Wiring harness inspection software for zero-escape assembly lines.
FlexIPS uses machine vision to inspect complete wiring harness boards in one cycle: connector presence, pin patterns, spot tape, clips, wire routing, labels, and variant correctness. Moving fixtures are corrected automatically, so one station can protect high-mix harness production without slowing operators down.
Critical harness features verified at the station
Typical image inspection time on dense boards
Variant programs selected by serial or PLC code
Cycle
0.18 s
Checks
47 / 47
Verdict
PASS
Connector, tape, and route checks run from one calibrated view not one sensor per feature.
Traditional harness inspection often grows into a stack of separate cameras, switches, and laser sensors. FlexIPS keeps the station simpler: one calibrated view verifies the full build state and returns a consolidated verdict before the operator releases the harness.
Spot tape and wrap placement
Confirms tape, clips, labels, cable ties, and wrap zones are present and inside tolerance.
Connector presence and pin count
Checks connector bodies, terminal locations, cavity seals, and visible pin patterns before the harness leaves the board.
Wire route and branch verification
Compares the built harness to the active golden route, catching crossed legs, missed pegs, and out-of-slot wires.
Labels and identification
Confirms ID labels, wrap markers, and printed references are present, legible, and in the correct zone before release.
Tape
3 / 3
Connectors
10 / 10
Routing
MATCH
Labels
4 / 4
Capabilities engineered for the reality of the harness board.
Harness manufacturing is high-mix, manual, and tolerates no escapes. Each capability below targets a failure mode that traditional end-of-line testers simply cannot catch.
Moving Fixture Compensation
Harness boards shift, rotate, and wear over time. FlexIPS locates the board every cycle and locks each inspection region to the corrected fixture position.
Fixture Correction
Reference marks or known board geometry are localized in real time, then every ROI is reprojected before inspection begins.
Spot Tape Detection
Detect tape, cable ties, labels, clips, and wrap areas with tolerance for color, reflection, orientation, and normal operator variation.
Connector Presence Inspection
Verify connector bodies, terminal positions, seals, and pin patterns before functional test or final mating can hide the defect.
Wire Routing Verification
Compare each harness route with the active golden template and stop crossed branches, missed pegs, and out-of-channel wires at the source.
High-Mix Variant Control
Run all harness variants on one station. FlexIPS selects the correct inspection program from barcode, serial, option code, or PLC signal.
Full Traceability
Store verdicts, images, check results, and operator context against each harness serial for audits, containment, and customer evidence.
Label & ID Verification
Confirm identification labels, wrap markers, and printed references are present, legible, and positioned in the correct zone before the harness leaves the board.
Catch assembly errors while the harness is still on the board.
Electrical test confirms continuity. It cannot reliably prove that a branch followed the right path, tape was applied in the right zone, a clip was installed, or the visible connector hardware is correct. FlexIPS adds visual proof at the point where the defect can still be fixed quickly.
Reduce rework loops
Operators get immediate pass, rework, or fail feedback before removing the harness from the fixture.
Protect downstream test
Routing, tape, and connector checks happen before functional testers or final assembly hide visual defects.
Standardize manual builds
The same variant-specific inspection template runs every cycle, independent of operator experience or shift.
Create customer evidence
Every image, check result, and verdict can be tied to the harness serial for containment and audit response.
Keep manually maintained harness fixtures inside the quality window.
Many harness fixtures are maintained by hand, while their mechanical tolerance is wider than the quality tolerance required by the finished harness. FlexIPS can use the same machine vision camera as a fixture maintenance tool: compare the physical board to a golden fixture, highlight drift, and guide the technician through correction.
This can improve process quality immediately, even before adding connector, routing, or tape inspection. The fixture itself becomes more repeatable, so every manual build starts from a better-controlled baseline.
Compare to the golden fixture
The camera checks peg positions, clips, stops, printed references, connector nests, and locator blocks against a known-good fixture baseline.
Show tolerance drift
Maintenance sees which fixture elements have moved outside the allowed window, including direction and magnitude of the required correction.
Guide the adjustment
The system walks technicians through the fixture maintenance process step by step, then confirms the corrected state with a new camera check.
Improve quality before inspection
Even without adding product defect inspection, keeping fixtures closer to the golden condition reduces built-in variation at the assembly station.
Baseline
Golden fixture
Drift found
4 points
Guidance
Step-by-step
Detected offset
+18.2 mm
Rotation
+3.4deg
Status
CORRECTED
Fixtures move. The inspection window stays locked.
Harness form boards are lifted, rotated, and re-clamped by operators all day. Wear and flex introduce millimeters of offset and a few degrees of rotation between cycles. A fixed ROI setup loses accuracy as soon as the board drifts.
FlexIPS localizes a reference pattern on every board, every cycle, and reprojects each inspection onto the corrected geometry. The animation shows the board moving away from its nominal outline while the detection regions stay aligned with the real features.
Translation tolerant
Handles tens of millimeters of board shift with no re-teaching.
Rotation tolerant
In-plane tilt is measured and compensated automatically.
Unlimited variants. Zero changeover pain.
