Technical Resources Resources Home Application Briefs 'Ask the Flexperts' Article Archive Ask the Minco Experts E2E Discussion Forum E2E Top Engineer Questions Engineering Tools Literature Webinars & Podcasts White Papers Local Support USA Other Countries pick your country Receive eUpdates Subscribe to receive our technical articles and more!

Become a Premium Member for Free! Tell Me More | Register | Sign In Ask the Experts Post your question to our Minco Engineering Experts. We're here to help you.  Q:  How does the cost of a flexible circuit compare to a wiring harness?     A:  When comparing the raw cost of a flex circuit vs. a wiring harness, the flex circuit will be slightly more expensive for just the component. If you look at the total cost of ownership, typically the flex circuit will be less expensive.  It also has a lot to do with the number of wires in the wire harness.  If your wire harness only has three or four wires, the flex circuit may not be a good option.  If you have 50 to a 100 wires it can definitely be less expensive both from the cost of flex and the total cost of ownership.  One nice thing about a flex circuit versus a wire harness is that there will never be a wiring error on a flex circuit.  Every flex circuit is photo defined from artwork, and every one will be exactly the same, and they all install exactly the same.  You will never have a situation where a wire harness has a crossed wire, gets installed in an application, and it is not found until later.    For more information, you can go the the Flex Circuits section of this website plus, here are some additional resources you may find helpful: "How to Design With Flex Circuits In Mind" (available as a webcast, podcast or Q&A transcript) Flex Circuits Design Guide Flex Circuits Design Kit What's your question for the Minco Engineering Experts?