1. Group member: Mohd Yatim Bin Idris (805540) Monalisa Lee (803737)

2. Overview of the Case Study Brose Group which owned by Brose family, is an auto and aircraft parts manufacturer in Berlin in 1908 It has more than 13,000 employees and 51 branches in 21 different countries. They supply windows, doors, seat adjusters, and related products for more than 40 auto brands Their customers include General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Honda. Revenue exceeded 2.8 billion Euros in 2008 Brose enjoyed rapid growth but found their existing information systems were unable to support the company’s emerging needs

3. Too many different information systems meant a lack of standardization and hampered communication among suppliers, plants, and customers Brose decided to standardize operations on SAP R/3, an ERP application licensed by SAP that supports more than a thousand different business processes Rather than attempt to implement those processes on its own, Brose hired SAP Consulting to lead the project

5. What kinds of data must Brose have in order to provide JIS to its customers? What does Brose need to know? It certainly needs a bill of materials for the items it produces. What other categories of information will Brose need? Q1: Reflect on the nature of JIS planning. In general terms:

6. Answer: Data that Brose need is the production schedule Brose need to know the bill of materials specifying the components needed for the product being made Other categories of IS that Brose need is the sequence used in assembling the product

7. Example: Bill of material

8. Q2: The SAP system included applications for sales and distribution, materials management, production planning, quality management, and financial accounting and control. Describe, in general terms, features and functions of these applications that are necessary to provide JIS

9. Answer: Brose applied Lean Manufacturing to eliminate wastes to improve their productivity. SAP team has invented a business process calls Just-In- Sequence (JIS) manufacturing. JIS is an extension of Just-In-Time (JIT). JIS extends JIT so that parts not only arrive just in time, but also just the correct sequence. In Brose JIS system, the sales system sends the demand signal  production planning uses the demand signal to schedule product production  materials management will notifies the suppliers of the material requirements and the sequence in which they will be needed

10. JIS example: Brose Group factory (Brazil) manufactures doors for general Motor General Motor send a signal of need for doors to Brose Group The signal starts the construction of the 4 doors on 4 separate production lines in Brazil Brose schedule the work on each lines so as to produce the 4 doors & their related equipment, then deliver it at the correct time and in correct sequence at General Motor

11. Q3: The Brose factory in Brazil produces more than doors for General Motors. The factory must coordinate the door orders with orders for other products and orders from other manufacturers. What kinds of IS are necessary to provide such coordinated manufacturing planning?

12. Answer: The Information Systems (IS) would have to be: Very sophisticated in order to keep track of the many orders that are received And to provide the proper products in the correct quantity and at the correct time required

13. Q4: Brazilians speak Portuguese, workers in the United States speak English and Spanish, and personnel at the Brose headquarters speak German. Summarize challenges to Brose and SAP Consulting when implementing a system for users who speak four different languages and live in four (at least) different cultures

14. Answer: This type of global system is very difficult to accomplish successfully The successful outcome of the project is an evidence to the quality of the software product and the work of the implementation team, reinforced by strong top management support The language and cultural differences would be significant barriers in this project, BUT the unifying is buy-in and acceptance of the inherent business processes of the software

15. Q5: Visit http://sap.com/industries/automotive and investigate SAP for Automotive with JIS.  What features and functions does this product have that standard SAP R/3 does not have?  What advantages does SAP obtain by creating and licensing this product?  What advantages do SAP’s customers obtain from this product? In your response, consider both R/3 customers who are and who are not automotive manufacturers

16. SAP For Automotive With SAP applications, integrated with leading business support and analytical software, you can optimize key industry business processes – and achieve key business goals: Operational excellence with optimized processes for operation management Superior customer value with optimized processes for sales and service Product and service leadership with optimized processes for product management Best people and talent with optimized processes for workforce and talent management Financial excellence with optimized processes for financial performance management

17. ERP Enterprise resource planning is a strategy supported by software products for coordinating the multiple functionality of business process  SAP R/3 is the best product of it SAP R/3 SAP R/3 system works and produce good results in most of the industries like manufacturing, retail, oil and gas, electricity, health care, pharmaceutical, banking, insurance, telecommunications, transport, automotive, chemical and etc first step to e-business since it is part of nearly every mySAP Business Suite solution SAP stands for SYSTEM, APPLICATION AND PRODUCTS IN DATA PROCESSING

20. USE OF SAP R/3 in DATA PROCESSING at BROSE GROUP

21. Answer: The automotive solution is geared specifically to those businesses serving as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) suppliers in the automotive industry. The product is tailored to this industry and provides specific functionality required by these businesses. R/3 is more generic and does not include the modules (inherent processes) specially tailored to members of the automotive industry.

22. By creating this product, SAP can offer software that is a better fit to the automotive industry than the generic R/3 product. Automotive customers benefit because the inherent processes of the software are a better fit for their business needs than could be obtained with a generic system. Customers in other industries benefit because they do not have to purchase a product with inherent processes that do not apply to them

23. Q6: Brose seeks to provide JIS service to its customers. Does this goal necessitate that Brose suppliers also provide JIS service to Brose? What can Brose do if its suppliers do not provide such service? Is there any reason why Brose would not want them to provide such service? Do you think that before one company in a supply chain can offer JIS, all companies in the supply chain must offer the service?

24. Answer: It would be best for Brose to have its suppliers utilize JIS. If they did, Brose could receive all the benefits of lean manufacturing that it is providing to its own customers.

25. If Brose suppliers do not or cannot provide JIS service to Brose, then it is possible that Brose could fail to deliver on its JIS commitments to its customer. Failing to provide JIS service is not a good thing, but Brose could pin the blame on its non-conforming suppliers