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Following on from the special profile in our March 2013 edition, Manufacturing &Logistics IT spoke again with Vittorio Boero, chief information officer at Ferrari, about

how the sports and luxury car manufacture's intensive five-year IT re-structuring roadmap,first put in place in 2012, is progressing and the benefits it is bringing to the company.

ICT in the fast lane

As Ferrari is renowned for some ofthe finest high-performanceautomobiles in the world, itscustomers demand and expect aparticularly high level of service.

Faced with increased demands from relativelynew markets such as China and the MiddleEast – where customers are much less willing towait the standard 12 months for delivery of theirvehicle – Ferrari realised that it had to increaseproduction rates in terms of both quantity andspeed to meet growing output demand, withoutcompromising on quality.

This presented a profound challenge becauseeach Ferrari is unique. Every customer cancustomise and tailor his or her new purchase;from unique paint colours to the materials thatcover the seats and interior, as well as manyother details. The result is that no two Ferraricars are the same. Increasing customerexpectations led Ferrari to realise it needed toput in place an even more responsive andflexible manufacturing and logistics setup,

supported by agile business software thatcould help achieve targets for new productionoutput, while also reducing IT complexity,reducing errors and saving cost.

Vittorio Boero, Ferrari’s chief information officer,joined the company at the beginning of 2012,and during that year he and his teamimmediately began to put in place a wide-ranging five-year technology roadmap, whichinvolved the replacement of many of Ferrari'slegacy IT systems. Ferrari also implemented acustom development planning regime with itsnew IT partners in order to ensure the newlysourced solutions were the very best fit for thecompany's requirements.

ERP

In terms of the five-year global IT roadmapFerrari put in place during 2012, the companyis currently at the stage 5 of one of the mostcritical components of the plan – the

implementation of its Infor LN ERP system.Ferrari's then-parent company, FCA (thecompany was spun-off from FCA in January2016), had initially proposed a centralised ITpolicy whereby group companies were to

Ferrari Automotive

Vittorio Boero: Customers are our main

driver.

6 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.comMarch 2016

standardise on SAP to run the business.However, with a view to facilitate fasterproduction in order to capture and satisfygreater market share in fast-growing economiessuch as China and the Far East, Ferraripresented what it considered to be acompelling case in favour of the Infor solution.After the agreement to source Infor LN wasratified by FCA, the first implementation stagewent live during 2012, with the second followingat the beginning of 2013 which supported thelaunch of the New Engine Family (in strongintegration with the MES).

In 2014 Ferrari also launched the S&OP module(Sales Operation & Planning). Integrated withinthe ERP, S&OP collects the forecast from thenetwork, and uses it as an input for the SupplyChain processes.

During 2015 the company then saw a majorleap forward with the completion of a stage ofimplementation that affected not only the broadSales, After Sales and Technical Assistanceprocesses within the company but alsoincluded an implementation rollout for FormulaOne too. “With this step we were able to switchoff applications related to our legacy ERP,”explained Boero.

During September 2015 Ferrari began theimplementation of modules within LN to

complete the ERP implementation for Finance.Boero pointed out that this is now 50 per centcompleted.

Also, in October last year Ferrari beganimplementing the ERP modules to cover itsentire revenue cycle. “This is due to becompleted by January next year with three

separate go-live dates: July, September andJanuary 2017, so the current status of our ERPimplementation is much in line with the originalexpectations we had when we started theprocess in 2012,” said Boero.

Intelligent Open Network

Another key component within the Ferrari five-year IT plan was the installation of Infor ION(Intelligent Open Network). This providesconnectivity between Ferrari's softwareapplications, and enables the company to build

individual custom configuration vehicles insequence in conjunction with the MES(Manufacturing Execution System), whilemaintaining a high level of operating lineefficiencies within the supply chain. With ION,Ferrari does not need to rely on multipleexternal sequencing, allowing for a decrease incomplexity, risk, errors and cost.

