Not many companies will work on a project for over six years. But that’s exactly what one company, known for small but high-precision electromechanical devices meant to survive outer space, did. This company was working on bringing that same precision and durability a bit closer to home, with a specialty wire harness that was smaller than anything they’d developed before. This wire harness, no larger than your thumb, was the quality-critical component to a machine designed to give people a more beautiful smile in just one patient visit.

• Smaller doesn’t mean simpler. In this case, like a Swiss watch, the smaller the wire harness, the harder it was to make.

• Turnover equals trouble. Customer team turnover caused setbacks in communication and development over time, as new people were introduced and information was lost internally.

• Design calls for costly components. Design required components that were too small and expensive to produce reliably.