Motors & Drives Information

Saftronics and A.O. Smith have announced the formation of a strategic alliance that will allow both companies to enhance their complementary marketing strategies.

Under terms of the agreement, Saftronics will leverage A.O. Smith's existing distribution-channel strength to augment its own channels. And A.O. Smith will supplement its broad line of commercial and industrial motors with the Saftronics line of AC drives.

"This new relationship expands our presence in specific channel niches that are critical to continuing the aggressive growth Saftronics has experienced in recent years, said David van der Merwe, president of Saftronics. "Our two companies are uniquely compatible in the ways we manage our business and how we approach the market, adding to the strength of our alliance".

Paul Doyle, vice president of marketing for A.O. Smith Electrical Products Company (EPC), was equally upbeat. "This alliance positions us to offer a wide range of motor and drive solutions for a long list of standard catalog and application-specific requirements. It further validates our commitment to meet the complete motor-related needs of our customers, particularly our industrial and commercial distributors."

Based in Ft. Myers, Fla., Saftronics is a $48 million company that develops and manufactures solid-state motor controls. The company has subsidiaries in Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Charlotte, N.C. During the past 25 years, Saftronics and its affiliates have supplied AC drives, solid-state starters, and DC drives to a host of major industries, including textile, lumber, plastic, paper, oil, HVAC, and wastewater operations. Those products are used in a wide variety of equipment and applications, including conveyors, pumps, fans, hoists, elevators, and general process-control systems.

A.O. Smith Electrical Products Company, based in Tipp City, Ohio, is A.O. Smith Corporation's largest operating unit, with 1999 sales of $723 million. It manufactures a comprehensive line of hermetic, subfractional, fractional, and integral horsepower AC and DC electric motors used in a wide array of consumer, commercial, and industrial products.

Princeton Power Systems, a developer of AC-link(TM) technology for advanced electrical power conversion and conditioning, has installed a 75 horsepower AC-link Clean Power Variable Speed Drive (VSD) in the chilled water plant at Princeton University. The plant provides chilled water to cool 87 campus buildings. This is the first commercial installation of Princeton Power's VSD, which follows several successful military installations of the AC-link technology.

"Princeton Power's AC-link Clean Power VSD is extremely reliable and efficient," stated Lee Stryker, an electrical technician in the Department of Engineering and Construction at Princeton University. "The VSD has delivered significant improvements in harmonic distortion and dV/dt as compared to our current variable speed drives. The AC-link drive was the only one whose input current harmonic distortion levels were below the stringent levels set by IEEE 519-1992, at all speeds. Maximum and average dv/dt was also significantly lower than the other installed drives. This was accomplished without the use of any input or output filtering devices, which substantially reduced our costs. We're so pleased with the performance of both Princeton Power Systems and its technology that we have contracted for another installation later this year."

"The AC-link Clean Power VSD at Princeton's chilled water plant has been operating almost continually, since April, with no problems," noted Darren Hammell, president and CEO of Princeton Power Systems. "The implementation has exceeded all expectations. The next version of our drive will incorporate more advanced motor control algorithms, which should deliver even further improvement in harmonic and dV/dt levels. As a result, our drives will continue to yield greatly increased motor reliability, compatibility with all motor insulation types and high efficiency."

The AC-link Clean Power VSD is inexpensive, reliable and creates high quality electricity, which significantly minimizes damage to industrial motors and facilities. Princeton Power's VSD uses advanced digital control and patented energy efficient technologies to produce clean power voltage and current waveforms on both the inputs and outputs. The Princeton Power VSD offers efficiency gains of 30% and cost reductions of 30-50%.

The VSD is available in 30 - 100hp at 480VAC, features bi-directional operation, dV/dt less than 5 v/us, reliable, rugged design, unlimited installation distance and IEEE-519-1992 compliance for current and voltage distortion. All drives come standard with a 5-button and scroll-wheel keypad and display, and a Windows-based user interface that allows easy access to and manipulation of drive functions, as well as easy configuration of drive parameters. Contact Princeton Power Systems for volume pricing information.

