SAP AG has announced that Fiat Auto is deploying the SAP for Automotive solution portfolio to support the transformation initiative driving the carmaker’s strategy in Europe and other markets. Following its 2005 decision to reorganize and improve some of its key processes in accordance with the strategic guidelines of the FIAT Group, Fiat Auto chose SAP for Automotive as the foundation to harness and simplify the complexity of its business processes. Fiat Auto is now underpinning its core business processes with industry-specific functionality from mySAP ERP, integrating disparate legacy systems that it needs to keep online with the SAP NetWeaver platform, and cutting out redundant data entry processes.

“SAP software is a key enabler helping us achieve the aims we’ve set for our business transformation,” said Vincenzo Giannelli, CIO, Fiat Auto. “In the first wave of the rollout, we’ve gained tighter control on financial and procurement processes. With the rollouts of SAP’s automotive suite applications, we’ll have a worldwide standard set of end-to-end business processes.”

With its January 2006 go-live with mySAP ERP and mySAP Supplier Relationship Management (mySAP SRM), the company achieved the first milestone in its global SAP rollout. The integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) and SRM solution is helping Fiat Auto production sites in Italy gain centralized control over workflows in finance, analytical accounting and procurement, accelerating the processes of managing indirect materials, contracts and purchase orders. “With the first wave, we have implemented the SAP solution covering seven legal entities and six manufacturing sites in Italy for a total of more than 5,000 users,” said Vittorio Boero, SAP program manager, Fiat Auto. “The same solution also will be also implemented in our production sites in Poland and Brazil, for which the activities have been started already in April and are scheduled for completion in January 2007.”

Supporting Fiat Auto’s aims to keep all information and communications technology (ICT) systems linked for seamless workflows, SAP NetWeaver enables the interface of SAP applications to the software installations that Fiat Auto is keeping online for product development and manufacturing execution. The SAP implementation at Fiat leverages the end-to-end process integration capabilities of the SAP NetWeaver platform to simplify and unify purchasing processes and data exchange with suppliers.
 

When the rollout is completed, the ERP and SRM solution will be handling a half-million messages per day with Fiat’s more than 20,000 key suppliers. These highly efficient and collaborative capabilities will play a key role in enabling the company’s expansion plans. Following the rollouts of SAP applications powering core processes, Fiat Auto aims to extend the deployment of mySAP ERP. The company is now working on the integration of direct material in the materials management and procurement processes, a phase of the rollout project that soon will go live in Italy. The carmaker is also currently defining the next steps of the SAP implementation, both in terms of functional and geographical extension.

“Fiat Auto is making a strong move not only to revive its business in Europe but also to further differentiate its market position as a global challenger offering innovative new designs and models,” commented Guenter Lasser, the head of the Automotive industry business unit, at SAP. “The SAP rollout at Fiat Auto taps the industry-specific financials and procurement processes embedded in the SAP for Automotive solution portfolio and underscores the strategic value of SAP NetWeaver in extending existing software investments through seamless integration. It also demonstrates a strong synergy: combining the virtues and strengths of Italian design and business savvy with the automotive best practices gleamed from SAP’s years of co-innovation with the world’s leading carmakers.”

SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software. Today, more than 36,200 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP applications—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector.