Siemens has acquired Munich-based COMSA Computer und Software, the maker of LDorado, an automotive harness design and engineering software suite that’s quite popular in Germany.

The COMSA team will join the Mentor business, part of the Siemens PLM Software business unit.

As anyone who’s ever tried to track down an elusive electrical problem knows, the wiring harness is an extremely complex (and expensive) component of a modern automobile.

According to Cowen Research, “The wiring harness today is the third highest-cost component in a car (behind the engine and chassis). Harnesses are built one at a time and can comprise about 50 percent of the cost of labor for the entire car. The wiring harness is also the third-heaviest component (behind the chassis and engine). Any technology that reduces this weight directly contributes to fuel economy.”

Bishop and Associates estimates that the worldwide cable assembly market generated revenue of $155 billion in 2017, some 30% of that from the automotive industry.

COMSA’s technology will add key harness engineering and design data analytics capabilities to the Siemens product range. Through this acquisition, Siemens hopes to address disruption in the automotive harness industry caused by megatrends such as autonomous driving and EVs.

Source: Siemens