Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. – a subsidiary of
Hitachi, America, Ltd., in turn a subsidiary
of Hitachi, Ltd. – supports the requirements of the North American marketplace
with a broad range of standard and low power semiconductor solutions. Offering
some of the industry’s
most popular RISC microprocessors and memory components among other
semiconductor solutions, Hitachi provides chips to the world’s leading device
manufacturers within industrial,
consumer and emerging market applications. Based on 1997 unit shipments, Hitachi
is the world’s single-largest provider of 32-bit RISC microprocessors and the
second-largest provider of micro controllers and flash memory cards. Hitachi’s
substantial design engineering, research and development facilities in the
United States help bring the world’s best technology to U.S. customers.
Business Environment
The worldwide industrial
and consumer electronics market is highly dependent on semiconductors and the
support related tools and services which are necessary to conduct
commerce in, or using, these elements. The extended family of Hitachi affiliated
organizations are key players in this worldwide market.
Since 1990, the market for
semiconductor-based products and services has grown steadily in terms of
quantity and quality, while the overall value of semiconductor products and
services has steadily declined. As a result, product yields, output and sales
are at all-time highs, while revenues and profit margins are at all time lows.
Combine this semiconductor
and electronics industry environment with the financial instability
surrounding much of the Asian economic community during the latter half of the
1990’s, and the stage is set for an aggressive position to be taken for all that
find themselves conducting business in these markets.
SAP R/3 Implementation
Scope
Project 1
Split Hitachi
Semiconductor division of Hitachi America, Ltd. into a separate company and
create a new separate SAP installation containing only the new Hitachi
Semiconductor company. A decision was made to spin off the Hitachi Semiconductor
division from Hitachi, America to from
a new separate company called Hitachi Semiconductor (America). The formation of
this new company would allow the semiconductor business to focus on its core
business opportunities and objectives as a unique and separate business entity.
Project 2
Upgrade
Hitachi Semiconductor, Inc. SAP installation from version 3.0D to version
4.0B.In order to utilize the power of SAP it was felt that Hitachi should keep
abreast of the newest business
processes and enhancements SAP had to offer by upgrading the production software
from 3.0D to version 4.0B. The SAP system that was in production contained
numerous user exits, and custom developments that had to be tested and modified
where appropriate.
Project 3
Merge two
separate companies and two separate SAP installations from Hitachi Micro
Systems, Inc. and Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. into a single company and
installation.
Most recently the global semiconductor business continues to be dramatically
affected by over-capacity in memory chips. Yet at the same time, the growing
need for intelligent command and
control in many industries in North America which present important market
opportunities for
Hitachi. A decision was made to from a new business unit by merging Hitachi
Semiconductor
(America) and Hitachi Micro Systems, Inc. The formation of this new unit will
allow Hitachi to
focus greater resources on building a systems solution business in North
America, while
consolidating high-volume semiconductor production to a unified operating base
to achieve
greater operating efficiencies.
Support Teams
Project 1
Team Consulting Group,
Inc. (TCG) was the primary applications consulting partner utilized during the
split project. The TCG consulting team was formed by a small team of three (3)
applications consultants, covering the FI/CO, SD and MM modules of the SAP
system. This
team of consultants provided the project planning, business process mapping,
program and process impact investigation, report and output rework and testing.
A substantial support was also provided in the cutover and go live activities
including general ledger and financial balancing, transport of programs, and
mapping and input of conversion data. In addition, a Hitachi ABAP programmer was
used to make supplemental report and output modifications.
Project 2
Team
Consulting Group, Inc. (TCG) was the primary applications consulting partner
utilized
during the upgrade project. The TCG consulting team was formed by a small team
of three (3)
applications consultants, covering the FI/CO, SD and MM modules of the SAP
system. This team of consultants provided the project planning, new business
process mapping, program and process impact investigation, user exit and
development support, test planning, user test support and execution. Substantial
support was also provided in the cut over and go live activities including
transporting and coordination of fixes and enhancements. 8 additional Hitachi
personnel were used as supplemental help with SAP upgrade application, program
and report fixes and changes, user test coordination and testing.
Project 3
Team Consulting Group,
Inc. (TCG) was the primary applications consulting partner utilized
during the merge project. The TCG consulting team provided support covering the
FI/CO, SD and MM modules of the SAP system. This team of consultants provided
the project planning, business process mapping, new business process merging and
integration, program and
process impact investigation, report and output rework, user training, and
testing, go-live conversion activities, and production support.
