Everyone likes to talk about quality in manufacturing. We see it in mission statements, on posters, and websites, but true quality, what I call a standard of excellence, isn’t a slogan; it’s a discipline. It’s what happens when no one is watching. It’s not about what we can do once in a while; it’s about what we do every time. “Standard” is about predictability. A customer should know exactly what they’re getting—every lot, layer, and delivery. That reliability comes from systems, habits, and people who refuse to compromise.

Historically, wire harness manufacturing has not been a particularly digital business model, but that is changing. Zuken USA, a stalwart in CAD tools, has recently announced multiple new tools in the wire harness space. In a conversation with Zuken’s Paul Harvell, vice president of engineering, and Geoffrey (Geo) Ng, technical marketing manager, we get details on how Zuken is helping wire harness design and manufacturing catch up and, in some ways, leapfrog the current state of the art in EMS digitization and automation.

The I-Connect007 Industry Resource Center brings together technical white papers from leading suppliers to help electronics professionals navigate today’s manufacturing and reliability challenges. Built as an educational hub, the Resource Center connects engineers and manufacturers with application-focused guidance on materials, processes, and performance considerations shaping modern electronics.

For many organizations, 2025 marked the moment when AI experimentation, regional supply-chain diversification, advanced packaging, and highly compressed NPI timelines evolved into a new operational reality. The industry is converging on a more integrated, data-driven, and collaborative form of product realization. EMS providers, PCB fabricators, their respective regional supply chains, and design-tool vendors all have distinct responsibilities within this transformation, and their futures are now more tightly connected than ever.