About Princeton Power Systems

Princeton Power Systems is developing advanced power conversion technologies, including AC-link(TM), a patented control method that provides a more reliable and cost-effective means for converting electric power cleanly and efficiently. This technology can be used in the industrial motor control, renewable electricity and distributed power generation markets, and will reduce industrial energy consumption, lower peak electric usage, and provide clean, renewable energy sources at a much lower cost than existing power conversion technologies.

Princeton Power's core products include motor controllers, wind turbine converters, and grid-tied inverters. AC-link uses simpler, more reliable components and incorporates advanced algorithms for controlling various aspects of the electric power, which allows the use of less- complex, less expensive hardware to achieve precision power control. This makes AC-link devices rugged, reliable and cost-effective, and yields high-quality power waveforms.

Automotive OEMs and others launching telematics services can learn how to provide value-added services to differentiate their products, enhance customer relationships and generate incremental service revenues at Convergence 2000.

InfoGation Corp., a developer of telematics services and software connecting cars to the Internet, will preview its telematics applications at the show. These demonstrations will illustrate off-board navigation and an Internet information news feed, in conjunction with an Auto PC in-vehicle computer, a WAP browser on a cellular telephone and a voice portal.

Reaching customers in cars with services that enhance the driving experience is a major goal for automotive companies, as announced by the CEOs of both Ford and General Motors. Target service areas include emergency services, navigation, email, and location-based services for identifying nearby points-of-interest or essential facilities.

"Using our strong knowledge of the in-vehicle computing environment, we have built these services to provide valuable driver information to enhance the driving experience," said Ken Liu, CEO of InfoGation Corp. "InfoGation's solutions will be customized to fit the customer's service goals, business model and technology platforms."

"By building a capability to incorporate voice portals, data streams to in-vehicle computers and WAP browsers, we are offering the telematics supplier the most flexible options ever," said Kent Pu, InfoGation's CTO and president. "This will, for instance, let a subscriber select a route on their cell phone, have the route downloaded to their in-car computer, and have the route calculated automatically as they drive off."

Also on view from InfoGation will be Odyssey 2000, the first U.S. navigation product to incorporate real-time traffic updates. Odyssey 2000 uses wireless transmissions from CUE Corp. to place traffic incidents directly on the map display of the in-vehicle computer.

About InfoGation

InfoGation Corp. is a leading developer of telematics software and services connecting cars to the Internet. Its products and services improve the safety, security, productivity and overall driving experience.

InfoGation enables car manufacturers, tier-1 auto suppliers, fleet operators and wireless carriers to provide value-added services, product differentiation, increased customer retention and incremental revenues.

The company's customers and partners include some of the world's leading car, tier-1 automotive supplier and wireless portal companies such as Microsoft, Clarion, Visteon, Peugeot Citroen and Navigation Technologies.

Using Newgen CRM systems, manufacturers

such as BMW and Ford maximize customer contact, branding

and loyalty programs with millions of customers -

Newgen Results Corporation (Nasdaq NM: NWGN) today announced that its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) representatives now have regular contact with more than seven million of the nation's car owners on behalf of automotive dealerships who use Newgen's CRM systems.

Newgen's RESULTS system targets those areas where automotive dealers can benefit: service, parts and repairs. Through a process that begins when a buyer purchases a vehicle, the RESULTS system incorporates direct mail (such as service reminders, e-mail, and promotion letters) with teleservice follow-up to build customer loyalty that will extend over the car buyer's entire lifetime.

Auto manufacturers such as BMW and Ford employ Newgen's RESULTS program to help franchise dealers to prosper, not only by the sale of vehicles, but also in servicing. In addition, the more service that is performed by the dealership community, the more OEMs profit from the sale of manufacturer-made parts. Lastly, and most importantly, customer satisfaction with a dealer creates loyalty to the brand. Good service is an indirect way to sell additional vehicles.

According to The Gartner Group, by 2004, automotive dealers who have not shifted their business focus to retaining and extending customer relationships will cease to exist (0.8 probability). Gartner concludes that "OEMs and dealers must begin the collaborative planning process to reposition their value proposition to encompass the entire consumer automotive experience"--a process where Newgen has achieved success over its history.

