A wire harness is a set of wires and connectors bundled to a fixed, usually branched shape and built on a formboard. A cable assembly is one or more cables — conductors under a common jacket — made up with connectors at the ends, usually without branches and built on the bench. Many shops make both.
The differences that matter
| Wire harness | Cable assembly | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Branched; trunk and branches with lengths | Usually point to point, an overall length |
| Built on | A 1:1 formboard with pegs | The bench; often no board |
| Cutting | One cut per wire | One cut per cable; cores share its length |
| Stripping | Strip per wire end | Jacket strip, then core strips; shield and drain handling |
| Drawing | Board drawing with branch lengths, coverings, tables | A-to-B drawing with overall length, tolerance, end views |
| Labour | Board setup, laying, taping | No board steps; jacket and shield work instead |
Do harness shops make cables too?
In our list of 78 prospect shops in Central and Eastern Europe, 33 (42 %) say on their own websites that they make cable assemblies as well as harnesses — 45 (58 %) if we count shops using only the local word for it — and only one makes cables without harnesses. Directories list far more suppliers under “cable assembly” than under “wire harness”.
In Zorowire
The engine already treats a jacketed cable as one cut item with its cores, supports a bench build without formboard steps in the labour, and carries a length tolerance. A dedicated “Cable” project type with an A-to-B drawing is planned.
Questions
Is a cable assembly a harness?
Not usually: a cable assembly is cables with connectors at the ends, typically unbranched; a harness is a branched bundle of wires and cables. Shops and customers do use the words loosely.
Can I quote a cable assembly in Zorowire?
Yes: a jacketed cable is cut once, and a bench build leaves out the formboard steps in the labour count. The dedicated cable drawing is planned.
Sources
- Zorowire research, cable assemblies and our 78 prospect shops — Zorowire test or research, 2026-10-31
- L-com custom cable configurators (free drawings from a component vendor) · retrieved 2026-10-31
- Pickering Cable Design Tool · retrieved 2026-10-31
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