Alcatel Spare Part Management Centre in France achieved integration of Automated management of physical flows and stocks in SAP, through the SAP Console environment.
In close co-operation with Zetes, Alcatel Spare Part Management Centre in France achieved integration of Automated management of physical flows and stocks in SAP, through the SAP Console environment Alcatel CIT, the Alcatel Group's main branch in France, specialises in telecommunication systems, supplying operators in more than 80 countries worldwide with fixed and mobile networks. The maintenance of these systems is centralised in the company's logistics platform, Alcatel SPMC (Spare Part Management Centre), based in the Orleans, France and providing two types of services: - collection of defective items, repair (by subcontractors) and dispatch to the customer, - management and shipment of spare parts. This way of working requiring much faster response times than conventional maintenance operations, Alcatel developed various advanced, high-performance services such as swap (exchange upon reception of the faulty item) and advanced replacement (shipment before reception of the faulty item).

The introduction of these services was made possible thanks to the implementation in Orleans of a new system allowing the management of physical flows and stocks.

This was the fruit of a close co-operation between Zetes' and Alcatel's (ISSM) IT departments.

In 2002 the Orleans centre decided to integrate the management of the logistics platform services, including the administrative management of logical flows and stocks, in SAP (version 4.6c).

Their physical management was carried out by an external system interfaced with SAP (the backbone of the system being the use of auto-ID equipment, particularly Symbol PDT 6800 RF-terminals).

'Nevertheless, if we really wanted to increase our productivity, we would have to shorten the time needed to establish the interface between this external system and SAP', says SPMC manager, Jean-Claude Taillandier.

The solution suggested by Alcatel's IT team and SAP MM-WM Competence Centre Manager, Gilles Imbs, consisted in completely integrating the physical management in SAP, within the SAP-WM module.

'It was a complex integration but we succeeded in integrating the basic flow of logistics activities within Alcatel SPMC, in compliance with all SAP standards,' says Gilles Imbs.

'Zetes largely contributed to the development of the layers, which, above our standard SAP application, provided the necessary automation and optimisation for the management of our physical flows and stocks.

'This project was achieved using the technical SAP Console environment, although Zetes adapted the transactions on the terminal level in order to fine-tune the ergonomics of the front-end system to our specific needs.

'The main key to the success of this project however, was the smooth co-operation between our departments and Zetes.

The project required constant synchronisation and contact between all the teams involved, and both on the formal and the informal level, the collaboration proved to be very good and effective.' Corporate solution 'The system implemented in Orleans is now being installed in a second Alcatel spare part centre in Belgium (Geel), which also repairs ADSL equipment, hence the need for an application managing the flows of repair parts', adds Gilles Imbs.

'It goes without saying that Zetes is closely involved in the project.

The next step will be our third main European centre in Germany.'