Moeller steers an international course

Bonn, November 29, 2006 - The Moeller group of companies--a supplier of components and systems for energy distribution and automation with headquarters in Bonn--has a worldwide presence, with about 8,700 employees working for subsidiaries and foreign distributors in over 80 countries. After the successful connection of all European Moeller companies (9 in all, from Italy to Norway) in 2005 and 2006, Moeller CIO Patrick O'Keefe set himself the goal of bringing Australia, Singapore and Brazil "under one roof" by the end of 2006, with SAP technology and project durations under six months.

"After successful completion of the European SAP roll-out (partially in parallel for the Benelux countries, the UK, Italy, Spain and Switzerland) in only 18 months over all SAP modules from logistics to financial accounting and controlling, similar projects in Australia, Singapore and Brazil present a considerably greater challenge, and UNIORG remains the perfect SAP partner for the job", noted O'Keefe, just before project conclusion. "After all, we're not dealing with a "quasi-roll-out" here, but with a structured roll-out of the templates developed in collaboration with UNIORG".

Primary objective of the project is to optimize transparency within the group, with the help of globally-integrated ERP system, in such a way that the most varied business processes and master data can be coordinated. Integrated intra-company processes and more efficient reporting not only simplify company management, but simultaneously improve the quality of products and services. "Soon, our logistics center in Meckenheim will be able to make binding assertions on worldwide warehouse inventories (working capital), and from these derive the resulting decisions"--a classic situation described by O'Keefe, and which previously would have required considerably more effort.

For UNIORG's SAP specialists also, implementation of this project on a seven-day a week schedule implied a tremendous effort. UNIORG manager Norbert Lakämper describes the roll-out in the following terms: "For six months, I'm alternately two weeks in Germany for decision-making and integration to the Moeller processes, then a week on each site for the country-specific adaptations". "And yet we managed to finish up in Australia, Singapore and Brazil on deadline, at the agreed price and with the highest quality.

To achieve this for a mammoth project, Uniorg, together with Moeller, relies on its proven approach: the parent company provides the subsidiaries with the fundamental decisions within the project and takes over complete management of the roll-out process. Previously, in collaboration with Moeller, objectives, processes and approach are set and the template is developed on the basis of these determinations. The roll-out is then carried out with mixed teams of Uniorg experts and Moeller employees. Says O'Keefe: "This common development and implementation of the solution has the great advantage of developing few dynamics". "And this in turn avoids unpleasant surprises, saves time and money and guarantees great planning security. At the same time, you achieve a very high degree of acceptance in the concerned country subsidiaries, because the parent company assumes the responsibility and has the tiller firmly in hand."

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The Moeller group of companies (www.moeller.net) with headquarters in Bonn is a leading, internationally active provider of components for energy distribution and automation in industry, infrastructure and residential buildings. With business units for command & control devices, motor starters and drives, circuit-breakers and building automation, Moeller remains well-focused on its core business.

As a group of companies, Moeller is very internationally-oriented. The company, founded in 1899, thus possesses an efficient sales network in the relevant target markets, and is represented with subsidiaries and foreign distributors in more than 80 countries. With an international manufacturing structure combining the advantages of each regional location in a targeted manner, the company takes advantages of the opportunities offered by growth in worldwide markets.

The Moeller group of companies currently employs circa 8,700 people, and realized total sales of about 870 million euros for the 2005/2006 fiscal year.

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The companies of Dortmund-based UNIORG Group(www.uniorg.de), with their roughly 120 employees, offer businesses of any size and industry a wide array of products and services for the solution and implementation of all requirements arising in design, development, modernization and operation of company-wide IT systems. Among these are all aspects of classic SAP consulting, computer center services, individual programming, Enterprise Content Management systems, E-business solutions and cross-company integration of business administration information systems. For over 30 years, the certified SAP partner has enjoyed a sterling reputation with its clients. These include well-known groups such as Moeller, Yazaki and Philips, along with numerous medium-size companies in various industries, e.g., Denon/Marantz, Dr. R Pleger Pharmaceuticals, VEKA, or Karmann.