AIRBUS Aircabin Leverages SAP® Solutions to Curb Costs and Streamline Aircraft Interior Production for World's Largest Airliner
mySAPā„¢ Product Lifecycle Management Enables Efficient Project Handling and Streamlined Budget Control
LAUPHEIM, Germany - December 02, 2003 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Aircabin GmbH, Europe's leading manufacturer of AIRBUS aircraft interiors, has completed deployment of mySAPā„¢ 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® 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 mySAPā„¢ 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® 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/3® 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® 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.
For more information on mySAP PLM and mySAP BI, please refer to http://www.sap.com/solutions/plm/ and http://www.sap.com/solutions/bi/.
SAP for Aerospace & Defense (SAP for A&D) is a comprehensive, integrated portfolio of solutions specifically designed to address the needs of today's aerospace and defense industry. There are more than 550 installations of SAP for A&D worldwide. With SAP for A&D, companies can control costs more closely, increase quality, shorten time-to-market and improve their ability to reach customers in an increasingly dynamic and competitive market. For more information on SAP for A&D, please refer to http://www.sap.com/solutions/industry/aero-defense/.
About AIRBUS Aircabin
Situated in the Southwest of Germany, AIRBUS AIRCABIN is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIRBUS and the centre of excellence for design and manufacturing of cabin interior components such as sidewall and ceiling panels, hat-rack flaps, doors and door frame linings for all Airbus aircraft programs. The product range also includes low-pressure air ducting, bulk crew rest compartments and lower deck facilities. Today, around 1,000 people work in design, research and development, in production and in supporting back office functions. AIRBUS AIRCABIN can look back on a more than 40-year history of composite design and manufacturing. The company continues its success as the supplier of cabin interiors for the Airbus A380.
(Additional information at )
About SAP Consulting
As a globally integrated operating unit within the SAP Customer Services Network, SAP Consulting delivers significant benefits in consistency, quality, and best practices to customers in all of SAP's operating markets around the world. With the goal to improve customer satisfaction, the new organization leverages the expertise of nearly 10,000 SAP consultants to offer global companies access to consistent best-in-class practices worldwide and regional companies the benefits of world-class best practices delivered locally.
SAP Consulting provides SAP customers with seamlessly integrated business and solution consulting services to ensure the successful implementation of mySAPā„¢ Business Suite solutions in twenty-three industries. Among additional new offerings from SAP Consulting is the new unit to support SAP NetWeaverā„¢, SAP's industry-leading integration and application platform. The new SAP NetWeaver Global Practice Unit will focus on enhancing service offerings, building consultants skill sets, and overseeing the support of pilot customers.
(Additional information at )
About SAP
SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions. Through mySAPā„¢ Business Suite, people in businesses around the globe are improving relationships with customers and partners, streamlining operations, and achieving significant efficiencies throughout their supply chains. The unique core processes of various industries, from Aerospace to Utilities, are supported effectively by SAP's 23 industry solution portfolios. Today, more than 20,500 customers in over 120 countries run more than 67,500 installations of SAP® software. With subsidiaries in over 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP."¯ (Additional information at )
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate,"¯ "believe,"¯ "estimate,"¯ "expect,"¯ "forecast,"¯ "intend,"¯ "may,"¯ "plan,"¯ "project,"¯ "predict,"¯ "should"¯ and "will"¯ and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"¯), including SAP's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2002 filed with the SEC on March 21, 2003. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
Copyright © 2003 SAP AG
SAP, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)
For more information, press only:
Antonia Stafford Ashton, +49 (160) 889-6629, antonia.ashton@sap.com, CET
SAP Press Office, +1 (610) 661-3200, press@sap.com, EST
Gabriele Thoering, Burson-Marsteller, +49 (69) 2380939, gabriele_thoering@de.bm.com, CET
Amira Rubin, Burson-Marsteller, +212-614-5180, amira_rubin@nyc.bm.com, EST