According to Don Romoser, manager, Aftersales Marketing and Communications for BMW, "The adoption of CRM systems like RESULTS marks a change in our marketing philosophy. Traditionally, auto manufacturers have looked at marketing as selling cars--but we are now moving to the CRM concept, which is really the true, pure form of marketing. We as the manufacturer must be the leader in CRM. It's a long-term venture, the benefits of which are sometimes clearer to us than to the dealer, because the payback is not today, but three or four years down the line," Romoser added.

Editor's note: because of the enthusiastic response to Current Thoughts, I'm pleased to present Greg Gimlick, a long-time electrics flyer. He and I will be sharing the writing duties as we take this column monthly. I'll see you next month.

A NEW FACE and name? What's happening? The fulfillment of a dream; I guess that's how I'd describe it ... writing for Model Airplane News. As a kid, I remember seeing the magazine in the hobby shop and marveling at the magic I saw within its covers (or at least I believed it to be magical; maybe I still do). After a brief rest since "retiring" from writing monthly electric flight column in another magazine, Larry Marshall asked me whether I'd like to alternate months with him writing a column.

I'm a retired Army helicopter pilot who now performs his flights of fancy with model airplanes instead of real ones, and my main interest for several years has been electric flight. With my history as an instructor pilot and schoolteacher, I hope to bring you information on topics of interest and to remove some of the obstacles you may think stand in your way ... and have some fun in the process. As Larry and I develop the column, we'll cover as many aspects of this subject as we can, from the very technical to the very basic and, hopefully, we'll please the majority. Your input is crucial if we're to point the subject matter in the right direction, so be sure to contact us. I look forward to hearing from many old and new friends. Send your pictures and full descriptions of your setups so we can share them and continue to build a database of "what works."

Raser Technologies Inc. ("Raser") (OTC: RSTG), a technology licensing company that develops and licenses advanced electric motor, controller and related technologies, announces that Dr. Sergei F. Kolomeitsev, a recognized leader in advanced electromagnetics, has joined Raser's engineering group as director of advanced motor development.

Kolomeitsev augments Raser's top-level development team to meet growing demand for commercial and military programs. Kolomeitsev's extensive electromagnetic engineering background includes expertise with asynchronous induction, switched reluctance, permanent magnet brushless DC, and permanent magnet brush type motors.

Kolomeitsev received his doctorate from the Novocherkassk Polytechnic Institute in Russia, and brings with him 20 years of research and development experience with next-generation electric motors and drives. In addition, Kolomeitsev has been awarded 25 patents with nine other applications pending in the area of electric motors and controllers.

"I have been working on brushless DC, AC induction and SR motors for much of my career. When I realized the impact Raser's technology could have on motors and drives, I decided to build my future with Raser where I am working on some of the most important innovations of my lifetime," said Kolomeitsev. "I'm also excited to be working here with colleagues I have long respected, including Dr. George Holling, Raser's chief engineer."

Prior to joining Raser, Kolomeitsev was manager of motor technology research and development at Valeo, one of the world's top automotive suppliers, where he was recognized as a senior expert in the areas of electric drive architecture, motor design and electromagnetic modeling. Kolomeitsev also served previously as senior scientist with Prestolite Electric and Dana Corp.

"Sergei complements the team we've put together," said Tim Fehr, Raser's sr. VP and chief technology officer. "Sergei is one of the world's leading experts in motor technology and brings additional expertise to expand Raser's development capabilities for commercial and military applications."

Pair of CD-rewritable chips added to growing portfolio

Fremont, Calif. -- Striving to keep its position as one of the leaders in the optical storage market, Cirrus rolled out a pair of chips for CD-rewritable (CD-RW) drives. The chips are claimed to offer a zippy 40X CD-ROM performance read speed and 10X CD-RW performance write speed.

Dubbed the CR3470 and CR3475, both chips will enable systems makers to create CD-RW drives claimed to more than double the speeds of current generation CD-RW drives. CD-RW drives allow users to store data on a CD by "phase changing" the CD.

The data can then be erased, and used again with new data if the user needs to. Phase change technology consists of CD-RW discs that have a layer of die on the disc that changes states when the right laser hits the surface. A laser to record data and a laser to erase data change the states of this layer, changing the state of the CD-RW disc. This is unlike CD-R technology where a laser "burns" the information into the disc once and can't be erased.

