Project aim

A leading German car manufacturer and an Austrian parts supplier are collaborating with Valtech in a pilot project for the integration of change management.

The chief aim is to map uniform and easily understandable business processes technically with the use of the standardized data format STEP AP214 for communication. The car manufacturer’s internal change process is to be linked to the parts supplier’s change system by means of the EAI Broker e*Gate and the EDI Manager.

Functional challenges

Following a precise analysis of the business processes in the change procedure, a standardized IT architecture is set up to ensure effective communication between the car manufacturer and the parts suppliers.

This pilot project thus forms the start of a standardized integration of suppliers. The change process is only a part of the development and production processes, which are shared between the car manufacturer and the parts suppliers. It is intended that the results of the project be used later for a possible extension of the process chain.

Technical implementation

For the very first time, the new CA 2.0 development platform is used in this project. This enables the introduction of a uniform development process that will greatly help reduce costs and minimize project risks.

Moreover, a complex, distributed workflow is being implemented with the help of the integration broker technology from SeeBeyond. This makes it possible to combine the different techniques (Host, SAP, Java, EDI Manager) simply.

• Integration of OEM and supplier
• Electronic change management
• Exchange of change applications in ECM format on the basis of STEP AP214 XML
• Technical connection of OEM internally by means of EAI integration component e*Gate
• Technical connection to supplier by means of the EDI Manager
• Human Firewall as checking entity between OEM and supplier