Automotive Manufacturing Software Solutions

DaimlerChrysler masters just-in-time

parts management with DB2.

Overview

Application
Distribution View, an integrated parts
warehouse management system
Business Benefits
83% reduction in parts processing
time; streamlined parts distribution
process; considerable reduction
in system maintenance costs
Software
IBM DB2 Universal Database
Enterprise Edition for AIX
and Windows NT ; IBM DB2
Connect ; IBM MQSeries
Hardware
IBM RS/6000
Services DaimlerChrysler, with group headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and Auburn Hills, Michigan, is owned
IBM Global Services by European, U.S. and other international investors.

When youre cruising the highway DView enables efficient

in your sleek automobile, youre
one-stop shopping for
probably more attuned to its speed
and precision in navigating curves
parts, which helps us
than the parts that make your driving meet our inventory
experience possible. For auto needs. DB2 is a major
manufacturers, however, well-made contributor to this
parts are as critical as a good design.
efficiency with its
And having the right amount of
parts inventory at the right times
rapid transaction
is conducive to running a smooth, processing capabilities.
profitable operation. Chuck Weingart, Director, Mopar
& Service, Applications Development
Group, DaimlerChrysler
Automotive Manufacturing Software Solutions
At DaimlerChrysler, moving parts from the
warehouse to the dealership is much more
efficient with a parts management solution
based on DB2.
One of the selling points of DB2 was the
speed with which it can process parts order
transactions. Not only have we eliminated
deadlocks, but we can also run multiple
order allocations simultaneously.
Tom Lempicki, Project Manager, Applications Development Group,
DaimlerChrysler
DaimlerChryslerthe $152 billion
manufacturer behind such notable
brands as Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler,
Jeep and Dodgehas parts man-
agement down to a science. Which
is not surprising, since without a well-
oiled parts business, the automaker
would have been hard-pressed to
sell 4.2 million passenger vehicles
in 2000.
DaimlerChrysler manages 34 Parts
Distribution Centers (PDCs) in North
America. Until recently, the PDCs
for each of the companys vehicle
brands utilized their own distribution
processes and systems. This created
a slow, cumbersome environment.
Employees had to sign on to the
different systems to search for parts,
run order allocations and carry out other
warehouse management functions.
When one of DaimlerChryslers parts
distributors, Mopar, spearheaded a
drive to standardize the organiza-
tions parts distribution network, the
company was all for generating new
efficiencies. And, finding the right
solution required no more than look-
ing at what was already in use in the
enterprise. After comparing the com-
panys existing parts warehouse man-
agement systems, DaimlerChrysler
recognized that DistributionView
(DView), developed by IBM Global
Services with IBM DB2 Universal
Database Enterprise Edition for AIX,
would best support the transaction
processing needs of all 34 PDCs.
Says Chuck Weingart, director,
Mopar & Service for DaimlerChryslers
Applications Development Group,
DView enables efficient one-stop
shopping for parts, which helps
us meet our inventory needs and,
thus, maximize our profitability.
DB2 is a major contributor to this effi-
ciency with its rapid transaction pro-
cessing capabilities. Tom Lempicki,
project manager for DaimlerChryslers
Applications Development Group
adds, In our benchmark testing,
DView processed as many as 10,000
orders in 20 minutes, while running
order allocations for another 5,000.
Our other legacy systems would take
up to two hours to accomplish this.
Driving rapid parts delivery
DView tracks the movement of all
material in a parts warehouse,
handling everything from receiving
and order allocation to inventory
control, location management and
employee activity/utilization tracking.

Rapid parts delivery is another

benefit that DView brings. Explains
Lempicki, DView tracks movement
and usage of parts and lets us
know which are the fastest-moving
materials, so we can keep them in
stock in racks and bins that are
closest to the shipping docks. That With a combined history of over 200 years in the automobile industry, DaimlerChrysler operates
way, our dealers get the parts they manufacturing facilities in 37 countries and is behind brands that are well recognized worldwide.

need to keep our customers vehicles

out on the road.

The DaimlerChrysler team migrated
DView from another database to DB2
Universal Database Extended Edition
because of its stronger performance
metrics. One of the selling points
of DB2 was the speed with which
it can process parts order trans-
actions, says Lempicki. Not only
have we eliminated deadlocks,
but we can also run multiple order
allocations simultaneously. With
other solutions, youd have to
wait until one order allocation is
completed before starting another.
Adds George Mortis, manager of
Data Resource Management at
DaimlerChrysler, DB2 is also our
enterprisewide database solution;
all our PDCs and warehouses use
DB2 to manage their parts infor-
mation. IBM DB2 Connect enables
us to easily tap into each of these
DB2 systems easily from any PC.
DB2 fills the need for speed
The PDCs for DaimlerChrysler
operate at different levelsthere
are national and regional distribution
centers as well as centers for fast-
moving parts, slow-moving parts,
hazardous materials and other
specific components. National
centers feed the regional centers,
which send warehouse materials
straight to the dealerships. DView is
the common system for all of the
centers, enabling DaimlerChrysler to
save on system maintenance costs
associated with maintaining multiple
parts management solutions.
Warehouse employees access DView
through a terminal emulation-based
radio-frequency application, which is
equipped with a GUI screen. As soon
as a transaction is conducted, the
details are automatically updated in
DB2. Thus, whenever a user wants
to get a picture of the companys
parts warehouses, the information is
always up to date. And, such reports
are paperless, saving the company
time and money.
DView is a thick client application
running on Microsoft Windows NT
workstations, with DB2 running on
an IBM RS/6000 high-availability
cluster and background processing
running in both the Windows NT and
IBM AIX environments. IBM Global
Services worked with DaimlerChrysler
to customize DView to the companys
needs, designing, developing and
implementing it in 14 months. Tivoli
Distributed Monitoring and Tivoli
Enterprise Console-Logfile Adapter
monitor the health of the DB2 servers.
Operational efficiencies through
application integration
One of the unique aspects of
DaimlerChryslers use of DView is its
integration with the companys 17
legacy applicationsa customization
DaimlerChrysler Corporation devel-
oped using the COBOL programming
language and IBM MQSeries as
the data transport mechanism. The
legacy systems, all developed in-
house and residing on an IBM S/390
Parallel Enterprise Server, manage
everything from invoicing and order
processing to financial, perpetual
inventory and material return systems.
Explains Lempicki, We worked with
IBM Global Services to develop a
traffic cop, which monitors our DB2
tables, backing up new data to a
DB2 transaction database. This traffic
cop then reformats the data and
loads it into our legacy applications.
MQSeries routes messages between
the S/390 and RS/6000 applications.
As a result, as parts are shipped
from warehouses to the PDCs and
dealerships, the transactions are
automatically updated in the
legacy applications, without
human intervention.
Currently serving DaimlerChryslers
North American PDCs, the company
plans to extend DView globally
by early 2003. Concludes Weingart,
Getting our vehicles on the road is
a much more efficient process with
our DView solution based on DB2.
For more information
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or IBM Direct at: 1 800 IBM-CALL.
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Visit our Web site at
ibm.com/software/data
For more information about
DaimlerChrysler, visit:
www.daimlerchrysler.com
Copyright IBM Corporation 2001
IBM Corporation
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Produced in the United States of America
08-01
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