Packy McCormick identifies a silent, critical bottleneck threatening the pace of American reindustrialization: the inability to automate the manufacture of wire harnesses. While the world focuses on robotics and artificial intelligence, McCormick argues that the most advanced machines in existence—from satellites to fighter jets—are held hostage by a component that still relies on fragile, manual craftsmanship. This piece is notable not for predicting a new technological revolution, but for exposing the stubborn, physical reality that slows it down.
The Invisible Bottleneck
McCormick frames the wire harness as the "nervous system of a machine," a bundle of hundreds of wires that must be crimped and routed by hand to make anything turn on. The core of the argument is that while we have mastered the automation of repetitive tasks, we have failed to solve the "high-mix, low-volume" complexity of skilled assembly. As McCormick writes, "It's devilishly hard to automate their manufacture. They're high-mix, low volume, 3D, bendy, and floppy, among other tricky attributes." This framing is effective because it shifts the focus from the glamorous end-products to the unglamorous supply chain that enables them.
The author illustrates the stakes with historical gravity, noting that the Apollo 1 tragedy in 1967 was caused not by a failure of rocket science, but by a "bad wire harness" that sparked a fire in the command module. This historical anchor underscores that the problem is not theoretical; it is a matter of life and death. McCormick connects this past failure to modern crises, citing a recent Jeep recall of over a million vehicles due to similar wiring faults. The argument lands because it proves that despite decades of technological advancement, the fundamental vulnerability of manual wiring remains.
"The more the easy stuff gets automated, the more valuable skilled humans will become."
Critics might argue that focusing on human augmentation is a temporary fix for a problem that robotics should eventually solve. However, McCormick counters this by invoking the logic of the executive branch's leading hardware innovators, noting that automation must come last in the design process. You cannot automate what you cannot yet configure. The piece suggests that the immediate path forward is not replacing workers, but giving them "superpowers" to work faster and with fewer defects.
The Human Element in a Digital Age
The commentary pivots to the human capital crisis, highlighting a paradox where demand for skilled assembly is surging just as the experienced workforce retires. McCormick introduces Jordan Black, a former SpaceX engineer who realized that even the most advanced aerospace companies were stalled by "fragmented suppliers operating with outdated systems." The author's choice to profile Black's journey from a burger joint host to an avionics engineer adds a layer of narrative depth, suggesting that the solution lies in blending service-oriented empathy with technical rigor.
The piece argues that the current supply chain is broken because design happens in spreadsheets while manufacturing remains an "arts and crafts" endeavor. McCormick writes, "It's a really screwed up supply chain from start to finish." This blunt assessment cuts through the usual corporate euphemisms. The urgency is compounded by the fact that wire harnesses are often the last component designed but the first one needed to power a system. As McCormick puts it, "You can get as far ahead on everything else as possible, but you can't make a grilled cheese sandwich without the cheese."
This metaphor is simple but powerful, grounding a complex industrial problem in a relatable reality. The article suggests that companies like Senra Systems are attempting to fix this by creating a vertically integrated model that treats the harness not as a commodity, but as a critical path item. The strategy focuses on the aerospace and defense sector, where the work is ITAR-protected and cannot be outsourced, making the domestic skills gap a national security issue.
Bottom Line
McCormick's strongest contribution is reframing the manufacturing crisis not as a lack of capital or technology, but as a specific, solvable problem of skilled assembly that has been ignored for too long. The argument's vulnerability lies in its optimism that human augmentation can scale quickly enough to meet the exploding demand in defense and aerospace before the skills gap becomes insurmountable. Readers should watch whether Senra's model can truly deliver the promised four-fold increase in speed without compromising the safety standards that the Apollo 1 tragedy taught us are non-negotiable.