Volkswagen Accessories is a VW subsidiary that provides more than 8,000 accessory parts for virtually every model in its parent company’s range of automobiles. These include communication components, car maintenance and fashion products, specially styled rim-and-tire combinations, and other optical enhancements. Until recently, Volkswagen Accessories’ 200 employees analyzed data from the company’s individual SAP ERP modules by hand before entering them into Excel files. Due to the considerable demands of the Volkswagen group’s internal reporting, this involved a tremendous amount of effort and tied up significant resources – for more, see the related article “Volkswagen’s SRM Road Map 2011”.

Project manager Björn Lange adds: “Besides taking far too much time, this method simply couldn’t meet our current requirements anymore.” Shorter development cycles are constantly demanding new reports that employees need available on an ad hoc basis whenever possible. This is why Volkswagen Accessories decided to implement a modern business intelligence solution. “Our goal was not only to establish a uniform basis of data, but especially to ensure our ability to distribute information in a flexible, largely automated way,” Lange explains. For assistance with the implementation, the company called upon Infomotion GmbH, one of Germany’s leading BI consulting firms.

Tools from SAP BusinessObjects

While conducting its search, Volkswagen Accessories placed two basic requirements on its ideal BI solution: It had to offer a high degree of flexibility in reporting and scalability, and be easy to use. Even though the company uses SAP R/3 as its ERP system, it opted to forego SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse. “SAP NetWeaver BW is a very complex system that enables you to access the most comprehensive datasets,” says Jan Ischebeck, whom Infomotion appointed as its project lead. “As we were analyzing the company’s requirements, it became clear that VW Accessories needed a much more streamlined – and thus more flexible – application.” The answer? Building a relational database supported by tools from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio.

The automotive industry has had a number of challenges to overcome in recent years, from surpluses in production and plunging revenues to protectionism; for more, see our article “Processes Keep the Auto Industry Rolling.”