Varian Associates
Varian Associates is one of the founding companies of
the Silicon Valley. The organization consists of multiple business units, which
are operating in the following main businesses:
-
Health Care Systems
-
Instruments
-
Semiconductor Equipment
Business Environment (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Instruments- NMRI)
Varian Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Instruments (NMRI) is a leading,
worldwide supplier of NMR spectrometers for advanced bimolecular, chemical, and
material science research. This business unit belongs to the Instrument
business, one of Varian’s key businesses generating
revenue of approximately $ 400 millions per year.
Since the introduction of the first NMR instruments in 1946, Varian
spectrometers have set the
standard for quality worldwide. Basically, by placing a chemical sample into a
very strong magnetic field, and using sophisticated electronic and computer
technology, the NMR spectrometer provides information on how the atoms in a
molecule are joined together in space.
NMRI is certified to be ISO 9001 compliant. In 1994, it was named
one of the 10 best
manufacturing facilities in the U.S. by Industry Week magazine. After evaluating
several software solutions, Varian Associates chose the SAP R/3 enterprise
system to help them
manage the diversification and autonomy of their multiple business units. The
overall goal
of Varian’s IT strategy was to replace multiple ASK systems used in several
business units with
one SAP R/3 system having multiple company codes within one client.
SAP R/3 Implementation
Scope
The NMR business was the second unit to be converted over to the
SAP R/3 system. The Palo Alto, CA operation installed all the main core business
application modules, such as financial accounting (FI), controlling (CO), sales
& distribution (SD), materials management (MM), production planning &
execution (PP) including repetitive manufacturing and quality management (QM).
Support Teams
Team Consulting Group, Inc. (TCG) was the primary consulting
partner for Varian. The TCG
consulting team was formed by a small team of 4 (four) application consultants,
covering all the
above mentioned functionality on a full time basis. The consulting team was
re-enforced by 1-2
resources from SAP America, Inc.
The overall Varian team consisted of 10 (ten)
resources. Most of these resources were fully
assigned to the project. The in-house team was a mix between NMR and other
business units
users and Varian’s IT support organization.
Duration
The above mentioned functionality was implemented in only 6 (six) months. This
time frame
covered the full project cycle from project planning until going live. The live
date was 10/1995. Business Environment (Traveling Wave Tube
Products- TWTP)
The Varian business unit of Traveling Wave Tube
Products (TWTP) is a leading, worldwide supplier of vacuum wave tube products
used in multiple industries. This business unit belongs to the Instrument
business, one of Varian’s key businesses generating revenue of approximately $
400 millions per year. The TWTP business unit was sold in 1995 to the CPI
manufacturing group.
After evaluating several software solutions, Varian
Associates chose the SAP R/3 enterprise system to help them manage the
diversification and autonomy of multiple business units. The overall goal of
Varian’s IT strategy was to replace multiple ASK systems used in several
business units with one SAP R/3 system having multiple company codes within one
client.
SAP R/3 Implementation.
Scope
The TWTP business was the first unit to be converted over to the SAP R/3
system. The following applications were installed: financial accounting (FI),
accounts receivable (FI-AR), controlling (CO) and sales & distribution (SD).
Several interfaces were necessary to keep the flow to the main Varian financial
corporate systems and the materials management and
planning systems of TWTP up to date, to guarantee the overall integrity of all
systems.
Support Teams
Team Consulting Group, Inc. (TCG) was the primary
consulting partner for Varian. The TCG consulting team was formed by a small
team of 4 (four) application consultants, covering all the functionality on a
full time basis. The consulting team was re-enforced by 1-2 resources from SAP
America, Inc.
The overall Varian team consisted of 6 (six) resources. Most
of these resources were fully assigned to the project. The in-house team was a
mix between TWTP and other business units users and Varian’s IT support
organization.
Duration
All of the above mentioned functionality was part of the first phase of the TWTP
implementation. It took only 6 (six) months to achieve a live date of 10/94.
This implementation was one of the first R/3 implementations in the Western
Unites States and in the Silicon Valley.
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