Harnesses were built using physical formboards with costs between $250 and $450 and which required significant storage space.
smartBuild implementation was adopted to replace physical formboards with a fully integrated process.
Eliminating printed formboards saved $70K–$90K annually, harness builds completed 25% faster, and technician onboarding reduced from weeks to hours.
When you’re building equipment that keeps the power grid running and linemen safely in the air, precision and uptime aren’t negotiable. Every wiring harness inside aerial devices, cranes, and bucket trucks must perform flawlessly, often in extreme weather, under high voltage, and across hundreds of field configurations.
But behind that reliability was a manufacturing bottleneck – harnesses were built using physical vinyl formboards: large, printed templates that guided wire layout and routing. Producing a single formboard cost between $250 and $450 and required significant storage space. Updating a design meant reprinting or patching boards with taped screenshots, a process that was cumbersome, error-prone, and slow.
In a typical year, this company needed over 250 new formboards, adding tens of thousands in vinyl and ink costs and creating a 4-6 week delay every time revisions rolled in. Complex builds depended on the company’s most veteran technicians, creating slowdowns and limiting flexibility across production lines.
smartBuild, the digital harness manufacturing platform within the Cadonix ecosystem, was adopted to replace physical formboards with a fully integrated process.
Technicians follow guided digital build instructions that highlight each step of the process, minimizing errors and reducing setup times. With smartBuild, harness designs are projected directly onto work surfaces, eliminating the need for vinyl, ink, and plywood boards.
smartBuild also integrates testing at the build station, streamlining quality assurance and freeing up an entire test area that can now be repurposed for production. Junior technicians quickly became productive, allowing the company to deploy its skilled workforce more efficiently.
The company continues to expand smartBuild usage across facilities to standardize harness production globally. With digital design-to-build traceability and faster onboarding, the company is poised to scale production efficiently while maintaining its reputation for reliability and precision.
Metrics Spotlight
Ready to modernize your wire harness manufacturing? Discover how smartBuild can cut costs, accelerate production, and enable true lean manufacturing.
Industry: Utility Equipment Manufacturer
Employees: Over 4,500
Products & Services: Manufactures aerial devices including cranes and bucket trucks used in industries including telecommunication and utilities.
Global Reach: Serving customers in over 100 countries.
Download our guide with everything you want to know about how smartBuild accelerates your build process.
Discover how smartBuild transformed how this drone manufacturer designs, builds, and reports on wire harness manufacturing
How Arcadia accelerates wire harness design while ensuring team alignment
Transform Your Design Workflow with Arcadia’s Integrated Component Database
Elevate your harness design process with our guide on tips and best-practices
Hear from industry leaders about how you can design with manufacturing in mind
All rights reserved. Re:Build Manufacturing – Cadonix ©2025
