Case Studies: Manufacturing

Aviation Technology Group (ATG) leads the way in the production of aircraft that provides the power and in-flight functionality of a military fighter jet. ATG focuses on developing high-performance executive jets and derivatives for government markets. ATG expects first deliveries of the latest Javelin aircraft for commercial use in 2010. To pave the way and to plan for future successes, ATG sought to enhance its collaborative process with global partners and suppliers, and improve internal operations. ATG selected the UGS Teamcenter suite, supported by Microsoft® SQL Server™ and the Windows® platform and applications, which delivers integrated, cost-effective solutions from design, to development, to product release. The UGS PLM Software-Microsoft partnership has shortened ATG development time and reduced its total cost of ownership by minimizing IT support training and staff expenses.

Camstar Systems, a leading provider of enterprise manufacturing execution systems (MES) needed to verify that Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 could support its largest global customers. Testing found that SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) could scale to meet the most demanding of manufacturing needs—executing 180 MES transactions per second while supporting 2,500 concurrent users.

Increasing cost pressures, global supply chain complexity, heightened competition, and shorter product development lifecycles are common challenges for many manufacturing companies. PTC®, a managed Microsoft® Gold Certified Global Partner and a partner since 1995, addresses many of these challenges with Windchill® on Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005.

TÜV NORD Group, based in Hannover, Germany, provides testing and certification services for more than 100 industries. With a workforce of more than 7,000 operating from 45 countries, the company relies on SAP applications deployed on Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 to help manage its worldwide business. Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner VMS, TÜV NORD analyzed the efficiency of its SAP deployment, which includes a 3.5 terabyte SAP BW hosted on a single instance of SQL Server 2005, and a 1.3 terabyte SAP ERP database on a single instance of SQL Server. The VMS study found that TÜV NORD benefited from 56 percent lower database administration costs than industry average, and that it enjoyed a 37 percent lower total cost of ownership. The study credited much of the savings to the finding that SQL Server generally cost less than Oracle to administer.

Epicor Software Corporation delivers, supports, and sells Epicor iScala, its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, to customers in more than 140 countries and in more than 30 languages. To support the continued growth and centralization of its larger global customers, the company moved to expand support for its applications to include the 64-bit technology of Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005. The 64-bit version of Epicor iScala enables customers to achieve up to a 300 percent performance gain in some areas and to scale the application further, which is essential for the efficient management of centralized installations. Epicor executives expect gains in both revenue and market share as a result of their decision to support 64-bit as well as widely prevalent 32-bit technology.