Hitachi
Semiconductor (America), Inc. is a model for a fast and efficient SAP upgrade,
that
company splits and mergers can be implemented in SAP quickly and cost efficient.
Duration
Project 1 was implemented in a 2 months
time frame which involved Company Split.
Project 2 was implemented in a 3 months
time frame which involved System Upgrade from 3.0d to 4.0b.
Project 3 was implemented in a 2 months
time frame which involved Company Merger.
Hitachi (Canadian) Ltd. (HCL), a wholly owned
subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan), markets a broad range of
electronics, computer systems and semiconductors, and provides
industrial equipment and services throughout Canada. HCL conducts business
primarily with OEM businesses in three main electronics industry sectors:
Business Environment
The worldwide industrial and
consumer electronics market is highly dependent on semiconductors and the
support related tools and services which are necessary to conduct
commerce in, or using, these elements. The extended family of Hitachi affiliated
organizations are key players in this worldwide market.
Since 1990, the market for
semiconductor-based products and services has grown steadily in terms of
quantity and quality, while the overall value of semiconductor products and
services has steadily declined. As a result, product yields, output and sales
are at all-time highs,
while revenues and profit margins are at all time lows.
Combine this semiconductor
and electronics industry environment with the financial instability
surrounding much of the Asian economic community during the latter half of the
1990’s, and the stage is set for an aggressive position to be taken for all that
find themselves conducting business in these markets.
More than ever, as a
result of this sub-optimal business climate, each of the key players realize
that it is extremely important to operate efficiently and quickly in an effort
to be price competitive and reduce overall time to market. One of the tools,
which organizations see more
and more as a strategic element in the marketplace is the use of a standardized,
fully integrated business transaction system. Such a system helps to streamline
the flow of information to decision makers and consistently provide information
in a timely manner.
Recognizing this
opportunity, Hitachi, Ltd. launched a worldwide SAP R/3 implementation effort in
the mid-1990’s. And, one part of this extremely aggressive rollout plan was the
decision to implement the SAP R/3 system at HCL during the spring of 1998.
SAP R/3 Implementation
HCL has five locations in Canada. Each of
these sites is utilized to support the sales and service functions of the HCL
business. No manufacturing or production is directly managed by the HCL
organization, itself. All of the objects marketed and sold by HCL are procured
directly from other Hitachi affiliated entities throughout the Americas and
Asia.
The main objective of the Hitachi worldwide
information systems strategy, based in part on the SAP R/3 platform, was to
aggressively promote the utilization of standard software and similar business
processes at most, if not all, of the Hitachi corporations.
After a series of other Hitachi affiliates had
already implemented the SAP R/3 software, HCL was faced with the challenge of
leveraging bits and pieces of existing Hitachi implementations to most
efficiently and effectively install the SAP system while meeting specific HCL
and
Canadian business requirements.
The result was an extremely rapid implementation
that allowed the HCL organization to benefit from previous design work performed
by other Hitachi family members while still retaining the flexibility to tailor
the system to its own immediate HCL needs.
Scope
The multi-site R/3 implementation was
divided into two main phases. Each phase was rolled-out to all five (5)
geographic sites simultaneously.
Phase 1 included the company
wide application of FI General Ledger Chart of Accounts, A/R
Customer Invoice Processing, A/P Vendor Invoice Processing, A/P Check Printing,
CO Cost Center Accounting, MM Non-Inventory Purchasing, and MM Non-Inventory
Goods Receiving.
Phase 2 included
the company wide application of SD Sales Order Entry, Pricing, Delivery and
Billing, MM Finished Goods Inventory Procurement and full MM Finished Goods
Inventory
Management. This second phase was built upon functionality already implemented
during
the first Phase.
Support Teams
Team Consulting Group, Inc. (TCG) was the primary applications
consulting partner utilized during the HCL implementation. The TCG consulting
team was formed by a small team
of three (3) applications consultants, covering the FI/CO, SD and MM modules of
the SAP system. This team of consultants initially supported the implementation
on a part-time basis and eventually began working full-time on the project as
implementation dates drew near. In addition, two Hitachi Basis personnel were
supplementary utilized to help with hardware system set up and authorization
definition.
The overall
HCL project core team consisted of five (5) resources. These resources were
assigned to the project on a part-time basis from the beginning. The HCL team
was a mix
of senior management, MIS staff and end user personnel. These team members
received SAP knowledge transfer from the TCG consulting staff, and in turn
educated their own employees regarding end-user system utilization.
Duration
Phase 1 Five sites implemented in 3 months.
Phase 2 Five sites implemented in 4 months.
|
