Cap Gemini and SAP join forces to address automotive supply chain’s make-to-order challenge

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the IT and management consulting firm, and enterprise software giant SAP, have formed an alliance to develop software that will address the make-to-order (MTO) and just-in-time (JIT) delivery issues that are holding back the automotive industry. The two companies will leverage each other’s strengths by developing software based on Cap Gemini’s Adaptive Automotive Enterprise Model (AAEM) and SAP’s mySAP Automotive product. Cap Gemini’s AAEM model enables an OEM to capture and integrate data from the supply chain in real time and modify its manufacturing and logistics plans to speed the whole vehicle production process, and allows engineers to collaborate on new vehicle launches over a longer timescale. And SAP really does have the breadth of functionality to offer its customers. It can provide OEMs with a single web-enabled platform for everything from engineering to production planning , supply chain management, procurement and customer relationship management. Kevin Mahanay, head of Cap Gemini’s automotive global sector, commented on the partnership: “It’s no secret that automotive supply chains worldwide are in urgent need of a comprehensive transformation if the problems of vast excess stocks, poor co-ordination, long customer waiting times and price pressure are ever to be solved. Partnering with SAP enables us to address these obstacles and bring the benefits of our model to market much faster. The breadth of functions in mySAP Automotive makes it an ideal platform for the full implementation of the model.” The programme begins immediately, with combined Cap Gemini and SAP teams based in Germany, France, UK and the US.