelling	Heat-shrink label with part number and date code, 25 pieces per carton

A specification written at this level can be quoted, built and inspected without a single clarifying question. If your assembly is less complex, the same twelve headings still apply — most will simply be answered “standard” or “not required”.

What to put on the drawing itself

If you already have a drawing, check that it carries the following before you send it:

A title block with part number, revision, date and the person who approved it.
A top-level view showing the harness shape and overall dimensions, drawn 1:1 where the assembly is small enough.
A connector table listing the reference designator, housing, terminals, seals and the mating connector for each end.
A wire table listing the reference designator, style, AWG, colour and printed legend, and the from/to points of each wire.
General notes covering the crimp standard, the test requirement, the labelling rule and the packaging rule.
A revision history, so that a change on the production floor can be traced to a document.

If a formal drawing does not exist yet, that is not a blocker. A labelled photograph, a list of the connectors, a measurement of the routing path and the electrical function of each wire is enough to start. Build the specification in the harness configurator and we will return a specification sheet you can check before any tooling or cutting begins.

Common specification mistakes that delay a quotation

Specifying a wire size but not a wire style. AWG alone leaves temperature, insulation and approval open.
Listing a connector family but not the part number. Pin count and pitch rarely identify a single housing.
Leaving the shield termination undefined. The drain wire has to go somewhere, and where it goes changes the build.
Giving a single overall length for a branched harness. Branch lengths, not the longest wire, decide whether the assembly fits.
Omitting the test requirement. “Tested” means different things in different factories; a test list makes results comparable.
Changing the length or colour after the sample is approved. Both usually mean new cut lengths, new crimp settings and a new first-article report.

Send your specification to Xinya

Suzhou Fuxi Electromechanical Equipment is a wire harness manufacturer, and we are also the authorised Suzhou distributor of Xinya brand electronic wire — so the wire and the finished harness come from one place, with the construction data to match. We build to print and build to sample, and we can start with a prototype before you commit to volume.

Send the drawing, the BOM or the twelve answers above through the request a quote form, or configure the assembly first with the wire harness configurator. If you would rather see the range first, start from the wire harness catalogue, the assembly services page, or the industrial automation application group.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a full drawing to get a quotation?

No. A connector list, the wire styles, the branch lengths, the quantity and the function of the assembly is enough for us to quote. A drawing makes the first sample more predictable, but it can follow the quotation.

Can you build a harness from a physical sample instead of a drawing?

Yes. Send the sample, or clear photographs with a ruler in view, and note anything that must change, such as a longer branch or a different connector. We reverse the specification from the sample and confirm it with you before production.

How long does a harness sample take?

Sample lead time depends on the wire styles and the connectors required. Standard hook-up wire and common connector families are normally available quickly, while custom housings or tooling add time. We confirm the sample schedule together with the sample quotation.

Which wire styles do you normally use for harnesses?

UL1007 and UL1015 PVC hook-up wire cover most control and power wiring inside equipment. Where the temperature is higher, or the harness has to flex continuously, we move to an XLPE style such as the ones on our XLPE hook-up wire page. Drag chain and robotic applications use flexible control cable instead; the selection logic is explained in our guide to drag chain cable selection.

Do you supply the connectors, or should we supply them?

Either works. We can source standard JST, Molex and HongXing parts, or build with connectors that you specify or supply. If we supply the housing, we also supply the mating half where it is available, so the harness can be tested as a pair.

How do you make sure the length is right?

Length is defined once, in writing, with the measuring convention and the tolerance: for example, 1,200 mm pin to pin, ±10 mm. For a complex routing path we ask for the path measurement or a mock-up, because a harness that is correct on paper can still be tight around a bend.

Where can I read more about wire selection?

Our PVC hook-up wire comparison covers UL1007, UL1015, UL1028 and UL1032 side by side, and the wire selector narrows the catalogue by voltage, temperature and approval.