Wiring Harness News NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 1 INDUSTRIAL INFO-TAINMENT s • Wire Harness Myths i : e h s T su re • My Favourite “I” Words Is tu • WHMA Las Vegas Review a e F • Vacuum Impregnation Sealing • Methodology of Crimp Validation MAY/JUNE 2013 Genco Industries By Fred Noer __________________________________ A lthough the Great Recession inflicted trauma on the U.S. economy and society, the peri- od did serve to educate and enlighten people and transform companies. Paul Lusic and Genco Industries, where he is general manager and vice president, are among them. Genco, located in Waukesha, Wis., approximately 20 miles west of Milwau- kee, is a contract manufacturer of cus- tom cable assemblies, wiring harnesses and electromechanical assemblies for OEMs, many of them ranked in the For- tune 500. The company also does wire processing. “I would say the recession helped our company overall,” said Lusic, 36. “We came out stronger than most companies in our industry and in general. We do more with less, and we’re more efficient. Yes, we lost people along the way, but it solidified us as a group as we’re all in this together.” The Genco staff consists of 26 people The Methodology of Crimp Validation By Keith Nicholas TE Application Tooling Electrical Controls Manager __________________________________ good crimp is one that exhibits optimum mechanical and electrical properties. The mechanical properties help ensure that the crimped harness survives its post- crimp handling and long-term stresses such as vibration or jarring that occur during its lifetime. The electrical proper- ties include the current carrying capaci- ty and its termination impedance. To achieve these optimum properties, everything in the crimping process must be correct. That’s a tall order when you consider everything that can influence the crimping process, but if you under- stand it, then you’re doing better than most. If everything is understood and correct in the crimping process, you can be more confident that the final crimped product will meet quality As part of Genco’s lean manufacturing efforts to eliminate waste, shared tools and hand crimpers are organized and must be checked in and out for each use. – 18 in production and eight in manage- ment. Before downsizing in 2009, total staff members numbered 42. While the recession was an imposing challenge for Lusic, he had to deal with another one, more significant in terms of Genco’s long-term viability, when he arrived at the firm just after Steve Dom- A Hidden Opportunity for Wire Harness Manufacturers A Keith Nicholas expectations. But, how do you know you have a quality crimp? It starts with understanding your customer’s require- ments, be they industry specifications or ________________Continued on page 30 ________________Continued on page 52 Vacuum Impregnation Sealing By Joe Tito Wiring Harness News __________________________________ A brock, Lusic’s stepfather, bought it in July 2006. They learned a large customer, representing 20 percent of Genco’s total sales, was leaving, a fact not known to them before the sale. mong the exhibitors at the recent WHMA show, an aquar- ium was on proud display. But there was nothing fishy going on at the Magna Tech booth. They were simply demonstrating the wire sealing ability of their Enviroseal™ technology. The dis- play featured two jacketed cable assem- blies with a small amount of air pressure applied to each. Air bubbles were visible on one of the assemblies revealing the leak path that existed between the jack- et and the individual wires. The other sample was treated with Magna-Tech’s Enviroseal vacuum impregnation sealing technology, and had no air bubbles pass- ing through the sample. Chris Russell, VP Sales and Marketing for Magna-Tech, was on hand to explain the Enviroseal process. It all starts with a need. Russell noted that small voids and leak paths are inherent in most harness assemblies. These leak paths, he noted, allow the introduction of moisture, salt spray, oils, and other corrosive agents; and can ultimately lead to part failure. Russell touted Enviroseal as a robust and economical solution to the problem. Vacuum impregnation technology has been around for about 60 years, and was initially developed to seal voids in porous metal castings, and powdered metal components. The process was adapted for electrical wiring compo- nents in the early 90's, and is rather sim- ple. Cable assemblies are placed in bas- kets that go in a pressure chamber where a vacuum is drawn. A special liq- uid resin is introduced, and the chamber is then re-pressurized. The vacuum release forces the resin into the voids, or leak paths. Russell compared it to squeezing a sponge, submersing it in water and then releasing it. In this sce- nario, the natural capillary action would fill the voids in the sponge with water. That’s essentially what is done with the assemblies, “and the void that was starved of air is now filled with the resin,” he explained. At this point, the baskets of assem- blies travel through several rinses to remove any excess resin from outside surfaces. The remaining resin filling the voids is left to cure to a flexible, ther- moset, irreversible form. There is no change in the appearance or dimension- al attributes of the component. The resulting resin seal is robust and resist- ant to contaminants like moisture, salt, glycols, oils, chlorinated and fluorinated solvents, and mild caustics. ________________Continued on page 11