ECONOMICS

SAP AG today announced that Aircabin GmbH, Europe's leading manufacturer of AIRBUS aircraft interiors, has completed deployment of mySAP Product Lifecycle Management (mySAP PLM) to effectively increase its capacity to manage large-scale projects, including the new AIRBUS A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft. As part of a corporate-wide rollout of the SAP(R) for Aerospace & Defense portfolio of solutions, AIRBUS Aircabin undertook the implementation of mySAP PLM to streamline financial, engineering and production operations. In the strongly competitive airline industry, the high operating costs of each flight and limited take-off and landing time slots at international airports has led to an increased demand for larger, higher-capacity aircraft. As a subsidiary and key supplier to leading commercial aircraft maker AIRBUS, AIRBUS Aircabin needed to expand its production capacity and efficiency to keep up with industry demands. The company chose the integrated solutions in the SAP for Aerospace & Defense solution portfolio to help improve its planning, production and financial processes. "To effectively manage this crucial phase of rapid growth, we needed an enterprise solution that included end-to-end project management and timely financial reporting based on reliable information," said Alfons Braig, IT manager, AIRBUS Aircabin. "SAP is the only solution provider that covers our requirements across these key operations, enabling us to efficiently manage business processes, keep to tight production schedules and increase our competitive advantage." The implementation of mySAP PLM has enhanced visibility and flexibility across AIRBUS Aircabin's increasingly complex production operations and has improved project planning, tracking and controlling, reporting, staffing, budgeting and claim management processes. With the project management capabilities of mySAP PLM, AIRBUS Aircabin can now track and monitor all project elements -- including production schedules, parts, materials and suppliers -- across all levels of the manufacturing process, from planning and engineering through purchasing and production, quality control and clearance for serial production. Throughout the process, all project-related costs are posted, allowing comprehensive control of both planned and actual costs. The open infrastructure in mySAP PLM enables AIRBUS Aircabin to centralize all of the company's product- and project-related information into one comprehensive repository, providing immediate access to up-to-date product information for all users across the enterprise. AIRBUS Aircabin is also able to seamlessly integrate end-to-end operations-including technical, logistic and financial information-across virtual teams. Data sharing translates into more efficient and cost-effective management of bills of materials, routing and resource data, project structures and related technical documentation throughout the entire product life cycle. Along with the demand for increased production capacity, AIRBUS Aircabin also required more timely and extensive financial reporting in order to more tightly integrate the company into the AIRBUS company. Since the rollout of mySAP(TM) Business Intelligence (mySAP BI) in June 2002, AIRBUS Aircabin has gained more accurate controlling and quicker reporting processes, cutting the time needed to create month-end reports from three weeks to three days. SAP(R) Business Information Warehouse, a component of mySAP BI, provides users at AIRBUS Aircabin with role-based access to comprehensive business insight, analysis and reporting of all relevant information across multiple functional areas, including sales, production, quality control, procurement, development and financial accounting. "Aircraft-industry demands for high-capacity production, timely delivery and the lowest possible operating costs call for innovative solutions," said Nils Herzberg, senior vice president, Manufacturing Industries, SAP. "The integrated solutions in SAP for Aerospace & Defense are helping companies such as AIRBUS Aircabin achieve and maintain a competitive advantage by improving company-wide efficiency and profitability. mySAP PLM integrates and delivers mission-critical engineering, product and financial information across the enterprise to streamline collaboration and provide extended visibility into key business operations." AIRBUS Aircabin has also been using SAP(R) R/3(R) since 1998 to run nearly all its enterprise resource planning (ERP) core processes. The implementation of mySAP PLM at AIRBUS Aircabin was completed in collaboration with SAP(R) Consulting, a division of the SAP Customer Services Network. More than 3,200 organizations worldwide use mySAP PLM throughout their engineering, manufacturing, quality management, regulatory compliance and maintenance processes.