Since June this year, Plastal – an automotive industry manufacturer from Gliwice – has been using the SAP ERP system in the outsourcing model. The BCC Outsourcing Center provides Plastal with the hosting services and SAP administration. The BCC experts also co-participated in the complex, multi-stage project of the system migration from the corporate platform of the Plastal Group into the BCC Outsourcing Center.
Plastal from Gliwice was using the SAP system located physically on a corporate platform in Italy. Due to the declaration of bankruptcy by its Swedish shareholder, the Polish branch, being in good financial condition and looking for a new investor (which is proved by the recent change from liquidation to composition proceedings), had to become independent from the existing shared IT environment. The migration to a new own SAP system was a must.
“We needed a solution which would allow us to manage our own SAP system in a short time without having to make additional investments in the platform. And at the same time, a solution which would bring back the system performance to a proper level, contribute to the cost reduction and wouldn’t limit us in any way in the future development. These things, among others, made us decide on the outsourcing in BCC” – said Sławomir Spyt, SAP Project Manager in Plastal.
The migration project was a huge challenge. It consisted in the system separation from the SAP corporate platform in Italy, and then its transport to a new environment in Poland. “It is out of the question in the automotive industry that the ERP system is unavailable which could lead to downtimes in the production or deliveries to the customers. The migration project was difficult because it resembled an operation on a living organism. Don’t forget that most of the processes in the automotive industry are just in time processes. Additionally, the works of three teams – Italian consultants, BCC consultants and a key user team – had to be coordinated” – commented Sławomir Spyt.
Over the weekend, the BCC experts migrated the 1.3 TB SAP database and restored the middleware systems connecting SAP with other applications. In line with the plan, the next working day the Plastal employees normally used the SAP system which was already located in the BCC Outsourcing Center.
About Plastal Poland
Plastal has been operating in Gliwice for 10 years within the Katowice Special Economic Zone. The plant acted as a branch of the Swedish industry group named Plastal Holding AB. It employs over 700 people, producing plastic car components in three branches – in Gliwice, Poznań and Swarzędz. The Plastal’s customers include the biggest manufacturers in the industry, such as Fiat, GM, VW, Ford, Audi, Mini and Jaguar.