Last week MG Rover told Computer Weekly it believes it can
cut £14m a year from its 2000 IT budget of about £30m, without
reducing service to the business.
The major cost savings will come from integrating numerous legacy
systems into a Compaq, Windows 2000, Oracle and IFS ERP
environment.
The key goals of the changes being made to MG Rover's IT are to
smooth the flows of information between the company and its supply
chain partners and to integrate information in the production
process for the 200,000 cars it makes every year.
The central challenge is to sequence thousands of parts - from
entire body panels down to individual trim parts - to arrive at the
right place at the right time on the company's production lines at
its Longbridge plant in Birmingham.
This has been made much easier by the ongoing integration of MG
Rover's legacy IT into a unified environment. A myriad of inherited
systems, including IBM mainframes, Dec Vax, HP3000, HP9000 and
Compaq/NT, are being migrated to IFS-based ERP software and new
hardware. Software and networking equipment and support is also
being rationalised.
This will enable MG Rover to plan its supply chain more effectively
and streamline web and EDI links to 650 suppliers.
Peter Vetch, MG Rover's IS and e-business director, said, "When we
know what we have to make, we run a planning schedule from which we
derive forecast requirements and day-by-day call offs for
suppliers."
At the same time, information guiding the production of individual
vehicles is fed to the production line and the data needed to trace
parts is fed back into the IFS ERP system.
This benefits the business through greater efficiency and quality
management, according to business systems manager Steve Walton.
"The way we schedule parts from production suppliers to track side
reduces the space we need for warehousing, and internal logistics
become more manageable," he said.
Computer terminals along the production line optimise the
manufacturing process and give production staff details of the work
they are required to do on a car at any given stage in its
manufacture.
Paint colour, engine variations and trim options can vary from one
vehicle to another and the car must be matched up to its records in
ERP modules as it makes its way through the production process. A
wireless transceiver temporarily attached to the car allows the ERP
system to track its progress and relay customisation options to the
control units.
Walton said, "The control units we use at track side improve
efficiency no end and enable us to build a much more varied number
of derivatives and models on our production lines at any one
time."
Staff can alert the system if there are any problems with the car's
quality via the terminals. This information is fed back into the
ERP system, which prevents the car being sold until the issue has
been resolved.