March 2010 – Michel Thierry Group migrates to ENX for its technical and logistics data exchanges
A global leader in textiles and leather for the automotive industry, Michel Thierry Group was founded in France, and is now a global company partnered with eleven of the thirteen largest automotive manufacturers in the world. With turnover exceeding €250 million, Michel Thierry Group is a truly international company: it operates in twelve countries on three continents.
In 2009, Michel Thierry Group made major changes to its tools and data exchange processes by connecting to the ENX network. Initially the change was to be able to exchange technical data (digital models) with Volkswagen Group, then to exchange logistics data (EDI) with its partners, given the scheduled shutdown of X25. The Group ended 2009 by switching to a Value-Added Network. Migration projects driven by Numlog were nearly seamless for Michel Thierry Group teams.
Starting point: connection to KVS, the Volkswagen Group’s technical data exchange portal.
Automotive industry manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers organized themselves early on to be able to exchange models and engineering files throughout the new vehicle model development process. For a long time exchanges were conducted over the ISDN network, which is now being phased out and gradually replaced by IP technology based solutions. A trend that the Volkswagen Group followed for KVS, its portal to exchange technical data with all its original equipment manufacturers.
In spring 2009, during a new project with Volkswagen, Michel Thierry Group turned to Numlog to be able to connect to the Volkswagen Group’s digital model. A point-to-point with KVS was conceivable, but, advised by Numlog, the Group selected ENX – the more scalable choice. ENX was selected in particular for its ability to handle logistics data exchange flows (EDI) in addition to engineering file exchanges.
In total, the ENX connection project would have lasted less than a month, if Michel Thierry Group teams had not gotten involved: Numlog took care of everything, especially the interface with France Telecom, the only ENX certified French ISP.
Second stage: logistics data exchanges
Three months after transitioning its technical data flows, Michel Thierry Group decided to migrate its logistics data flows to ENX. This migration was critical due to the upcoming shutdown of the X25 network (Transpac) that was used for EDI at the time. At the same time, to reduce telecommunications costs, Michel Thierry Group wanted to go further and use the project to switch to HUB-Master, Numlog’s EDI outsourcing Value-Added Network (VAN) to replace GXS. All while upgrading the TBT/400 EDI communication and file transfer solution from IPLS to a next generation module that uses the TCP/IP network.
For this second stage, the Group once again turned to Numlog to migrate EDI flows to the HUB-Master VAN and ENX network, and to Numlog’s partner IPLS to install a combined X25/IP version of its EDI message supervision and transfer tool.
A 50% decrease in telecommunication costs
In addition to the simplicity and peace of mind of having one single provider, by migrating all its technical and logistics data to the ENX network, the Michel Thierry Group significantly reduced its telecommunication costs. In the first year, transferring its communications to ENX and replacing GXS with Numlog’s HUB-Master VAN saved the company more than €7,000. The company will save €19,000 for a full year – a 50% reduction in its telecommunications costs.
Michel Thierry Group is 100% satisfied with its new communication and exchange tools and is already considering deploying ENX for the entire group. The Spanish subsidiary could be the first to transition to ENX, thus eliminating the point-to-point network it currently uses with Seat’s KVS portal.
