How Zeal Motor Reduced Development Time by 75% with Wire Harness Documentation Software

Fat Truck is built for places most vehicles cannot go.

Zeal Motor designs and manufactures the Fat Truck, a rugged off-road utility vehicle used in oil and mining, powerline utilities, defense, search and rescue, and emergency response. It operates in mud, snow, water, swampy ground, Arctic conditions, desert heat, and remote field operations.

In those environments, reliability matters. Downtime can be costly. In some cases, it can also create safety risks.

As Fat Truck platforms, variants, and customer options expanded, Zeal Motor needed a better way to manage electrical design and wire harness manufacturing data. The company turned to Harness Builder for E3.series, Zuken’s wire harness documentation software, to connect engineering data with production.

The result: Zeal Motor reduced development time by 75%, cut production preparation time in half, and improved communication between engineering and production.

The Challenge: Manual Harness Data Could Not Keep Up

Before using Zuken, Zeal Motor relied on traditional CAD tools, Excel spreadsheets, paper drawings, and manual checks. Each harness had its own files. That worked for a while. However, as electrical complexity increased, the process became harder to manage.

A typical Fat Truck can include 10 or more wire harnesses; the most complex configuration includes 15. With that many harnesses, separate files and manual updates created risk.

Design changes could be missed. Wire lists could become outdated. Production teams could spend extra time checking drawings, confirming wire lengths, or interpreting documentation.

Nicholas Gauthier, Supply Chain Director at Zeal Motor, explained the issue: “Traditional documentation methods were no longer sufficient to manage the complexity of our electrical systems.”

For Zeal Motor, the challenge was clear. The company needed one connected process for electrical design data, wire lists, formboard/nailboard documentation, and production instructions.

Why Connected Wire Harness Documentation Software Matters

Wire harness manufacturing depends on accurate, current data.

Engineering teams need to manage electrical logic, design changes, wire lists, and documentation. Meanwhile, production teams need clear instructions for cutting, labeling, routing, and assembling wires.

When those teams work from separate files, every change adds risk. Someone has to update the drawing. Someone has to update the spreadsheet. Someone has to make sure production has the latest version. That manual effort slows the process and increases the chance of errors.

A connected system reduces that risk by keeping design changes and production outputs aligned.

Harness Builder for E3.series Connects Design and Production

Harness Builder for E3.series extends the connected E3.series design environment into wire harness documentation and production. It helps manufacturers turn design data into production-ready wire lists, formboard/nailboard documentation, manufacturing instructions, and wire preparation data.

For Zeal Motor, that connection changed how engineering and production work together.

When a schematic changes, related production data updates as well. As a result, teams can manage updates more efficiently and reduce the risk of missed changes.

Joël Blackburn, Product Engineer at Zeal Motor, described the impact: “In reality, we turned hours into minutes because all information is within the same file. For us, it’s a game-changer. You modify one place, and everything is updated.”

That is a practical gain. Small design changes can affect multiple harnesses, connectors, wires, and assembly steps. With connected data, Zeal Motor can keep those changes aligned across the workflow.

Production Teams Gain Clearer Instructions

The production impact was just as important.

Before Zuken, production teams measured and cut wires manually, one by one. They also relied on disconnected documentation to guide assembly.

Now, Harness Builder generates wire lists and assembly instructions from connected design data. As a result, production teams have clearer information for wire placement, wire destinations, and formboard/nailboard assembly.

François Martel, Electrical Manufacturer Supervisor at Zeal Motor, explained: “Now with the wire list generated through Harness Builder, the system automatically generates wire lists and assembly instructions. We cut working time by half.”

Clearer instructions also help reduce interpretation on the production floor. That improves consistency and makes it easier for new employees to become productive faster.

Results: Faster Development and Less Manual Work

By connecting electrical design and wire harness manufacturing, Zeal Motor improved speed, accuracy, and communication across its workflow.

Zeal Motor reports a 75% reduction in development time, production preparation time cut in half, updates reduced from hours to minutes, and significant reduction in assembly errors.

Ultimately, these results matter because they affect more than engineering efficiency. They help production teams build with more confidence. They also support better communication between departments, suppliers, and service teams.

In one service situation, Zeal Motor fixed a harness design, built a replacement harness, and shipped it to the customer in one day. Clear, current harness data is essential for that kind of response.

Preparing for More Electrical Complexity

Vehicle electrification continues to increase electrical system complexity. For specialty vehicle manufacturers, that means more wiring, more variants, and more pressure to keep design and production aligned.

In turn, Zeal Motor expects those demands to keep growing.

Harness Builder for E3.series gives the team a connected foundation for managing future complexity. For Zeal Motor, that connection supports a better process from concept to final vehicle.

See How Zeal Motor Connected Design and Production

Zeal Motor reduced development time by 75% by replacing disconnected harness documentation with a more connected design-to-production workflow. Watch the video to hear the story from the Zeal Motor team, or download the success story for the full results.

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