Integrated portfolio management at Continental

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing
Business Operation

Use Cases

Manufacturing System Automation
Asset Lifecycle Management

Services

System Integration

The Challenge

Continental, a major supplier to the automotive industry, faced a significant challenge due to its rapid growth through acquisitions. This growth left the company with a legacy of diverse IT systems, making it difficult to have a clear view of the IT landscape. The company needed to standardize its applications to conform to industry standards and align more closely with the business. The complexity of the situation was further compounded by the fact that Continental is known for its tires, but it is a vital supplier at all stages of the automotive manufacturing process. The company's automotive business grew rapidly through twelve major acquisitions since 2000, increasing its capability and expertise but also its IT complexity.

About The Customer

Continental is a Germany-based global firm known for being one of the largest suppliers to the automotive industry. The company is recognized for its tires, but it also plays a vital role at all stages of the automotive manufacturing process. Across its five divisions – Chassis & Safety, Powertrain, Interior, Tires, and Contitech – Continental produces parts for all the major vehicle makers, covering everything from electronic brake systems to transmissions, driver instrumentation, and air spring systems. The company has seen rapid growth through twelve major acquisitions since 2000, which has significantly increased its capability and expertise. The Continental Corporation Automotive Group has approximately €16 billion in sales and employs 87,000 people.

The Solution

Continental Automotive turned to planningIT to integrate all of its IT portfolios. After working with planningIT for around 18 months, the company made significant advances in integrating its IT portfolio. It established a central application repository, assigned ownership of applications, and established functional frameworks for all IT areas. Furthermore, it identified around 10% of existing applications that could be retired. A significant achievement was bringing SAP into planningIT, which included establishing an SAP data model, gaining visibility over all current productive SAP systems, maintaining interfaces, and assigning SAP system responsibility to regions, business units, or functional areas. The Enterprise Architecture (EA) team agreed upon a new application portfolio strategy, judging any application – current or prospective – on criteria such as contribution to current and future business success, costs, risk factors, technical quality, and functional quality.

Operational Impact

Continental Automotive now has a clear view of its IT landscape, which is helping to standardize its applications.
The company has established a central application repository, assigned ownership of applications, and established functional frameworks for all IT areas.
Continental Automotive has gained visibility over all current productive SAP systems, maintained interfaces, and assigned SAP system responsibility to regions, business units, or functional areas.

Quantitative Benefit