Mine-ready wiring systems to suit a Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series fleet

The challenge

The customer was rolling out mine-ready LandCruisers across their fleet, and their harness supplier couldn't keep up. Vehicles were taking too long to get to site, and the project was falling behind.

Quality was a problem too. Faults in the harnesses often didn't show up until after installation or commissioning. Every faulty harness meant pulling it out and fitting a replacement, with more labour, more cost and more delay.

With a sizeable roll-out ahead, they wanted more capacity, better support and consistent quality. Australian manufacturing and support mattered to them.

What we did

Worked from samples, not drawings. There were no drawings to work from. The customer sent us a set of the harnesses they were already using, and we used them as the foundation for our own manufacturing instructions.

Refined a good design. The original design was sound, so we built on it. We improved parts compatibility, standardised components across the system and upgraded components for better durability and a longer service life.

Built for life on site. The system sits over the factory wiring and covers every mine safety requirement. It's built in sections, so when one part is damaged, the team swaps out that section instead of the whole harness. The vehicles also meet multi-site mine requirements, so they move between sites as needed.

Prototypes first. We built three prototype sets for the customer's team to check on different vehicle variants. They confirmed the fit, flagged changes and signed off before production started.

Tested every harness. We don't sample test. Every harness is inspected and tested before it leaves our factory, and test certificates are available. That's how faults get caught on our bench, not after installation.

Volume pricing, delivered in small batches. For large roll-outs, the customer gives us forward orders 3-6 months ahead. We hold stock and components for them and plan our production around their schedule. They get the pricing of a larger order, and take delivery of an agreed number of vehicle sets each week, as they need them. Because the parts are already on our shelves, we turn around urgent one-off orders quickly too.

The result

• Around 150 vehicle sets delivered, with supply ongoing
• Volume pricing without the stockpile. The customer pays for scale but only holds the sets they're about to fit
• Ready before the vehicle is. Sets arrive 1-2 weeks before installation, so they're on hand when the team starts work
• No hold-ups. As far as we're aware, no vehicle has been held up waiting on a harness or by a harness fault
• A design that keeps improving. We work with the customer as their vehicles and needs change, lengthening branches and adding or removing circuits
• A growing partnership. We now work with other departments in their business on projects like machine rebuilds