Ferrari uses Infor to raise efficiency throughoutthe organisation; from order taking andmanufacturing to the supply chain involved inproviding finished cars to customers. Theprocess improvements allow Ferrari to obtainlogistical supply chain efficiency at all stages ofmanufacturing.

Ferrari uses ION to provide connectivitybetween both Infor and non-Infor applications,enabling integrated business processes suchas order configuration, advanced planning andscheduling, assembly line scheduling andsequencing and asset maintenance andmanagement. The solution also enables Ferrarito optimise the supply chain processes,supporting the increase of production ofengines for other members of the FCA groupsuch as Maserati.

“Infor ION is one of the most importantcomponents within our application landscapebecause every hour we run more than 200processes and interfaces involving materialrequirements collected from our 3PL logisticspartners to allow the material to be movedaround the production line,” said Boero. “Inforhas enabled us to reduce the number ofanomalies in the system, further allowing us tostreamline the production process further. Notonly has Infor helped us to increase production,it also helped us to established betterrelationships between many businessdepartments and IT.”

Automotive Ferrari

As has been the case with ERP and MES, we do not take a ‘big bang’approach to configuration and integration; it’s about ensuring that every partof the functionality is optimised for our specific needs. This is why we splitthe implementation roadmap into three main steps; each with very cleartargets and objectives.”

“

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Boero added that in order to further improvethe interface between ION and LN, furthercommunication layers or integration are beingintroduced in order to optimise thecommunication aspect of the systems. Thisimproved communications component isexpected to go live during the latter part ofthis year.

Sales & Operations Planning

A further key component within LN,implemented during 2014, was Sales &Operations Planning (S&OP). “By adding S&OPwe were able to integrate our demandforecasting data with scheduling in order toimprove production capacity on the shop floor,”Boero explained. “S&OP was another processthat we implemented within LN. This enabled usto replace what had previously beensubstantially manual operations managed by

our logistics, commercial and manufacturingdepartments. The legacy systems comprised anumber of spreadsheet-based methodologies.The implementation of S&OP has resulted infaster, more agile decision making within thesupply chain planning process.”

S&OP provided automated workflows to helpFerrari guarantee the flow of information acrossdemand (from approximately 200 dealers) andsupply (into production). “The improvedaccuracy of data, standardised planning and

information flow processes and enhancedfunctionality of S&OP enables comprehensivetracking of any changes in dealer demand andthe subsequent changes to the Ferrariproduction plan,” said Boero. “It also helps to

improve governance, the approval process andcompliance. As a result, this enables Ferrari torespond quickly to changes and meet customerdemand, due to the intelligent business supportprovided by S&OP.”

Computational fluid dynamics

A key IT ingredient that continues to commanda dominant place within Ferrari’s solutionsportfolio is its Ansys computational fluid

dynamics (CFD) technology software package.Simulation technology helps Ferrari maintainbest-in-class aerodynamic performance.Specifically, Ferrari leverages Ansys software toreduce overall drag, maximise downforce and

Ferrari Automotive

This has been a major transition for us, and reflects our commitment tobecoming as efficient as possible both businesswise and operationally,reflecting the high esteem our products are held in throughout the world.” “

March 20168 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.com

optimise its complex brake cooling systems, allof which are essential to keeping the carrunning properly. To this end, Ferrari engineershave extensively automated the simulationprocess and run many design iterations toimprove speed, reliability and safety. And, asBoero explains, Ansys is not only used for theFormula One side of the business; Ferrari’sworld-class car production also benefits fromthe state-of-the-art fluid dynamics simulationprocesses provided by Ansys.

“It’s a very reliable and consolidated solutionthat operates within our test centre 24 hours aday, seven days a week,” said Boero.“Nevertheless, we continually look very hardat the market to ensure we are using the verybest simulation solution – this is criticallyimportant within such a competitiveenvironment as Formula One. That said, weare currently very happy with the resultsAnsys provides.”

