About this survey

The WHMA Innovation Advisory Team (IAT) is conducting the 2026 industry survey to track changes from the 2025 benchmark and better understand the operational friction affecting wire-harness manufacturers - particularly customer data quality, RFQ handoff, quoting efficiency, and the adoption of AI and automation. We will analyze results in aggregate and use them to guide future WHMA industry initiatives. Estimated completion time: about 7 minutes.
Why participate?

The 2025 survey gave WHMA a clearer view of where manufacturers are losing time and where the industry sees the greatest opportunity for improvement. The 2026 survey closes that loop: measuring what has changed, quantifying the remaining friction, and helping the IAT focus future work on areas with the greatest practical impact. Respondents may separately opt in to receive the summarized 2026 benchmark findings.
PART A - 2025 Trend Questions

Five high-signal questions from the 2025 survey are repeated without substantive changes so WHMA can measure year-over-year movement. Prior-year results are intentionally not shown before respondents answer.

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1. A1. What are the top three challenges your organization faces in wire harness or cable design and assembly?
Select up to 3. (Required.)

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2. A2. Which of the following areas would benefit most from innovation in your operation?
Select top 3. (Required.)

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3. A3. What tools does your organization currently use to design and document harnesses? Check all that apply

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4. A4. How often do you encounter customer design errors, which affect your production process? Select one

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5. A5. How would you describe your quoting process for wire harnesses? Select all that apply to your situation

PART B - 2026 Industry Questions

This section establishes a new benchmark around the cost of customer-to-manufacturer data handoff, RFQ friction, quoting throughput, the potential value of a WHMA Minimum Data Set, and AI/automation adoption.
B. Respondent profile

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6. B1. Which best describes your role?

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7. B2. Approximately how many employees does your company have?

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8. B3. Which end markets represent a meaningful share of your wire-harness business?

C. Customer-to-manufacturer data handoff and RFQ friction

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9. C1. On approximately what share of RFQs must your team go back to the customer/OEM for missing, ambiguous, inconsistent, or conflicting information before you can quote?

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10. C2. When an RFQ takes longer than expected, which TWO factors most often drive the elapsed time?
Select up to two. (Required.)

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11. C3. For a typical RFQ that your team completes, what is the approximate TOTAL ACTIVE TOUCH TIME (per assembly) spent by your organization?

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12. C4. For a typical RFQ that your team completes, what is the approximate ELAPSED TIME from receipt to quote submission?

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13. C5. Which elements of incoming customer data packages most often create additional work or require clarification before quoting?
Select up to THREE (Required.)

D. WHMA Minimum Data Set

(For this survey, a Minimum Data Set means the minimum information needed for a manufacturer to efficiently evaluate and process an incoming RFQ and/or purchase order)

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14. D1. How useful would a standardized WHMA-defined Minimum Data Set / checklist for incoming wire-harness RFQ packages be to your organization?

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15. D2. If WHMA published a practical Minimum Data Set / checklist, how would your organization be most likely to use it? Select all that apply.

E. AI and automation adoption

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16. E1. For which activities is your organization currently USING, PILOTING, or EVALUATING AI or automation?
Select all that apply.

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17. E2. Which AI / automation tools or platforms are you currently using, piloting, or evaluating? (optional)

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18. E3. Which AI project support/training would be most helpful to your organization? (Optional)

Optional follow-up

After submitting the benchmark survey, respondents may be redirected to a separate optional form to:

☐ Receive the summarized 2026 WHMA Industry Benchmark findings
☐ Participate in a follow-up interview
☐ Contribute to the WHMA Minimum Data Set working group
☐ Participate in other WHMA IAT industry-collaboration initiative
Form Completed by

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19. Form Completed By

Thank you for contributing to the WHMA industry benchmark.
Your input will help the IAT identify the highest-impact opportunities for practical industry improvement.

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