IMDS material data sheets for wire harnesses: structure, weights, supplier MDSs, submissions
Every wire harness that CGCable delivers to an automotive customer needs a Material Data Sheet (MDS) in IMDS. For a harness the MDS is mostly a list of references to the sheets of the part manufacturers (connectors, terminals, seals, wires, sleeves, tapes) with quantities, plus the measured weight of the harness. Most rejections come from four things: a weight outside tolerance, a missing or outdated supplier sheet, missing parts and wrong recipient data.
The portal does not connect to IMDS. It keeps the data in one place, calculates the weights, checks the sheet before you enter it, tells you what to type in IMDS and in what order, tracks requests to suppliers and records every submission and the customer's answer. The IMDS ID ends up in the PPAP submission warrant (PSW).
| Level | IMDS node | Examples | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Component | the harness itself, with the measured weight and recipient data | 1 |
| 2 | Component (supplier's MDS) | connector housings, terminals, seals, plugs, TPA/CPA locks, cable ties, labels, fuses | pieces |
| 2 | Semi-component (supplier's MDS) | wires, heat shrink sleeves, corrugated tubes, braids, tapes | metres |
| 2 | Material | solder, adhesive, ink, when not part of a supplier's sheet | grams |
IMDS compares the measured weight of each component with the weight calculated from the nodes below it; the deviation is calculated from the measured weight. Exceeding the tolerance is a warning in IMDS, but customers reject such MDSs.
| Measured weight | Permitted deviation |
|---|---|
| below 1 g | ±100% |
| from 1 to below 100 g | ±10% |
| from 100 to below 1000 g | ±5% |
| from 1000 to below 10 000 g | ±2% |
| from 10 000 to below 100 000 g | ±1% |
| from 100 000 g | ±0,5% |
Source: IMDS Recommendation 001, revision 14 (April 2026), rule 4.2.2.C. In IMDS exceeding it is a warning, but customers reject such sheets; some have a stricter limit (e.g. GM 5%), which you can enter on the customer card.
On the harness page, in the “Paste from Excel or from a PDF drawing” card, choose the drawing file and click “Read from PDF”. The portal reads the text of the drawing, finds the BOM table (part number, description, quantity, unit) and the wire list (type, cross-section, colour, length) and puts the items into the paste field. Lengths of wires of the same type and cross-section are summed and converted to metres. The items reach the harness only after you click “Append items”, so check them first.
Tables may have lines or not, may be rotated by 90° and may have the header below the table (parts list above the title block). Headers in Polish, English or German. From the title block the portal reads the drawing number and index to compare them with the harness data.
It does not work with a scan or with a PDF where the text was saved as lines (e.g. AutoCAD SHX fonts without the text option). Paste the BOM from Excel then. The portal does not store the PDF file and does not send it anywhere.
The administrator creates accounts on the Users page. With an e-mail address and the invitation ticked, the portal e-mails a link to set one's own password (valid for 3 days). Without an e-mail it shows a temporary password once, to hand over in person; the first login forces a change. Anyone can set a forgotten password with “Forgot password” on the login page.
The app is the same portal: the data stays on the server, so without internet it only shows the “No connection” page. Login and permissions are the same as in the browser.
Manufacturers usually send their MDS in IMDS to CGCable's company ID on request. Published MDSs can be found in IMDS with the search with “Published MDSs” ticked. The MDS Request function in IMDS requires prior agreement with the supplier.
| Manufacturer | How | Address |
|---|---|---|
| TE Connectivity | compliance search: material declarations for up to 20 part numbers at once, up to 5000 via a spreadsheet; for an MDS in IMDS write to productcompliance@te.com | https://www.te.com/en/utilities/product-compliance.html |
| Molex | GADSL/IMDS status on the part page; MDS in IMDS on request | https://www.molex.com/en-us/industry-compliance |
| LAPP | MDS in IMDS on request via a form; give your IMDS company ID | https://www.lapp.com/ |
| HARTING | RoHS, REACH and other declarations to download; MDS in IMDS on request | https://www.harting.com/en-DE/download-declarations-product-compliance |
For checking the order of magnitude (e.g. a unit mix-up). In IMDS the weight from the wire manufacturer's MDS counts; kg/km on a data sheet equals g/m.
| Cross-section [mm²] | Copper only [g/m] | Whole wire [g/m] |
|---|---|---|
| 0,35 | 3,11 | 4,5-5,0 |
| 0,5 | 4,45 | 6,0-7,0 |
| 0,75 | 6,67 | 8,8-9,3 |
| 1 | 8,89 | 11,0-11,9 |
| 1,5 | 13,34 | 16,0-17,0 |
| 2,5 | 22,23 | 26,0-26,7 |
| 4 | 35,56 | 41,3-43,2 |
| 6 | 53,34 | 60,0-62,7 |
| 10 | 88,90 | 104,4-108,0 |
| 16 | 142,24 | 163,1-170,0 |
| 25 | 222,25 | 248,7-265,0 |
Sources: LEONI, Svarn and Eland Cables wire catalogues; copper 8,89 g/cm³ (DIN EN 13602) times the cross-section.
The portal does not send data to IMDS. A regular IMDS account has no import of MDSs from XML, CSV or Excel files; automatic upload is only offered by the paid IMDS Connect service (replacing IMDS-AI since 1.02.2025; the cheapest package is EUR 6065 a year for 2000 uploads and acceptances, 12-month contract), whose specification is available only after login. The IMDS Terms of Use (version 7.0, point 7 b) forbid retrieving data with scripts, browser plug-ins and robots, so no automated agent in the browser enters the sheets either. That is why the portal prepares the data to be typed in and makes sure it is typed in correctly.
| IMDS | International Material Data System: the automotive industry system (operated by DXC Technology) for collecting data on materials and substances in vehicle parts. |
| MDS | Material Data Sheet: the description of a part in IMDS (tree of components, materials and substances with weights). |
| C, Component | component: a part or assembly (e.g. harness, connector, terminal) with a measured weight; added in pieces in the tree. |
| SC, Semi-component | semi-component: a product sold by length or sheet (wire, sleeve, tape) with a weight per unit (kg/m, kg/m², kg/m³), added in length units. |
| M, Material | material: a polymer, alloy or coating; consists of substances. Materials are created by their producers; others reference their sheets or IMDS Steering Committee materials. |
| Measured weight | measured weight: the weight of the weighed product, entered in the component. |
| Calculated weight | calculated weight: the sum of the node weights under the component, calculated by IMDS. |
| Send, Propose | ways of sending: Send to one recipient (sheet editable until acceptance), Propose releases the sheet; some customers accept only Propose. |
| MDS Request | IMDS function for requesting a sheet from a supplier with a deadline and recipient data. |
| Company ID | the IMDS number of a company (and org. unit); needed for sending and requests. |
| Rec 001 | IMDS Recommendation 001 “General Rules and Guidelines” (revision 14, April 2026): the data entry rules that customers cite when rejecting. |
| GADSL | Global Automotive Declarable Substance List: list of declarable (D) and prohibited (P) substances in the automotive industry, updated every March. |
| SVHC | substances of very high concern from the REACH candidate list. |
| ELV | Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium) with exemptions in Annex II; from 2028 replaced by Regulation (EU) 2026/1738. |
| PPAP, PSW | production part approval process and its declaration (Part Submission Warrant), which includes the MDS ID. |