Etl Solutions

Problem

Thorn Lighting, part of the Zumtobel Group, is a leading quality supplier for indoor, outdoor and airfield lighting solutions with a turnover of almost EUR500m.

With sales operations in 22 countries and export sales in over 100 countries, Thorn Lighting operates on a global basis. It also manufactures a wide range of lighting products at manufacturing plants in the U.K. Sweden, France and Ireland.

As an SAP user, Thorn Lighting needed to integrate to the production optimisation product, Optimiza™ from Barloworld Optimus. To achieve this, Thorn Lighting evaluated tools that could accomplish the task quickly whilst handling complex data models from several sources. They also mandated an open and flexible architecture that could easily adapt to future change and co-exist with their existing infrastructure.

In addition, Thorn Lighting wanted a tool that required minimal training and was intuitive to use collaboratively by analysts and developers.

The Solution

ETL Solutions was recommended to Thorn Lighting by Barloworld Optimus. We developed a DataPort to deliver the integration between SAP and Barloworld’s Optimiza™ Supply Chain Optimisation product.

We brought an extensive knowledge of data integration, a software platform that was SAP NetWeaver® certified, and proven SAP and Barloworld experience to help Thorn Lighting achieve their goals.

Results

DataPort provided Thorn with some key benefits:

• Improved efficiencies through a reliable interface between SAP and Barloworld
• Reduced burden on maintaining hand-coded links means people were re-directed to more value-added activities
• Cost effective and rapid implementation reduced on-going internal support costs