IBM Case Studies Seizing market share by responding faster and more cost-effectively to customer demands

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	Seizing market share by responding faster and more cost-effectively to customer demands IBM

Seizing market share by responding faster and more cost-effectively to customer demands

IBM

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS) Functional Applications - Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services
Applicable Functions	Discrete Manufacturing Logistics & Transportation Procurement
Use Cases	Fleet Management Inventory Management Manufacturing System Automation Predictive Maintenance Supply Chain Visibility
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services Data Science Services System Integration
Challenge	Friedhelm Loh Group, a leading engineering company, was looking for ways to optimize its operations to deliver products to customers faster and at a lower cost than its competitors. The company was facing rising IT complexity and costs due to its growing business and the need to integrate new acquisitions onto its central IT system. It also wanted to boost system availability, as even short periods of downtime would cause backlogs in its warehouses and delay manufacturing and customer deliveries, tarnishing the company’s excellent reputation. The company also wanted to deliver even the most complex orders on time and cost-effectively. Read More
About Customer	Headquartered in Haiger, Germany, Friedhelm Loh Group is a leading engineering company. The company operates 78 subsidiaries and employs 11,500 people worldwide, and generates annual revenues of approximately EUR 2.2 billion. The company specializes in manufacturing electrical enclosures that house expensive and sensitive equipment, which must be protected against threats such as vandalism, heat or accidental damage. To help companies safeguard their valuable assets from increasingly intricate threats, Friedhelm Loh Group aims to deliver all-encompassing solutions. To obtain the additional resources and know-how needed to manufacture these sophisticated offerings, Friedhelm Loh Group routinely acquires companies that specialize in the necessary components and related services. Read More
Solution	Friedhelm Loh Group standardized on a comprehensive suite of SAP ERP applications, which support optimization and automation in everything from human resources to production planning. To provide a robust foundation for running SAP applications, Friedhelm Loh Group decided to upgrade the underlying IT infrastructure. It deployed two IBM Power System E880 servers, running the IBM i operating system, the integrated IBM DB2 for i database and IBM PowerVM for i. To maximize uptime and performance for SAP applications and data, the company operates its SAP landscape in a highly efficient two-tier architecture. The company now operates a reliable, highly integrated and super-scalable IT landscape which can seamlessly scale to support growing operations, user numbers and product types. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)

Functional Applications - Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing

Logistics & Transportation

Procurement

Use Cases

Fleet Management

Inventory Management

Manufacturing System Automation

Predictive Maintenance

Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Data Science Services

System Integration

Challenge

Friedhelm Loh Group, a leading engineering company, was looking for ways to optimize its operations to deliver products to customers faster and at a lower cost than its competitors. The company was facing rising IT complexity and costs due to its growing business and the need to integrate new acquisitions onto its central IT system. It also wanted to boost system availability, as even short periods of downtime would cause backlogs in its warehouses and delay manufacturing and customer deliveries, tarnishing the company’s excellent reputation. The company also wanted to deliver even the most complex orders on time and cost-effectively.

About Customer

Headquartered in Haiger, Germany, Friedhelm Loh Group is a leading engineering company. The company operates 78 subsidiaries and employs 11,500 people worldwide, and generates annual revenues of approximately EUR 2.2 billion. The company specializes in manufacturing electrical enclosures that house expensive and sensitive equipment, which must be protected against threats such as vandalism, heat or accidental damage. To help companies safeguard their valuable assets from increasingly intricate threats, Friedhelm Loh Group aims to deliver all-encompassing solutions. To obtain the additional resources and know-how needed to manufacture these sophisticated offerings, Friedhelm Loh Group routinely acquires companies that specialize in the necessary components and related services.

Solution

Friedhelm Loh Group standardized on a comprehensive suite of SAP ERP applications, which support optimization and automation in everything from human resources to production planning. To provide a robust foundation for running SAP applications, Friedhelm Loh Group decided to upgrade the underlying IT infrastructure. It deployed two IBM Power System E880 servers, running the IBM i operating system, the integrated IBM DB2 for i database and IBM PowerVM for i. To maximize uptime and performance for SAP applications and data, the company operates its SAP landscape in a highly efficient two-tier architecture. The company now operates a reliable, highly integrated and super-scalable IT landscape which can seamlessly scale to support growing operations, user numbers and product types.

Impact #1	With integrated SAP solutions running on high-performance IBM systems, Friedhelm Loh Group can deliver customer orders quickly – a key factor in fostering customer satisfaction.
Impact #2	Optimized and automated production processes help the company to deliver even the most complex orders on time and cost-effectively.
Impact #3	The company now operates a reliable, highly integrated and super-scalable IT landscape which can seamlessly scale to support growing operations, user numbers and product types.

Impact #1

With integrated SAP solutions running on high-performance IBM systems, Friedhelm Loh Group can deliver customer orders quickly – a key factor in fostering customer satisfaction.

Impact #2

Optimized and automated production processes help the company to deliver even the most complex orders on time and cost-effectively.

Impact #3

The company now operates a reliable, highly integrated and super-scalable IT landscape which can seamlessly scale to support growing operations, user numbers and product types.

Benefit #1	EUR 100,000 annual saving supports competitive pricing.
Benefit #2	Five times faster storage performance accelerates business insights.
Benefit #3	Up to 90 percent faster production planning helps to speed deliveries.

Benefit #1

EUR 100,000 annual saving supports competitive pricing.

Benefit #2

Five times faster storage performance accelerates business insights.

Benefit #3

Up to 90 percent faster production planning helps to speed deliveries.

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Overview

Seizing market share by responding faster and more cost-effectively to customer demands

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit