Case Studies: Manufacturing

With more than 470,000 employees in 190 countries, Siemens delivers products and services related to electronics and electrical engineering to clients in six major industries: automation and control, lighting, communications, power, medical, and transportation. Security and in-depth knowledge of the latest technologies are major areas of focus. With existing wireless security options not meeting their stringent requirements, Siemens’ IT Solutions and Services division decided to test the security and performance improvements in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2). Siemens found that the simplicity of the service pack met its deployment requirements, and provided significant performance improvements for both Microsoft SQL Server 2005™ and applications.

Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI) wanted to expand its aircraft maintenance services business, but was hampered by labor-intensive and disjointed processes that were inefficient and prone to error. To revamp its technology infrastructure and processes, JSSI first consolidated its customer information into a single repository. This eliminated its legacy systems’ lack of integration and set the stage for an efficient data workflow requiring minimal human intervention. Using a service-oriented architecture approach, JSSI created a sophisticated customer portal that connects customer-input data with an automated back-end solution built on Microsoft® BizTalk® Server, Microsoft Dynamics™ GP, Office SharePoint® Portal Server, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The integrated solution enabled JSSI to increase revenues and profits by dramatically improving its processes and reducing transaction time.

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.

Canadian General-Tower (CGT) is a Canadian auto parts manufacturer that produces vinyl fabric and interior trim products for approximately 85 percent of cars and light trucks produced in North America. CGT’s business and supply chain management systems weren’t integrated and needed expensive maintenance. Today, with a new Microsoft Dynamics™ AX business management solution, CGT is on track to save up to CDN$850,000 (U.S.$750,000) compared to the cost of continuing to operate its old system. In addition, the purchasing department is saving hundreds of hours of labor formerly spent reconciling invoices and purchasing records. CGT can also now use vendor pricing history and respond to changing markets for key supplies. In the near future, CGT expects to integrate manufacturing operations into Microsoft Dynamics AX and gain a complete supply chain management system for even greater efficiency and lower costs.