Integrity of file transfer between both its suppliers and its parent company in Germany is vital to BMW South Africa as the company gears up for Just-in-Time (JIT) parts supply to meet the demands of export production.
The introduction of the new BMW 3 series early next year and the implementation of a double shift work pattern will mean more than doubling of the local company's vehicle production. Currently, an estimated 80 cars are built each day by BMW South Africa. However, output is expected to rise to 200 cars, as export quotas are met.
JIT is considered as one of the key business processes to the successful transition. Currently in pilot phase with eight local suppliers having gone live, JIT part supply is expected to drastically reduce the company's inventory cost and is the only way to handle option depending parts optimally. Deliveries will be expedited only some hours after call-off orders have been placed online during the vehicle's assembly process. "This means we pay only for parts in hand, whereas previously we had to place orders a week or a month before delivery," said Stephan Busacker, BMW' s IT Manager for SAP and Internet.
"The reliable transfer of EDI files to facilitate each order is crucial, and we chose the Connect:Direct middleware solution from Supported Software for the task.. The product addressed our need for secure automated data exchange across the enterprise," he added.
Connect:Direct is also used as the file transfer mechanism between the company's system's in Rosslyn, Pretoria, and the parent company in Munich. These massive files typically concern Bill's of Materials (BoM) and Material Requirements Planning (MRP) for local production as well as stock in transit information from the packaging plant in Germany.
"Connect: Direct's ability to integrate with a number of different systems and platforms was a major plus for us," Busacker said.
BMW South Africa is also running SAP/R3. Human Resources, Purchasing, and Financials modules are already implemented with logistics to follow by the end of the year. They have also recently upgraded to SAP Rel 4.0b.
Its automation features distinguish Connect:Direct and prevents the need for money and additional resources to develop adjunct applications to scheduling and automation. Through a unique scripting language called Process, Connect:Direct can define work, assign priorities and execute commands, from a single transfer statement to multiple steps separated by conditional statements. In addition to automation, Connect:Direct also provides reliable and sophisticated error handling, reporting and recovery capabilities. In the event of a line drop or other disconnection, checkpoint/restart enables Connect:Direct to resume work form the point of failure, not at the beginning of a file.
"In the case of large or time-sensitive files, this feature can mean the difference between success and failure of the applications on either end of the exchange," Busacker said.
Automatic statistics reporting provide comprehensive Connect:Direct activity records for auditing, job accounting and performance analysis across the traditional enterprise.
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