"We are predicting that CD-RW drives are going to be very strong for the next few years because of the DVD recordable format wars going on," said Mark Gaare, marketing manager for optical storage at Cirrus Logic. "All those different formats being discussed will stimulate the growth for CD-RW for awhile. With floppy drives pretty much dead, removable drives are becoming the way of the future and CD formats make it much easier than Zip drives."

Cirrus claims the CR3475 is the first CD-RW chip that is able to read DVD discs as well as read, write and overwrite CD discs. The CR3475 adds a DVD port that allows for this bridge to reading DVD drives. The port allows the CD-RW drive to read and play DVD discs as well as all CD-ROM discs. "Normally you would need a separate drive to do both but now you can do it in the same drive," said Mr. Gaare.

Cirrus claims both devices are three times faster than Zip drives, are the first CD-RWs to perform at CD-ROM speeds of 40X and are more than twice as fast as normal CD-RW devices writing to discs at a speed of 10X. The fastest write speed up for current generation CD-RW technology is 4X and current read speed in CD-RWs is approximately 8X, Cirrus said. Both CD-RW devices allow for a storage capacity of up to 670MB, which Cirrus equates to more than 400 floppy disks or six Zip disks worth of data.

Raser Technologies, Inc. (PCX:RZ) ("Raser"), a technology licensing company that develops and licenses advanced electric motor, electronic motor drive and related technologies announced today that it has received a notice of allowance for a Motor Controller patent that was filed in July of 2004. Raser expects the actual patent to be issued in January of 2006.

Raser received notification of the allowance through its intellectual property counsel, Jones Day, one of the world's largest law firms. Patent Application Serial Number 10/885,103 was filed on July 7, 2004. This is the second of several Raser patent applications to receive a notice of allowance incorporating its initial proprietary Symetron(TM) concepts.

"Our business model is based on the uniqueness of our intellectual property, and this acknowledgment by the US Patent Office serves to confirm that we're working in uncharted territory," said Raser Chief Technology Officer, Tim Fehr. "We believe that the concepts covered by this patent are the building blocks for breakthroughs in the efficiency of variable speed motor drives, offering the potential for significant energy savings for existing AC induction motors. The electric motor drive technology covered by this patent is already being applied to our work with Advanced Energy for the State Technologies Advancement Collaborative and the Department of Energy."

Raser has 14 patents pending, and is in the process of preparing additional patent applications for related technologies to strengthen its intellectual property portfolio.

About Raser Technologies

Formed in 2003, Raser believes that its current and pending patents and proprietary intellectual property cover breakthrough technologies. Raser's Symetron(TM) technologies more efficiently harness electrical energy in electric motors, electronic motor drives and controllers, alternator and generator technologies. Application of Symetron(TM) generally requires minor changes to existing manufacturing processes for motors or their controllers, but yields significant increases in power, performance and efficiency to the rotating electro-magnetic application without the use of exotic materials. Raser is headquartered in Provo, Utah.

Raser Technologies, Inc. (PCX:RZ) ("Raser"), a technology licensing company that develops and licenses advanced electric motor, electronic motor drive and related technologies, announced today that Chief Technology Officer and Sr. V.P. Timothy Fehr presented and participated in a panel discussion on electric drive technology at the Electric Drive Transportation Association ("EDTA") Conference & Exposition 2005, one of the premier North American electric drive industry events.

Mr. Dan Herrera of the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center ("TARDEC") was the moderator for the panel discussion entitled "Utilizing Electric Drive Components in Military Applications."

Raser's presentation reflected the results of work conducted under Phase I of a Small Business Innovative Research grant (SBIR) which was completed in August of 2005 showing the performance potential of Raser's Symetron(TM) enhanced motor technologies for the Army's High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle, (HMMWV or "Hummer") and the Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTVs). The presentation provided comparisons of Raser's AC Induction technology with Switched Reluctance and Permanent Magnet technologies, and drew the conclusion that Raser's Symetron Enhanced AC Induction technology would be the best solution for the studied transportation applications.

Raser anticipates government appropriations for the next step in the process of evaluating Symetron Enhanced AC Induction technology for military applications before the end of the year. At Army discretion, these funds could be committed in the first quarter of 2006.

