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Case Study: 27% Cost Reduction through Cost Down Engineering in Cable Assembly

An automotive supplier tasked us with reducing the production costs of an existing high-voltage cable set. The product was already in series production, but margins were shrinking due to rising raw material prices. A new calculation was not feasible internally — so technical savings were required.
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Analysis

Bill of materials: 47 individual components

3 variants due to minor configuration differences (connectors/crimping)

High proportion of manual labour (>60% of total costs)

No standardisation in cable lengths, cross-sections, or connector families

Actions

Redesigned for standardisation

Reduced to one connector family, aligned cable lengths

Replaced crimp terminals with IDC technology

Reduced assembly time by 34%

Integrated function wires

Combined two cable sets into one

Relocated pre-assembly

Moved to Eastern European facility (previously manual final assembly in Germany)

Result

  • 27% lower production cost per cable set
  • 50% fewer variants
  • 30% shorter delivery time (due to reduced complexity)
  • No loss of function—release by OEM without change approval process

Conclusion

Cost down engineering isn’t forced cost cutting—but systematic reassessment of established practice. Those who rethink value creation create room for margin—and maintain competitiveness.