Germany – The cable and harnessing manufacturer, Leoni AG, of Nuremberg, has constructed a new purpose-built Innovation Industrialisation Centre (IIC) in Kitzingen, Bavaria, on a 3,000 square metre site housing research, development and production teams with the aim of developing new wiring systems for the automotive industry. The purpose of the centre is to combine the engineering (electrical and software) expertise in product design and in production automation and processing under one roof.

Consequently, the new IIC has three primary functions: To develop new wire harnesses for the passenger car, commercial vehicles and off-highway vehicles using ‘Zonal architecture’. Secondly, development of automated manufacturing processes of these new wire harness systems that can be rolled out to assembly plants worldwide. This will be aided by smart logistics vehicles and collaborative robots, known as ‘cobots’. Finally, products and production processes are to be tested before moving into larger scale production. This will all be facilitated by developing production processes in close coordination between researchers, engineers and production specialists.