Oct 16, 2019 
Renting a car after a long flight can be tedious and time consuming. Locating the rental car office, waiting in long lines, filling out endless paperwork, and finally locating your rental car is not easy, fast or convenient. Enter Silvercar by Audi, an innovative company that has revolutionized the rental car process. East West Manufacturing Enterprises partnered with Silvercar by Audi from the very beginning, providing full turn-key services for electronic contract manufacturing, enabling Silvercar by Audi to execute on their business plan and ultimately succeed in the rental car market.
Silvercar is Revolutionizing the Rental Car Industry
Silvercar by Audi has created a seamless system to quickly and easily get customers behind the wheel of a premium Audi A4, Q5 SUV, Q7 SUV, or A5 Cabriolet.
Founded in Austin, Texas in 2012, Silvercar was acquired in 2017 by Audi. Silvercar by Audi operates in 26 cities and airports throughout the United States. The company set out to modernize the airport car rental process by providing white glove, short term, premium Audi car rental service to travelers on demand. “We wanted to deliver a fast, frictionless, and consistent experience to our customers,” commented Chris Collins, Directory of IT Security and Compliance at Silvercar. “A customer experience that does not involve lines, paperwork, or the other standard maladies of car rental. We decided the best way to improve this experience was to handle the rental process using smartphones and build an app that would modernize the entire rental process.”
To implement their groundbreaking idea, Silvercar designed a next-generation cloud-based software and hardware solution that allows communication between the rental vehicles and the Silvercar smartphone app.
The process is easy. The end user can download the smartphone app to book, manage and unlock their Audi car rental. No lines, no paperwork, no hassle. A Silvercar by Audi airport shuttle conveniently takes the customer to the exact silver Audi rental ordered and a QR code unlocks the car. Returning the car is just as simple: refuel (optional), leave the car at a designated drop off point, and take the Silvercar by Audi shuttle back to the airport.
Silvercar Chose East/West Manufacturing Enterprises as their First Manufacturing Partner
To build the hardware to make this possible, Silvercar by Audi chose Austin based East/West Manufacturing Enterprises.
“Initially, we chose East/West Manufacturing Enterprises based on a word-of-mouth recommendation from an embedded hardware consultant who had worked with East/West on other projects,” said Collins. “East/West helped us understand the manufacturing process and the team was willing to be flexible while we figured out our business model.”
“As we grew and needed to manufacture more hardware, East/West accommodated our increased volume along with taking on shipping and refurbishing processes. Since our whole customer experience centers on ease of use, we need the hardware we are relying on to be functioning as expected all the time,” he continued. “East/West consistently delivers a quality product that our business leverages day in and day out.”
East/West Manufacturing Enterprises is a full-service electronic contract manufacturing company that produces high-quality PCBs, custom cables, and electrical/mechanical assemblies for many different industries globally. Under new ownership since 2017, East/West Manufacturing Enterprises has undergone major changes and upgrades during the past two years. Andy Salo, East/West’s President & CEO, has brought in new technology, new faces, and new customers. Recent East/West upgrades include doubling the capacity of its SMT lines, adding 3D Automated Optical Inspection (3D AOI), new X-Ray capabilities, and a state-of-the-art cloud-based ERP system.
East/West provides full turnkey services including parts procurement, performing PCB assembly, functional testing, programming, provisioning, cable assembly, warehouse stocking, serial number tracking, and drop shipping. This makes East/West an ideal partner for Silvercar to grow their business.
Silvercar by Audi Grows with EWME as their long-term Strategic Manufacturing Partner
As Silvercar by Audi expands their business into new cities, EWME remains their hardware manufacturing partner.
“East/West has been Silvercar’s manufacturing partner since the very beginning of our company,” said Collins. “Recently, we went through an exercise to evaluate East/West along with other contract manufacturers. During that process we met with and toured several other potential suppliers. After an extensive evaluation, we chose to continue partnering with East/West for a multitude of reasons including their friendly and professional staff, flexibility, quick turnaround, ability to help us reduce cost and improve the quality of our hardware. It is also important to us that East/West continues to improve their facility with updated manufacturing processes, including additional inspection equipment.”
“At East/West, we understand that product quality is paramount and must be matched with on-time delivery and low cost,” said Salo. East/West capabilities include NPI for small to mid-volume orders, through full production. Salo added, “Our success is built on a relationship of trust that we earn by consistently meeting customer requirements and being flexible enough to help them achieve their goals.”
East/West provides industry-leading electronics manufacturing services and optimized supply chain solutions for companies in a wide range of industries including industrial and commercial OEMs, medical, automotive, and military related device manufacturers. The company’s employees are IPC certified and have an average industry tenure of over 15 years. Additionally, East/West is certified to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016.
East/West Manufacturing Enterprises brings many years of experience to customers and is committed to enabling the customer’s market success with end-to-end manufacturing solutions. In today’s fast-paced industry, it is uncommon to find a company that places customers and quality first. East/West prides itself on doing just that. Its history and volume manufacturing expertise benefit projects of all sizes, and it leverages market-leading Kanban and lean manufacturing strategies to stay lean and focused.
“Silvercar by Audi is an amazing business partner,” said Richard Tsukano, East/West’s Vice President of Business Development. “The entire Silvercar by Audi team is very open and easy to communicate with. Simply put, we admire them as a company, and greatly appreciate their strong support and collegial approach to working together and finding solutions. At East/West, we are working hard to contribute to their continued success.”
To learn more about Silvercar by Audi, visit www.silvercar.com.
To learn more about East West Manufacturing Enterprises, visit www.ewme.com.
