AAMW Providing Quality
In a Harsh Environment

 By Fred Noer

Like most other industries around the world, practically every aspect of the wiring
harness industry is concerned primarily with cost: From raw material charges to finished
product prices, every company is jockeying for a competitive advantage by pushing harder
and harder for the lowest cost.

Not American Auto/Marine Wiring (AAMW) in Pompano Beach, Fla., which is just
north of Fort Lauderdale on the east coast of the state. Quality commands the highest
priority largely due to the harsh environment in which most of the firm's wiring harnesses
must function. Approximately 85 percent of them are used in boats cruising on the ocean.

That means salt water. And that, as everyone knows, means corrosion, one of the
fiercest enemies of electrical wiring.

For an AAMW harness to perform properly under constant exposure to salt, nothing
can be compromised in materials or manufacturing processes. That is a fact everyone
at the small company understands, and that is the reason why hundreds of customers
have turned to AAMW.

"We have to have high standards to eliminate corrosion," said Dale Marwood, 35,
general manager.  "Our standards are far and away beyond any other manufacturing
standard, particularly in our industry. They separate our products from others. There
are no standards out there that have caught up to us.

"We put more thought and patience into our products than other companies in our
industry do," he said. "It's kind of strange how they don't avoid the problems that
inevitably will occur with boat harnesses."

Quality is evident in all parts of an AAMW harness to help prevent problems while
in service. For example, each harness is made with 600-volt tin-coated copper wire,
which costs 30 percent more than conventional wire. Tin prevents corrosion.

The wire also contains 1015 mils of irradiated insulation that is not affected by heat
up to 125 degrees Centigrade. "The wire will not melt when put in the flame of a lighter,"
Marwood said. "This eliminates huge possibilities of the wire burning and then arcing,
which in turn starts a fire and can result in an insurance claim."

Each harness also consists of quick-disconnect plugs that have watertight connectors.
They are the same ones used in U.S. Army tanks. To boost wire longevity, the ring
and spade terminals are covered with heat-shrink material whose durability is enhanced
by an epoxy lining. More insulation from the elements is provided by tape and heat-
resistant corrugated conduit.

"Moonshot" Boat Harness from American Auto/Marine Wiring.

As much as possible, AAMW uses materials made in the United States "due to their
quality because it's first and foremost," Marwood said. "We are very proud to buy
from American suppliers.

"We've had very good luck with them," he said. "Our president Phil Schultz is very
loyal because he believes in building relationships with people and then sticking with
them. The way he does business with suppliers, they go to bat for him when he needs something."

Due to Schultz, AAMW methods are based on the same high standards for quality as
the materials. Early in his professional career as an electrical engineer, he worked for
MCI in southern Florida building sound-control boards used in recording studios. Each
board was 12x5x4 feet and contained 600 miles of wire. Board cost was approximately $250,000. He also made special tape recorders that cost $85,000 apiece. "To say the least,
he learned how to do wiring properly," said Marwood, who has been with AAMW six
months.

The seed for AAMW was planted while Schultz, 45, was employed by Zimmer Motor
Cars of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he worked after MCI beginning in 1981. Zimmer
made unique kit cars based on Mustang chassis. The car had a 1950s low-rider look
with a long front end, large flared front fenders, a spare tire attached to the passenger-side
front fender and exposed exhausted tubes.

The company has wiring kits for the do-it-yourselfer that offer
12, 16 and 19 circuits with a pre-wired General Motors fuse panel.

Schultz headed the electrical department at Zimmer, which was experiencing reliability
problems with harnesses from a supplier. He was given the opportunity to make
harnesses on his own and sell them to Zimmer while still working for the company.

When Zimmer changed its business direction in 1987, Schultz decided to leave the
company and concentrate solely on AAMW. "It was born out of a need for a quality
product at Zimmer, but he gained outside accounts," Marwood said. "That's because
he's a meticulous, detail-oriented person, and he has an entrepreneurial spirit to him
and an I-can-do-better attitude."

In the past 15 years AAMW has developed a variety of products. Most of
them were made for custom applications. Customers have included Disney/MGM
Studios, Florida Highway Patrol, Classic Motor Carriages, City of Fort Lauderdale
and New York Transit Authority.

Besides wiring in many award-winning high-performance and classic cars, harnesses
were made for Mercedes-Benz prototype cars for endurance races such as Daytona, Sebring and LeMans. The Indy 500 race car fielded by the Brickell team used AAMW
harnesses.

A.A.M.W. President, Philip Schultz, specializes in custom
marine wiring harnesses, such as the power distribution panel
on this 4-Play 55-foot Omni

The company also has wiring kits for the do-it-yourselfer that offer 12, 16 and
19 circuits with a prewired General Motors fuse panel. Specialty harnesses are offered
for such vehicles as a 1957 Buick Roadmaster, 1970 Ford Bronco, Porsche Speedster,
1934 Ford and Chevy Victoria and 1955-57 Thunderbird.

