Grayhill, Inc. is a leading designer and manufacturer of customized user interface solutions, switches, rugged mobile computers, and electronic components. These products include control panels, keypads, rotary switches, encoders, joysticks, pushbuttons, I/O modules, and DIP switches. Since its founding in 1943, the privately held company has been committed to providing top-quality solutions for a wide range of applications in the defense, aerospace, medical, agriculture, construction, automotive, and electronics industries. With headquarters just outside of Chicago, and multiple state-of-the-art facilities around the world, Grayhill’s team has the engineering, development and manufacturing expertise to deliver both standard and customized products quickly and cost-effectively.

This commitment to quality has been recently manifested by the company receiving Professional Lab Accreditation for its EMC Test Lab by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). The laboratory meets the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Other examples of pioneering in quality leadership include becoming the first in its field to achieve ISO 9001 certification (BVQI 84530), SPC manufacturing techniques and qualification to MIL-Q-9858. Grayhill was also the first switch manufacturer to achieve Preferred Supplier status with the leading computer and communications companies.

ISO 17025 Certificate and Scope
ISO 9001:2000 Certificate-USA
ISO 9001:2010 Certificate-Shenzhen, China

In addition to its innovative engineering and manufacturing, Grayhill has also been a marketing pioneer. From its inception, its products have been available to customers, not only on a direct basis, but also through a national and international network of stocking distributors.

Custom Keypads

No matter what your keypad needs may be, Grayhill can custom engineer a solution the exactly meets your application’s requirements. Grayhill leverages its proprietary stage-gate development process to ensure that your custom keypad is properly designed, laboratory qualified and manufactured for your specific application.

Grayhill will consult with your team to choose the proper switching technology, outline the proper packaging and mounting, and design any electrical and/or protocol interface.

Fully Sealed Designs

Grayhill’s unique 2-shot molding process produces very rugged, fully sealed keypads that also have elegant features such as sculpted keys and base profiles, optically isolated indicators and legend backlighting and sharp colored legends. With this technique, the top surface of these keypads is one continuous rubber surface which is coated with a long life chemical resistant polyurethane hard coat.

Electronics

Grayhill often designs and integrates electronics to provide typical interfaces such as PS/2, CAN Bus, LIN Bus, RS232 at various levels and protocols such as VT100. Using our in-house pick-and-place manufacturing facilities, this electronics is typically assembled on the back side of the switch contact PCB. This provides a very robust and cost-effective product.

Front Panels

Minimize your product’s production risk and time to market by letting Grayhill’s experts quickly and efficiently build the perfect front panel sub-assembly for your product. Grayhill leverages our proprietary stage-gate development process to ensure that your custom front panel is properly designed, laboratory qualified and manufactured to optimize your specific application.

Grayhill’s team collaborates with your team to choose the proper switching technology, outline the proper packaging and mounting, and design any electrical and/or protocol interface.

Electronics

Grayhill often designs and integrates electronics to provide typical interfaces such as PC Keyboard, CAN Bus, LIN Bus, RS232 at various levels and various protocols. These electronics can scan the keypads, drive the LCDs, drive indicators and control a buzzer. Using our in-house pick-and-place manufacturing facilities, this electronics is typically assembled on the back side of the contact PCB. This provides a very robust and cost-effective product.

Military Display and Keypad Assemblies

Leverage Grayhill’s unsurpassed experience at providing military display and keypad assemblies. Grayhill will custom engineer a solution the exactly meets your requirements. Grayhill leverages its proprietary stage-gate development process to ensure that your Military Display and Keypad assembly is properly designed, laboratory qualified and manufactured for your specific application.

Grayhill has fielded more than 100,000 of these units!

Typical Features

Custom Displays of Text, Graphics and/or Icons
Operates in Extreme Temperatures (e.g. -51 to 85 deg C)
Control Electronics for LCD, Keypad, Backlight and Heater
Firmware Upgradable Through Electrical Interface
Low Power Consumption
Display and Keypad Backlighting (Including NVIS)
Thermal Blast Protective Window
Utilize Latest COTS Components Where Appropriate
Fully Sealed Assemblies
Rubber Keys
Light Weight

Design and Manufacturing

Design and Manufacturing in USA
In-House Pick and Place for PCB assembly
In-House LCD assembly (Heat Seal Connectors, Backlights, Heaters, etc.)
In-House Final Assembly and Testing

In-House Qualification Testing

EMC/ESD (In-House EMC Chamber)
Contrast, Lighting/NVIS Compliance (In-House Spot
Photometer and Spectrascan Spectroradiometer)
Seal Testing (In-House Altitude, Submersion and Cosmo Leak Rate)

Grayhill Custom Mobile Solutions
We design and build your rugged mobile computer up to 50% faster… so you can build your business!

Modify our existing GUI-based platforms, or let us build a fully custom-configured system that suits your specific requirements
All platforms feature ultra-rugged design, extended battery life, and sunlight-readable displays
Our collaborative process and ISO-accredited in-house production facilities ensure quick, cost-effective turnaround… even at low quantities
Six decades of Grayhill quality on the inside, your name on the outside!

About West Coast Engineering

For over 23 years, West Coast Engineering (WCE) has been supplying electronics to OEMs, CEMs and distributors worldwide. Located in Hawthorne California, near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), West Coast Engineering has established itself as a premier independent distributor specializing in providing electronic components for the military, aeronautical, medical, automotive and commercial manufacturing industries. Grayhill, Inc. is one of the hundreds of manufacturers that WCE carries on its linecard.

WCE has the techology and resources to handle any size transaction, no matter how big or small.

Quick Facts

• Founded: 1984
• Headquarters: Hawthorne, CA
• Other Locations: Futain, Shenzhen ▪ China PRC ▪ Brazil

West Coast Engineering is committed to providing the highest quality service to customers with its large diverse inventory stocked in its ISO9001:2000 and ESD compliant 70,000 sq. ft. warehouse. Year after year, West Coast Engineering has been considered a top independent distributor because of its principled reputation built on longstanding relationships with a dedicated customer base.

WCE's strategies differ from any other independent distributors. Listed below are some of the added measures that WCE takes to make sure that OEMs, CEMs and distributors have peace of mind when placing orders for electornic components, selling excess inventory, forming strategic alliances, and purchasing RoHS or
non-RoHS parts.