Service Oriented Architectures Become Reality for SAP Customers

VIENNA, Austria, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As companies around the world take the first definitive steps to align with the impending IT shift toward service oriented architecture (SOA), SAP AG today unveiled how two prominent European manufacturers will leverage Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA), SAP's blueprint for a business process-driven approach to more productivity, flexibility and competitive advantage using a service oriented infrastructure. TRW Airbag Systems GmbH and VEKA AG are working closely with SAP to build out their ESA environments, which harness the power of Web services and serve as the architectural standard for aligning business process requirements with IT realities. These customer successes are testimonial to the increasing recognition of SAP NetWeaver(R) as the technology platform for enabling ESA. The announcement was made at SAP TechEd(R) '05, being held in Vienna, Austria, September 21-23.

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TRW Airbag Systems GmbH is a subsidiary of TRW, one of the world's largest automotive suppliers and a strong adopter of the SAP NetWeaver platform. TRW Airbag Systems GmbH has been moving forward in a step-by-step approach to leverage ESA as its enterprise-wide architectural standard. With its open architecture and alignment with Web services, the SAP NetWeaver platform supports enhanced cooperation across the enterprise to drive new production process efficiencies. The company expects to see increased automation of ordering processes, reduced capital commitment due to optimized materials management and closer alignment with TRW's Six Sigma process optimization goals.

"Thinking globally and acting locally are not only the guiding principles of development, but are the realities of our production cycle," said Richard Stanzel, managing director, TRW Airbag Systems GmbH. "With the SAP NetWeaver platform and Enterprise Services Architecture, we are building an IT landscape to pull together our global operations in an unprecedented format while also allowing us to focus on more efficient ways to produce regionally. The enhanced company-wide integration also allows us to react more quickly to price pressure from our global competitors."

VEKA AG, one of the leading providers of synthetic profiles for windows, doors, shutters and plastic panels worldwide, is leveraging ESA to unify business processes across 33 subsidiaries on three continents. VEKA has chosen to use SAP NetWeaver as an integration platform to connect its disparate worldwide business systems. The company is then building the next part of its ESA evolution to consolidate global data, enable company-wide reporting and provide mobile data access for the sales force.

"For us, SAP NetWeaver provided an ideal platform for developing a service oriented architecture," said Thomas Sauerland, CIO, VEKA AG. "Based on the ESA approach from SAP, our IT landscape will help our employees better collaborate with each other -- and with our partners and customers -- across company and national borders. We will also be able to react more flexibly and quickly to incoming demands and competitive challenges."

"The implementations at TRW Airbag Systems and VEKA illustrate the growing market momentum for ESA and continued support for SAP NetWeaver as the platform for business growth and innovation," said Shai Agassi, president, Product and Technology Group, and member of the executive board, SAP. "By leveraging SAP NetWeaver, companies can use a services-based approach to more flexibly respond to changing business needs. This further solidifies SAP's position as a dominant force in the platform market, dedicated to helping our customers leverage IT for agility and competitive advantage."

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 28,200 customers in over 120 countries run more than 96,400 installations of SAP(R) software-from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP(TM) Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/ )

(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

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