Motors & Drives Information

Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems Inc. has been contracted to provide SAP R/3 implementation and outsourcing services for Continental General Tire Inc. of Charlotte, N.C.

The agreement calls for Siemens to provide a comprehensive solution combining remote outsourcing, R/3 consulting, server systems and ongoing support -- all under a single contract.

Under the agreement, Siemens will implement and operate an enterprise-wide information management system from one of its off-site data centers. Continental General Tire will enjoy the benefits of R/3 -- such as integrated functionality and a clear view of business performance across the company -- without the need for heavy internal investments. The outsourcing operation will be fully transparent to end-users.

The new system will support over 2,000 Continental General Tire users. The first phase, comprising the Human Resource, Financial/Controlling and Materials Management modules of R/3, is scheduled to go live in October 1998.

"Continental General Tire's commitment to quality, value and performance is reinforced with the implementation of this enterprise-wide system," said John Curry, senior vice president, Finance & Controlling of Continental General Tire. "SAP R/3 will allow Continental to create more efficient linkages with its customers, save on material costs, improve forecasting and provide employees with higher reliability/integrity of accessed information."

Eventually, the R/3 system will integrate manufacturing, customer service, order entry and finance. This advanced technology will enable Continental to provide excellent customer service for its passenger and light truck,commercial and off-road divisions.

"Siemens outsourcing allows Continental General Tire to enjoy the business benefits of R/3 without the day-to-day headaches of maintaining a complex enterprise system," added Ed Blechschmidt, president and CEO of Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems Inc. "Many companies still running in a legacy environment would like to take advantage of SAP R/3, but are reluctant to make the transition because they lack the expertise in-house. For companies like these, Siemens outsourcing provides a comprehensive and extremely cost-effective solution."

"We're in this together," Curry added. "This is a partnership with Siemens focusing on its area of expertise so we can focus on ours -- engineering and manufacturing the world's best tires. Their range of competencies and critical mass as a world player will help us meet our ambitious goals in the years ahead."

The project brings together the specialized expertise of several organizations within Siemens. SAP consultants from the Business Solutions Group will migrate the information infrastructure from a legacy systems mainframe environment to the client/server world of R/3.

The Open Enterprise Computing Division will provide five RM600 server systems to run the new enterprise system. Siemens Business Services will manage the outsourcing services, operate the data center and provide ongoing support for the R/3 software, servers and networks.

As a Global SAP Partner, Siemens has performed more than 1,300 R/3 implementations, making it one of the world's most experienced providers of R/3 consulting services. Siemens servers running R/3 have set the price/performance record for Windows NT and UNIX, certified by SAP for 5,000 users. Siemens is itself the world's largest user of SAP software, and has a partnership with SAP spanning 23 years.

Siemens Business Services (SBS), focused on state-of-the-art outsourcing services, is a worldwide organization with a staff of 11,000. Operating off-site and transparently, SBS offers a broad range of integrated services including running the corporate data center, network management, help desk services, server management, security management and user administration.

SBS also offers advantages as a partner with a strong worldwide presence: access to specialized expertise, the ability to negotiate better deals with third parties and a seamless support system for companies doing business in the global marketplace.

About Continental General Tire

Continental General Tire Inc., based in Charlotte, N.C., manufactures and distributes tires under the Continental, General and private label brands in North America. Its parent company, Continental AG, headquartered in Hannover, Germany, is a global leader in the manufacture of passenger, truck and commercial tires, automotive systems and various industrial products.