Manufacturing Execution System

At the beginning of 2013 a plan was put inplace to utilise the same Siemens MES for allthe Ferrari production lines, and to have inplace one common platform between the ERPand MES systems. “This process hasn’t yetbeen completed as, in a similar fashion to ourERP system, we wanted to implement theMES in stages to ensure it was a perfect fit foreach production line,” Boero pointed out.“The last remaining stages of implementationwill be completed during this year with thereplacement of the last two engine productionlines – 8 and 12 cylinders – that are stillutilising the old MES.”

Product Lifecycle Management

Ferrari also sourced the new PLM systems inJanuary 2013 which is Windchill FlexPLM fromPTC. Once fully operational, the PTC systemwill be the main collector of the informationand will be the official PLM for Ferrari GT.When two PLM systems are fully integratedBoero believes Ferrari will have a system thatis unique in the market. To achieve this,Ferrari has been working with both vendors to

fully integrate the two platforms.The project will keep, in any case, the actualCAD solution for Engine (PTC) and Vehicles(CATIA) with the target to implement, for bothsolution, the more advanced and updatedversion (Creo 3.0 and CATIA V6). With thisapproach, a significant integration with theEnovia V6 layer will be also required; this areais one of the most interesting and advancedthat will be managed through theimplementation of the PLM.

Boero explained that the core of the integrationprocess took place during September 2015,with the first wave expected to go live duringSeptember of this year. This wave will be mainlyfocused on the R&D Department. The secondwave will concentrate more on the virtualsimulation, modelling and the first step ofintegration between the R&D and the otherdepartments in the company; such asmanufacturing, logistics and technology. Thethird and final step will be focused on thecommercial integration between R&D andmanufacturing and the implementation of thefinal stage of the unique, integrated BOM for allthe departments.

“These are the main steps that we need to gothrough before full implementation of the PLM,”said Boero. “As has been the case with ERPand MES, we do not take a ‘big bang’approach to configuration and integration; it’sabout ensuring that every part of thefunctionality is optimised for our specific needs.This is why we split the implementationroadmap into three main steps; each with veryclear targets and objectives.”

Radio Frequency Identification

RFID was also factored into the company’s five-year IT plan during 2012. “The implementationof Infor RFID was focused on managing theproduction of Maserati V6 engines produced onthe company's production line introduced in2012, as well as for related warehouse activities,and went live in February 2013,” Boeroexplained. “Our RFID implementation wasrelated to the second step of the implementationof Infor LN. Over the past three years, our RFIDsolution has operated very efficiently, with hardly

any negative issues at all.”

Market focus

In terms of core global markets, Boero pointsout that Ferrari is currently focusing on over60 different territories around the world. “Thebreadth of our global presence and theincreasing expectations of our customers interms of quality product and speed of deliveryis why we are introducing majormanufacturing and logistics improvementsthrough the implementation of our new ITestate as part of our five-year plan,” he said.“In particular, in order to collect ordersspeedily and deliver goods within a shorttimeframe to certain markets – particularlythose that are not so familiar to us – we needthe extra flexibility that the functionality withinLN provides us with.”

In addition to the functionality roadmapoutlined above, Boero explained that Ferrari isalso looking to go live with other featureswithin LN by the end of this year; includingrevenue cycle management. “We expect thisto provide us with the extra flexibility andcapacity needed to improve businessprocesses that we are currently unable tooptimise due to the constraints present withinour older applications that are yet to bephased out,” he said.

With this in mind, Boero pointed out that thereare around 60 custom legacy applicationsthat are due to be phased out by the end ofthis year, following on from the 20 or so thathave already been dismissed since the five-year plan was put in place and since keymodules of the new IT systems went live.Then, between 30 and 40 legacy systems willbe closed during 2017 and 2018.

Driver

Boero concluded: “This has been a majortransition for us, and reflects our commitmentto becoming as efficient as possible bothbusinesswise and operationally, reflecting thehigh esteem our products are held inthroughout the world. We owe it to ourcustomers – this is the main driver for us.” n

Automotive Ferrari

Infor applications help Ferrari perfect the craft of manufacturing beautifully designed cars—with beautifully designed software. Great design inspires.

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