During a press conference held in conjunction with TMC's 2023 Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition, Mitchell 1 announced a new diagram-to-diagram navigation feature to its Advanced Interactive Wiring Diagrams within the company's TruckSeries medium- and heavy-truck repair program.

The wire-to-wire jump feature will increase technician efficiency as they navigate electrical issues on today’s ever-more complex vehicles, whether driven by internal combustion or electrical power, company officials said. It allows users to navigate from one wiring diagram to another, following the wire which they were interested in, without exiting the initial view opened in TruckSeries for the job they are working on.

“With electronically distributed wiring diagrams, there has always been this challenge when one diagram ends and another needs to be accessed," Ben Johnson, director of product management for Mitchell 1, explained. "Even with old-style book manuals, we used to bookmark one diagram when we needed to research another.  Now, we can seamlessly navigate between them, following the circuit we’re interested in, without sacrificing efficiency.”

Wiring diagrams, especially with the new vehicles in use today, have branches that connect to other wiring diagrams that will likely need to be accessed in order to correctly diagnose a problem.  In the past, for Mitchell 1 as well as other wiring diagram providers, it would be necessary to exit the main view to search and find the ancillary wiring diagram for individual components.  Now, each detailed wiring diagram can be accessed right from the main diagram by simply clicking on links shown for specific areas. 

There is also a history section within the view that stores up to the 10 most recent diagrams, so the technician can jump back to a previous view without having to exit.

“With the continued focus on electrification and new systems, Mitchell 1 has made significant investments in driving efficiencies into the electrical diagnostic process,” Johnson commented during his presentation. 

“Technicians are faced with real challenges today in moving commercial vehicles through any repair process, so the operator can get the truck back on the road where it generates revenue,” he continued. “We understand this at Mitchell 1, so we look for any opportunity to increase the efficiency through the process.”

Johnson said during the TMC press conference: "The common theme thing I see coming at the trucking industry is complexity. "We’re seeing a lot for complex new technology, electronics and software that has to work seamlessly together. And, really, maintaining off of this new technology and equipment begins with easy to use wiring harness schematics.”

Exclusive to Mitchell 1, Advanced Interactive Wiring Diagrams let users navigate via the diagram directly to repair information for components. Component names shown in the wiring diagrams are active links that take users straight to the information needed, such as location, connector views and replacement procedures. Connectors, grounds and splices are also now searchable in 1Search and include active hyperlinks that take users directly to related content.