CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
16 February 2005
Implementation Investments
Iveco Drives Innovation Across Vehicle Management Processes With SAP
SAP AG announced that Iveco, the industrial vehicles arm of the Fiat Group, is driving innovation across its vehicle ordering processes and accelerating its global revenue cycle with a unique vehicle management solution. Based on the SAP for Automotive industry solution set, Iveco's vehicle configuration portal enables importers and distributors worldwide to custom-order vehicles online, setting in motion an end-to-end process chain that has shortened Iveco's worldwide financial closing cycle to one week and reduced purchase-order errors by more than 50 percent.
With its January 2004 go-live of SAP® software for 2,000 users, Iveco achieved the first milestone in its initiative to unify a global business network spanning 23 production sites, 250 dealers and more than 5,000 suppliers. Among the several hundred legacy applications slated to be replaced by SAP solutions, the company first zeroed in on its global dealer network and supply chain applications. The goal was to streamline and improve revenue cycle management on its sales of more than 150,000 commercial vehicles and 400,000 diesel engines each year. Key to enabling Iveco's integrated process flow is its new dealer portal, created with the SAP® Vehicle Manager application from SAP for Automotive.
"Our portal solution from SAP is truly a first in the automotive sector; it puts the vehicle at the center of our ordering processes, the customer in the driver's seat and our revenue cycle in the fast lane," said Mario Leone, CIO and senior vice president, Iveco. "With the end-to-end SAP system, we have greatly improved the way we serve our global dealer network while achieving faster financial reporting and fewer purchase order errors. SAP for Automotive solutions are helping us reduce complexity across our global operations and will continue to be key enablers of business change and profitable growth for Iveco."
The new solution integrates all information and processes from the front- end to the back-office, so that each order Iveco receives is now a valid order for a buildable vehicle. When Iveco dealers access the new Web portal and vehicle configuration applications, they can personalize a vehicle that is fully supported and able to be built within Iveco's plant systems. The integrated solution also provides users across sales, production and financial departments with comprehensive visibility into the vehicle pipeline and helps reduce sales costs, optimize warehouse stock and improve delivery times.
To enable further enhancements in customer service, the company is building on its dealer portal by deploying applications from mySAPT Customer Relationship Management including the SAP® Interaction Center and SAP® Warranty Management applications.
"Iveco clearly demonstrates the strategic business value companies gain with SAP's integrated automotive solutions," said Claus Heinrich, member of the executive board, SAP AG. "SAP for Automotive provides the scope of functionality automotive companies need to unify widespread business networks and efficiently execute end-to-end business processes."
Iveco is a Global Company with a full range of vehicles and engines committed to the world of transport and customer satisfaction through leading-edge technologies, reliable performance and quality excellence of its products and customer global services. With annual sales above 9 billion euros, Iveco manufactures and markets more than 140,000 commercial vehicles and 420,000 engines annually on a worldwide basis. Iveco serves its customers with 31,000 employees and 49 plants in 19 countries, 15 Research and Development centers and 843 dealers.
SAP for Automotive is an industry solution that combines mySAPT Business Suite solutions and tailored functionality to help automotive companies integrate the entire engineering, procurement, manufacturing, sales and service value chain. With more than 1,300 automotive customers worldwide, SAP for Automotive supports industry specific business processes within all types of automotive companies, including original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, and sales and service organizations. Built on the open architecture of the SAP NetWeaverT platform , SAP for Automotive helps companies collaborate with business partners, acquire and service customers and attain competitive advantage by meeting today's dynamic business demands. (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/automotive/ )
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