vFlash - Effective and Efficient Avoidance of Software Rework in Production at Volkswagen
Case Study Volkswagen
The Customer
The Volkswagen Group, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of automobiles and commercial vehicles and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Volkswagen Group comprises ten strong core brands that meet every mobility need. They are divided into the Core (including Volkswagen), Progressive and Sport Luxury brand groups and work independently to achieve joint success.
The Challenge
High Production Quality and Sustainable Increase in the “Direct Run Rate” by Efficiently Avoiding Software Rework.
Volkswagen attaches great importance to the quality of the production of its vehicles. An important quality criterion states that vehicles may only leave the production line if only components with the correct software version are installed. Discovering an error in the software of an ECU shortly before a module is installed would significantly delay production. Alternatively, all vehicles produced with the faulty module would have to be towed to parking lots and temporarily stored until the software is updated. Volkswagen wants to effectively avoid the resulting high costs and delivery delays and maximize the number of vehicles that do not require rework - the Direct Run Rate.
The Solution
vFlash and the vFlash Station Variant - Fast, Parallel Updating of ECU Software.
vFlash is an easy-to-use tool for updating the software of ECUs. With the powerful variant “vFlash Station” and Vector's network interfaces, several ECUs can be updated in parallel each via their own physical connections in the shortest possible time. The variant is suitable for all diagnostics-relevant bus systems and networks (CAN, CAN FD, Ethernet, FlexRay, LIN). Thanks to the vFlash plug-in concept, vFlash is immediately ready for use and guarantees a process-safe update, but can be adapted to special boundary conditions and requirements if necessary.
At the Volkswagen plant in Emden, a special application was created to control the Vector vFlash Station. With this application and the vFlash Station, a large number of ECUs are updated with new software on-site in parallel in the shortest possible time. The ECUs are only then installed in the respective modules (e.g. bumpers) directly in the factory or at the supplier. If the software update is successful, the automated creation of an ECU label also ensures the traceable identification of the software status of an ECU. This enables the supplier to deliver error-free modules to Volkswagen production even if errors are detected late. As a result, vehicles are produced at the Volkswagen plant without the need for software rework.
The Advantages
By updating the ECU software quickly and reliably and delivering error-free modules to Volkswagen, Volkswagen is able to produce cost-efficiently and save time while meeting its high quality standards. Since the intensive use of the vFlash Station began in 2023, savings in the millions have been achieved. Vehicles have been able to leave the production line quickly and with correct software - a key factor in delivering vehicles to customers on time.
The solution is used so successfully at Volkswagen and leads to such a far-reaching increase in efficiency that it was named Volkswagen's “Idea of the Year 2024”.