With the increased use of digital drives on NC machines, there is mounting concern that a universally accepted standard for connecting digital drives (both servo and spindle) to CNCS is long overdue. Is there hope for a universal standard in the near future? This article attempts to answer that question along with providing a status update of the various organizations working on a digital drive standard.

Why Do We Need An Interface Standard For Digital Drives?

Since the introduction of electric servo drives over 15 years ago, industry has benefited from a common interface standard enabling machine designers and end users to specify the brands of servo motors and drives independent of the control. This interface, commonly referred to as an analog interface, is defined by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) RS-431 and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC-550) as a connection utilizing a [ + or - ]10 volt command signal to the drive unit. This simple universal analog interface has allowed servo and spindle drives to be selected on the basis of performance, compatibility or other preference independent of the control unit.

Digital drive technology offers enhanced capability well beyond what is possible with analog drives which is what makes them so desirable. Included in this enhanced capability are functions such as: increased path accuracy; static friction compensation; ability to reprogram the drive for enhanced slide performance; and freedom from thermal drift. Along with this increased capability comes the potential for lower cost if their prices follows the downward trend which has been projected.

Fairchild Semiconductor International (NYSE: FCS) announces the FPAL15SH60, a Smart Power Module (SPM) designed for 100V-253VAC, three-phase inverter drives for low-power (0.75kW) applications, such as washing machine drive systems.

The FPAL15SH60 offers extremely user-friendly design-in capability and assembly. Housed in a fully isolated 55mm x 57mm (2.165in x 2.244in) package with a rated isolation voltage of 2500V, the new SPM is compact, cost-effective and highly reliable. The module's high-speed built-in HVIC eliminates the need for opto-couplers or a negative bias and allows the IGBTs to be driven by a single bias supply, significantly simplifying the product's design and therefore reducing cost. In addition, the SPM's advanced current-sensing IGBT chips provide short-circuit current detection and protection.

Features included in the FPAL15SH60 are six IGBTs and anti-parallel diodes, high-speed control ICs and a thermistor for temperature sensing. Additional product benefits are very low leakage current and high isolation rating due to the use of ceramic substrate, and adjustable current protection levels by varying series resistor values with sense-IGBTs. Appliance applications are those requiring high switching frequency capability of around 20kHz. The continuous rms current rating for the SPM is 5.0A with a one minute rms current rating of 7.5A (150%).

Chorus Motors plc, a subsidiary of Borealis Exploration Limited (BOREF:www.Pinksheets.com) announces that a patent, titled "High Phase Order Cycloconverting Generator and Drive Means" No. 6,198,238 was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on March 6th, 2001. This patent joins our growing Chorus (tm) technology patent portfolio, with numerous further patents still pending.

The Chorus(tm) Motor uses new windings and controllers to greatly increase the torque and the efficiency of AC motors. For more information about Chorus(tm) see the Chorus Motors plc web site at http://www.chorusmotors.com. The new patent is available at our web site under Latest News.

Characteristics of the Chorus(tm) Motor include very high start-up torque and greater efficiency, at lower cost within standard operating temperature limits, than for conventional AC and DC Motors. Industry experts may view a Chorus(tm) Motor prototype in operation at our US facility in Boston.

Isaiah W. Cox, President of Chorus Motors plc, says "Chorus(tm) is the ideal solution for many applications, including electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. Manufacturers and end-users looking for more powerful and efficient diesel electric drives, like those used in locomotives, will find this new patent of particular interest."

Although commonly called Silicon Valley, California's Santa Clara Valley is home to another electronics industry that compares in size with the area's semiconductor industry. That other industry is the disk drive business.

Disk Drive Valley is the original home of hundreds of companies involved in the disk drive market, including not only billion-dollar drive manufacturers, but also the underlying and often overlooked infrastructure of vendor companies.

Like the semiconductor industry, the disk drive business has grown outward from the valley to expand throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Twelve years ago, U.S.-based companies established manufacturing facilities in Singapore. Since then, the drive industry has since grown into the largest business sector in Singapore's GNP. To support the manufacturing base in Singapore, supplier companies have sprung up there and in other Southeast Asian countries.

As in the semiconductor business, Japan has become another center for technological development in disk drives.

The disk drive business is now learning one of the major lessons previously learned by sister businesses, such as the semiconductor industry: the health of system manufacturers is dependent upon a healthy supplier infrastructure.