A single harness line may run dozens of option combinations: left-hand, right-hand, trim level, market spec. FlexIPS stores every variant program and selects the right one automatically from a scanned barcode or a PLC signal, then inspects against that exact configuration.
- No limit on the number of variant programs per station
- Automatic program selection by serial or option code
- Same cycle time regardless of variant complexity
- New variants added from sample images, with no code
Loaded program
WH-A4-90210
Result
PASS
From capture to traced verdict in one cycle.
Step 1
Capture
A calibrated camera view records the full harness board after the operator completes the build step.
Step 2
Locate
The fixture is found, offset is corrected, and all checks are aligned to the real board position.
Step 3
Verify
Tape, connector, wire route, and variant-specific checks run from one image set.
Step 4
Gate
Pass, rework, or fail is returned to the PLC so critical defects cannot move downstream.
Step 5
Trace
Images, check results, program version, and verdict are stored against the harness serial.
Harness verdicts, images, check results, and trace records consolidate in FlexDashboard.
Quality and production teams get one traceability and analysis platform for harness serials, variant programs, PASS/FAIL verdicts, connector and tape checks, routing check results, cycle times, images, and defect trends.
FlexDashboard
Real-time manufacturing monitoring & optimization
Tue 21 July 2026, 18:37:36
Workstation View
Harnesses produced
6,120
from previous period
Defect rate
1.8%
PPM: 18,300
Total assembly time
38:12:44
Min: 0:08 Max: 96:30 Avg: 0:22
Total trace records
52,408
from previous period
Top Fail Steps
Production Output
harnesses per day
Production Heatmap
Monthly calendar
01
312
02
388
03
464
04
232
05
24
06
4
07
52
08
286
09
280
10
348
11
236
12
248
13
114
14
0
15
0
16
0
17
0
18
0
19
0
20
0
21
0
22
228
23
412
24
372
25
368
26
450
27
198
28
0
Complete Harness Timeline
Open a harness serial to see variant program, fixture offset, connector and tape checks, routing checks, captured image, operator decision, station timestamps, and MES trace records in one investigation view.
Click to open
Drops into your existing harness line.
FlexIPS bridges IT and OT without middleware, from 24V I/O handshakes with the board PLC to MES traceability records.
Digital I/O & Relays
Trigger from the board presence sensor and return pass/fail to the PLC with 24V logic, including station-lock on critical faults.
Profinet / TCP-IP
Receive variant codes and option bytes from the line controller over industrial Ethernet, and push verdicts back in the same cycle.
MES & Traceability
Write genealogy records, images, and check results directly to your MES or SQL store as audit-ready evidence tied to each harness serial.
Common questions from harness production teams.
Connector, tape, routing, variants, and fixture maintenance, answered for harness production and quality teams.
What is wiring harness inspection?
Wiring harness inspection is a machine vision check that verifies a complete wiring harness board in one cycle: connector presence, visible pin patterns, spot tape, clips, wire routing, labels, and variant correctness. FlexIPS inspects the whole board against the harness drawing, catches defects that cause mating failures or electrical faults, and records every result against the serial.
Can FlexIPS inspect wiring harnesses when the board moves between cycles?
Yes. The system locates the fixture each cycle, compensates for translation and rotation, and applies the inspection template to the corrected board position. A board that does not sit in exactly the same place every time is still inspected correctly, which is critical for flexible harness boards that flex and shift.
Which wiring harness defects can the vision system catch?
Typical checks include missing tape, wrong tape position, connector presence, visible pin patterns, wire route, missed pegs, crossed branches, labels, clips, and variant mismatch. Each defect is highlighted directly on the stored board image so rework is fast and unambiguous.
How are harness variants handled?
The active program is selected automatically from a barcode, serial number, MES record, option code, or PLC signal, so one station can inspect high-mix production without manual changeover. Each variant is verified against its own harness template, including its own connector, tape, and routing rules.
Can the camera also help maintain harness fixtures?
Yes. A separate fixture maintenance inspection package compares the physical fixture against a golden fixture and guides technicians through correction before product inspection even starts. This keeps the fixture (and therefore the inspection) accurate over time, which is one of the biggest hidden drivers of harness escapes.
How fast is wiring harness inspection?
A complete board (all connectors, tape, routing, and labels) is inspected and re-tested every cycle until PASS within a normal station cycle, so the check keeps pace with the operator and never becomes the bottleneck.
How does the system verify wire routing?
FlexIPS compares each harness route against the active golden template and verifies the wire follows the intended path across the pegs. Routed wrong, crossed branches, and out-of-slot wires are all flagged against the board.
What happens when a harness fails inspection?
The station returns a FAIL and routes the board to FlexCheck, where the failed region is highlighted on the captured image with the defect labeled (missing tape, wrong connector, crossed branch, and so on). The operator sees exactly what to fix, and the decision is logged against the serial for traceability and yield analysis.
Have a question we didn't answer? Request a demo and we'll map it to your line.
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Test FlexIPS on your hardest harness variant
Share a station photo, fixture drawing, or sample board and we will show the exact connector, tape, routing, and traceability checks your line needs.