Case Studies: Manufacturing

Tarkett, a top flooring company, has offices throughout Eastern Europe. A robust SAP R/3 system running on Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 (32-bit) acting as the database management system connected the company's 1,500 employees. However, the system struggled to accommodate Tarkett's growing numbers and employees were sometimes unable to access or enter information. To remedy the situation, Tarkett migrated to a clustered Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition platform with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (64-bit) database software. To ensure an efficient migration, Tarkett engaged with Microsoft Premier Support Services. In addition to an advocate at Microsoft, the service supplied Tarkett with access to in-house experts, on-site support, and priority problem-resolution. The proactive planning enabled by the service allowed the company to deploy the system in three months.

Unilever, the global consumer products giant that sells some 400 brands in 100 countries, generating 2005 revenue of U.S.$50.6 billion, needed to upgrade its SAP R\3 supply chain infrastructure that was hosted on an Oracle\UNIX solution. Seeking a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), Unilever tested Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) using 1.5 terabytes of data and double the transaction loads of its U.S. operations. The company was so impressed by the results that it is deploying Microsoft SQL Server 2005 running on the Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems operating system, hosted on an HP Superdome computer to deploy SAP ERP to support its North American operations. Unilever expects a 15 percent reduction in TCO, and the scalability, agility, and reliability its operations require.

To comply with a U.S. federal directive to prove that its pricing for lumber was fair, Weyerhaeuser Company needed a way to quickly gather and analyze information from various technology systems. The company’s Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000–based solution worked well, but its processing speed left little time for the company to comply with the government’s tight timelines. Weyerhaeuser upgraded to SQL Server 2005, tuned existing processes, and now is able to complete data processing 50 percent faster. The performance improvements allow more time for analyzing the data, which is important to Weyerhaeuser because delivering accurate, defendable data is critical for compliance. The upgraded solution also takes advantage of integration between SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005 for streamlined development, which saves steps every time Weyerhaeuser wants to change or add to its solution.