Assembly in Action: New Wire Architecture Cuts Time-to-Market
The Advantage Series gas pump from Gilbarco became one of the leading products in its market. However, it had been built with a traditional point-to-point wiring harnessa legacy from the days when gas pumps were no more electrically complex than toasters. Like other manufacturers, the company had added more options to its pumps over the years. The result was a snarl of wiring packed inside the pump, making assembly expensive and servicing difficult.
So Gilbarco abandoned the point-to-point harness in favor of a modular design. The new design is built around a central backbone of ribbon cables, with insulation displacement connectors (IDCs) arranged along the cable to deliver power and signal to the various components.