According to Marwood, selling vehicle harnesses has been de-emphasized at
AAMW because often car builders don't need – and don't want to pay the extra
money for – the quality of harness offered by AAMW. Anyway, Schultz found
the marine industry was more profitable due to larger-ticket items and fewer people
involved in boat harnesses.

The transition has been worthwhile, since the AAMW name is associated with the
classy boats made by Black Fin Yachts, Sea Ray, Sugar Sand Marine, Strike Yachts
and Don Smith Power Boats, all Florida companies. Smith scored American Power
Boat Association national titles in 1994-96.

AAMW makes harnesses installed in SEAL transport vessels for the U.S. Navy.
The U.S. Customs Service has AAMW harnesses in its intercept boats.

Most other companies making boat harnesses lay in one wire at a time. Not AAMW.
Due to Schultz's background in the automobile industry, AAMW harnesses are built
on boards. Only the gauge and control panels are outsourced.

The construction occurs after the hull is measured and a drawing made with exact specifications. After the cut list is prepared, the wires are cut and terminated before the
harness is constructed. All work is done by hand except for the use of a crimping machine.

 

Testing is done visually and with a machine checking for wire continuity. The final stage
is installation by the AAMW staff. Upon completion, a wiring diagram manual is given
to the owner along with a five-year warranty.

 

A project can take 30-90 days, depending on complexity. And a boat can be complex,
Marwood pointed out. A large boat can have harnesses for the deck, port and starboard
gunwales and rear, console (cabin) and tower control panels that have such devices
as the radar, horn, throttle, lights, pumps and siren. Wiring also may be required on a
boat for a shower, kitchen, bathroom, water heater, global positioning system and
fuel-management systems.

AAMW custom harnesses are done on a time-and-materials basis with an hourly rate
of $65. The most expensive project is a Smith 42-foot boat that requires approximately
800 hours and a bill exceeding $55,000. Of course, that's for a boat costing $430,000.

 

All the work is done by Marwood, Schultz and employees Eric Davis, Ian Ross and
Andrew Popowicz. The latter three are paid hourly on a subcontract basis, so no
benefits are offered.

"Everybody likes working here because it's very relaxed and casual, but the production
expectations are very high," Marwood said. "Our focus is on quality and workmanship.
I also go by the fact that opportunity and reward follow a good work ethic and attitude."

More people with those characteristics are being sought by Marwood to meet his goal of
employing a total of 12 persons by the end of the year. The additional people will coincide
with Schultz and Marwood's plan to make AAMW more of a marine harness
manufacturing company than one doing all aspects of a custom harness job,
particularly installation.

"Phil is pulled in a lot of different directions, and he's always up to his elbows in
everything," Marwood said. "I was brought in to address that. Phil and I met through
a mutual friend, and we discovered that we both had a good work ethic, intelligence
and a similar vision for the company."

 

His expertise in sales and management was honed while owning a business for five
years that installed office cubicles. "What really attracted me to this opportunity was a
product here that hasn't been exposed and could grow without limit. I saw a diamond
in the rough," Marwood said.

Marwood also gained a contract with Caterpillar to build harnesses for industrial boats
equipped with Cat diesel engines. The harnesses, in which AAMW invested more than
100 hours designing and planning, solved reliability problems Cat was experiencing
with a former supplier. The AAMW harnesses also will give more options to Cat
customers for their boats.

The Cat work will complement the simple 12-wire harness that has been built the
last three years for Southeastern Power Products (also known as Phaser Marine).
The harness is for the company's generators used in boats and industrial vehicles
such as vacuums. With more of a manufacturing than a custom focus, Schultz will not
have to be involved in designing, producing and installing every harness. He will be
able to do more research and development of new products.

"We could do a lot more with Phil's ideas because they are crying to be marketed,"
Marwood said. "I am very excited about the company because our potential."
He anticipates sales of $250,000 this year, $1 million in 2003 and $10 million in
five years. To reach those goals, production will have to increase significantly. So will
building space, currently at 4,000 square feet. It is located in a building with the Smith
boat business. Should Smith relocate, AAMW could benefit from the additional
26,000 square feet.

Marwood is dedicated to achieving the company's goals because he appreciates
AAMW's harness quality. "I am most proud about our product that outlives and
exceeds everything on the market," he said. "It's really neat to be part of
something special."

Contact AAMW, 1200 South Dixie Hwy. Pompano Beach, FL 33060.
Phone (954) 782-0193. Visit Internet: http://www.customwiring.com