The Opportunity

In the automotive industry, customers are demanding more technology as a standard feature of the driving experience.  They expect navigation, telephone, bluetooth, and satellite radio capabilities to just name a few.  Automotive manufacturers find themselves integrating more and more electronic control units into their vehicles. No longer exclusive to luxury brands, these technologies are quickly becoming standard across the automotive landscape.  Many of these electronic control units are manufactured in international countries where the supply chain to your facility can be 6 to 8 weeks long. What do manufacturers and suppliers do when they identify an opportunity to improve or a defect in the software of an electrical control unit?
 

The Solution

For OEMs and tier 1 suppliers who are struggling to manage the frequency of software changes and updates to their electronic control units, our service offers a cost effective, turnkey solution to ensuring the quickest production availability of quality parts. In addition to component and vehicle level flashing, we provide the logistical, quality audit, and detailed reporting capabilities necessary to ensure the success of your program. 

Component and vehicle flashing have historically been seen strictly viewed as a rework issue. While that is undoubtedly the case at times, we believe this view is short sighted. Flashing can be used by OEMs and tier 1 suppliers as a strategic competitive advantage. Our services give you more time to:

Optimize your module parameters with feedback from the field

 Optimize your code to make future enhancements

More fully validate your solution.

By giving extending the time to release your ECU software we help you get closer to your customers.  We have the technical tools, training and flashing expertise to build a robust flashing program to handle any scenario.  We provide a proven process, well trained E/E specialists and the program leadership necessary to ensure a quality outcome.
 

 The Return on Investment

Since establishing our flashing services in 2006, Greytree Partners has enabled direct costs savings for our clients in the hundreds of millions of dollars through scrap and obsolescence avoidance, warranty claim avoidance and the prevention of production stoppages.  Depending on the structure of the flashing program in place at your facility, we are able to react very quickly to potential issues and provide good parts to the production line within hours of problem identification.  Your investment in our services will typically pay for itself within the first three months of engagement.