SAP Equips Caterpillar Dealer Network to Run Better

SAP NEWSBYTE - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today underscores its commitment to helping businesses and business networks run better with the formation of the center of excellence for Caterpillar’s heavy equipment dealer community. The center comprises a network of experts from SAP, working closely with FDC Solutions, the leading IT consulting and solution provider to the Caterpillar dealer community.

In cooperation with FDC, SAP is creating a standard implementation template specific for Caterpillar dealers to run business processes based on SAP industry best practices. Backed by the center of excellence for governance and quality control, the Caterpillar-specific template will use SAP® software to simplify and accelerate implementation projects while helping ensure long-term process efficiency and stability for dealers. SAP and FDC will preview the implementation template at the North America Dealer Information Technology Association (NADITA) conference being held in Las Vegas, April 18 – 21, 2011.

“Building on FDC’s deep knowledge of the specific requirements of Caterpillar dealers, SAP will enable customers to transition to a new business platform and improve operational efficiency and profitability,” said Jeff Harvey, senior vice president and global head, Industry Solutions, SAP AG. “The center of excellence will facilitate sharing best practices and knowledge across the SAP customer base of nearly 20 Caterpillar dealers globally that are already running SAP software as a common platform across this collaborative business network.”

The template is designed to cover 80 – 85 percent of standard processes between Caterpillar and its dealers. Standard interfaces between legacy CAT systems and SAP software are also being developed and will be included in the template.

“We understand the needs of Caterpillar dealers and believe that SAP is an excellent long-term solution in this market,” said Robert Jenkins, co-CEO and co-founder, FDC Solutions. “SAP’s investment in the center of excellence provides the foundation for dealership collaboration, ongoing development, maintenance and support of the Caterpillar dealer network. Through our existing relationships with Caterpillar, we can further provide long-term stability for our community.”

This standard template will be available to all Caterpillar dealers and associated deployment partners working with the center of excellence for governance and quality control, including B4 Consulting and Systech Integrators, Inc. The center will manage and maintain the template with ongoing input from current and future global Caterpillar dealer customers. The Caterpillar-specific template is expected to be available for deployment projects beginning June 2011.

For more information, visit the Industries & Solutions newsroom and the Solutions for Heavy Equipment Dealers page on sap.com. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.