In the drive industry, that food chain starts among the suppliers from whom larger drive makers buy the components, capital equipment and services that are used in producing a finished disk drive.

Building a disk drive requires much more than heads and disks. Capital equipment such as sputtering systems and test systes, components including motors and semiconductor chips, and packaging and assembly services all contribute to the final product. Yet very few drive makers have all of these capabilities in house. Instead, they purchase them from outside vendors.

As products reach mass markets, volume becomes the name of the game and unit profit margins get smaller.

Disk drive makers rely on their suppliers for many of the revolutionary technological advances that allow them to achieve higher storage densities in smaller sizes.

To serve their customers, vendors must provide larger volumes of components while driving down costs and, at the same time, must improve performance and reliability specifications. These market conditions demand that the vendors make huge capital investments--as much as 50 cents of each revenue dollar--to maintain the technological pace.

Significant Reductions in Driver Trainee Dropouts and Accident Frequency and Severity Earn Company Prestigious Award

Schneider National Inc., a premier provider of transportation, logistics and intermodal services, today announced it has received an Excellence in Practice Award from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). In May, the ASTD recognized nine companies with Excellence in Practice Awards, with Schneider National recognized in the Learning Technologies category for its simulation-based driver training program.

ASTD is the world's largest association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals. Its 70,000 members and associates come from more than 100 countries and thousands of organizations. The ASTD Excellence in Practice Awards program recognizes companies that achieve measurable results through the use of practices and interventions in workplace learning and performance.

"We are truly honored to be recognized by the world's foremost organization for training and development professionals," said Tim Fliss, executive vice president of human resources for Schneider National. "Schneider's driver training is known as the gold standard within its industry, and the achievement of this distinguished award drives us closer to becoming a most admired company among all industries."

In 2004, Schneider's driver training group implemented the use of simulation-based training using ground simulators, equipment similar to flight simulators but designed to develop skills for driving on roadways. Since then, the company has lowered its new driver dropout and termination rates by nearly ten percent, and lowered accident frequency and severity by as much as twenty percent. Overall the implementation of simulation-based training has saved Schneider National millions of dollars.

"We are passionate about providing our drivers with the very best training, using the most advanced technology and learning platforms to protect their safety and the safety of the motoring public," said Don Osterberg, vice president, safety and driver training at Schneider National. "By implementing systems such as MPRI's driver training simulator, Schneider has created more effective teaching tools and a safer, more productive driver force."

SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) today announced that over 30 of the world's most formidable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) -- including the BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Porsche AG, Renault and Nissan and Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors -- are among the growing number of vehicle manufacturers implementing the mySAP(TM) Automotive solution to speed product development, drive product assembly, steer product delivery to dealers and customers, and otherwise beat the challenges of the global automotive industry.

To streamline supply chain processes, reduce order cycle time, support supplier relationship management, and link customer and vehicle life-cycle management, the companies are utilizing a wide variety of mySAP.com(R) solutions in conjunction with mySAP Automotive, including mySAP(TM) Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM), mySAP(TM) E-Procurement, mySAP(TM) Product Lifecycle Management (mySAP PLM) and mySAP(TM) Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM).

Because the automotive market faces the twin challenges of increased competition and fluctuating demand, the mySAP Automotive solution offers an integrated data platform that provides industry-specific functionality. A tight level of process integration between customer relationship management and supply chain management solutions is critical for automotive companies to carry out effective vehicle reservation planning and support customer-driven automotive business models, including build-to-order, locate-to-order and even engineer-to-order models. Collaboration among suppliers, OEMs, dealers and customers is essential. Automotive manufacturers must closely manage multiple suppliers and partners to ensure that the correct systems and components are delivered where and when they are needed. The Integrated Product and Process Engineering functionality within mySAP Automotive provides one common data structure that integrates product and process engineering, and ties it seamlessly into manufacturing and sales processes for automotive companies.

Automotive Companies Benefit From mySAP.com Solutions

To change the paradigm in its spare parts distribution channel to enhance customer satisfaction and retention, Porsche implemented the mySAP SCM solution of mySAP Automotive, thereby ensuring timely and demand-driven availability of spare parts at the dealer site.