What if quoting for contract manufacturers didn’t have to be such a guessing game?
Imagine this: You're a contract manufacturer, and you're tasked with generating a quote for a large OEM. But instead of receiving a well-organized CAD file with all the necessary specifications, you get a PDF. A vague, incomplete PDF. The file includes a sketch of the product and maybe a few tables, but vital details—like quantities of materials or even part numbers—are missing. Now, you have to fill in the gaps, guess how much material you need, estimate the labor hours, and hope that your quote is both accurate and competitive.
It sounds frustrating, doesn’t it? But this is the reality for many CMs today.
In this article, we’re going to dive into the key challenges CMs face when they receive incomplete design files from OEMs and how these issues affect their quoting process. We'll also explore how automation can streamline quoting and address these pain points.
Table of contents
Let’s start by asking: Why is quoting for contract manufacturers still such a complex and time-consuming task? How can incomplete and inconsistent design files create so much confusion and inefficiency? And what’s the solution that could save hours of engineering time while improving accuracy?
The problem with incomplete OEM designs
When you're a contract manufacturer, receiving a clear, well-structured CAD file from an OEM should be the standard. But that's not the case. Most CMs don't get CAD files—they get PDFs. And while PDFs might seem like a simple way to transfer design information, they are often riddled with missing details.
Imagine opening a file and seeing terms like "as required" next to essential materials, such as heat shrink or overbraid, without further clarification. How are you supposed to quote accurately for something like wire lengths or specific connectors when the design doesn't specify what’s needed? You’re left to guess, and guesswork has no place in high-stakes manufacturing.
It’s not just about materials either. The labor required to manufacture the product is equally difficult to estimate. Labor costs are heavily influenced by factors like the number of wires, splices, and connectors in the design. Without clear guidance of what these numbers are, how can you accurately determine how long the job will take?
Why quoting takes so long: The complexity of material and labor estimation
Now, think about what happens when you try to pull a quote together. You need to source prices for all the materials listed in the PDF, figure out how much of each material is needed, and estimate the time it will take your team to do the job.
Material prices can vary drastically depending on availability. For example, a D38999 connector can range anywhere from $50 up to $1,000 depending on the stock at the time. And you can’t always rely on google to give you the latest prices. Sometimes, you have to request a quote manually, which slows down the process even further.
Labor estimation adds another layer of complexity. A job that involves 100 wires might take 10 hours to complete, but if the design requires 300 wires, your labor costs may increase disproportionately as a result of the complexity. And every engineer you consult will likely give you a different estimate. This leads to inconsistent quotes and frustration when trying to finalize a price.
The burden on contract manufacturers: Bottlenecks and inefficiencies
All of this guesswork creates a massive bottleneck. You’re not just juggling one quote at a time; you're likely handling dozens, if not hundreds, of quotes simultaneously. One customer we spoke to said they had 1,000 quotes in progress at one point. Imagine the amount of time and resources spent on trying to make sense of incomplete designs and source pricing and labor estimates from multiple suppliers.
Here’s the kicker: Often, the most skilled people in your organization—like your plant's general manager or senior engineers—are the ones stuck doing this work. These are the people who should be leading projects, not spending hours trying to interpret PDFs. And yet, they're the only ones trusted with such a critical task because the process is so error-prone.
This isn’t just a time-sink; it’s a huge risk. A quote that underestimates material or labor costs could cost you thousands of dollars in profit. On the other hand, a quote that’s too high could cost you the job altogether.
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Automating the quoting process: A three-phase solution
What if you could automate the quoting process? What if you didn’t need an engineer to spend hours deciphering PDFs? That’s where our quoting tool comes in.
Phase 1: Understanding and interpreting the design
The first step is uploading the design. Our system reads the PDF and flags missing or ambiguous information. When it encounters something like “as required” for a material, it automatically suggests potential part numbers and quantities based on our extensive component library. While some manual input might still be necessary, the heavy lifting is done by the tool, saving your team hours.
Phase 2: Enriching and completing the BOM
Once the design is understood, our tool enriches the BOM. It fills in missing part numbers, suggests quantities, and checks real-time pricing from suppliers. No more manually searching for prices or trying to keep track of supplier availability. The tool also takes into account any special pricing agreements or preferred vendors, ensuring that you’re getting the best deal possible.
Phase 3: Quoting and vendor coordination
Finally, our tool helps you get quotes from suppliers. If a supplier doesn’t have an API, our system will crawl the web to find other sources for the parts you need. In cases where an RFQ is required, the tool automates the submission and follows up, eliminating manual tracking.
The challenges with labor quoting
Material quoting is just one part of the equation. Labor quoting is equally important and often even more challenging. Labor costs can vary dramatically depending on the complexity of the design. A harness with 10 wires might take 1 hour to build, but increase the wire count by 10x could lead to a disproportionate labor increase.
Currently, labor quoting requires experienced engineers who understand every nuance of the design. But our goal is to apply the same automation techniques to labor quoting. By analyzing design complexity, our tool will suggest labor estimates, making the process faster and more consistent.
Moving forward: A focus on wire harness contract manufacturers
Our solution is built specifically for wire harness CMs. By automating material and labor quoting, we’re reducing the time it takes to generate quotes, improving accuracy, and freeing up your most valuable resources.
Are you ready to automate your quoting process? How much time and frustration could you save by eliminating the guesswork? And what’s the true cost of continuing to rely on outdated, manual quoting methods?
About Cableteque
Cableteque provides an advanced solution that simplifies and automates the entire wire harness quoting process for contract manufacturers. From interpreting design files to completing bills of materials (BOMs) and obtaining real-time material pricing from suppliers, Cableteque streamlines every step. Additionally, it tackles the complex task of labor estimation by automating the process, reducing the need for senior-level engineering input, and providing accurate, consistent labor quotes. By enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and speed, Cableteque enables contract manufacturers to deliver more competitive quotes and ultimately win more business.
About Mr Arik Vrobel
For over 30 transformative years, Arik led the evolution of El-Com Systems into a pinnacle of excellence in Electric Wire Harnesses (EWH) for global enterprises. In his final 5 years, he steered El-Com to become the foremost provider of engineered harnesses for the commercial-space sector, supporting groundbreaking projects on space platforms.
Since its acquisition by Winchester Interconnect , driven by his entrepreneurial spirit, Arik founded Cableteque, a beacon of innovation offering AI-based CAD tools to enhance and validate engineering designs of EWH, inspiring the industry with his vision for impactful technological advancement.
CEO at Benmo - Wire Harness Manufacturer
2 周Great article!
Accelerating important technological progress that advances humankind
4 周I have had countless conversations with EWH colleagues who identify the quoting process to be their #1 biggest pain point. Let's solve this together.