Cost Manager

Job Summary

The Costing Manger is responsible for preparing accurate product cost estimates for automotive or industrial wiring harness products. The role involves analyzing bills of materials (BOMs), manufacturing processes, labor content, raw material usage, tooling costs, and supplier quotations to support RFQs, customer pricing, profitability analysis, and cost reduction initiatives. Key Responsibilities

• Prepare detailed product costings for wiring harness assemblies based on customer drawings, BOMs, and specifications.

• Analyze wire consumption; connector and terminal costs; tapes, sleeves, clips, grommets, and protection materials; and labor and machine cycle times; including testing and packaging costs.

• Calculate material cost, conversion cost, tooling and capital investment, overhead allocation, and freight and logistics cost.

• Support RFQ (Request for Quotation) activities and customer price submissions.

• Coordinate with design engineering, purchase/procurement, production, quality, and suppliers.

• Maintain costing sheets, databases, and ERP records.

• Monitor raw material price fluctuations (copper, PVC, connectors, etc.).

• Support annual cost revision and margin improvement initiatives. • Participate in new product development costing reviews.

• Ensure compliance with customer and company costing standards.

• Identify cost reduction opportunities in material, process, packaging, and logistics.

• Conduct VA/VE (Value Engineering / Value Analysis) studies for harness assemblies. • Maintain costing database for standard components and labor norms.

• Maintain costing templates, RFQ trackers, and quotation records.

• Generate costing reports for management review.

• Support audits and cost transparency requirements.

Skills & Competencies Required

• Strong knowledge of wire harness manufacturing process and assembly methods.

• Good understanding of BOM structure and harness drawings.

• Knowledge of wire harness components: o Wires (PVC, FLRYB, etc.) o Terminals, connectors, seals, splices o Protective parts: corrugated tubes, conduit, braiding, heat shrink o Tapes: PVC, cloth, fleece, aluminium

• Ability to calculate: o Labor cost, cycle time, productivity o Scrap %, rejection %, rework cost o Tooling amortization and overhead absorption

• Expertise in Excel costing models, formulas, pivot tables.

• Familiarity with ERP systems is preferred.

• Good communication and coordination skills with cross-functional teams.

• Basic understanding of APQP, PPAP, and automotive standards (preferred).

Experience • 10-15 years of experience in wiring harness manufacturing, including costing for various types of wire harnesses. Preferred Experience

• Experience in RFQ costing for automotive harnesses.

• Knowledge of customer standards (OEM requirements, IPC/WHMA-A-620, ISO/IATF).