The challenge

Porsche is synonymous with innovation, engineering excellence, and exceptional brand appeal. To maintain Porsche's outstanding reputation at all levels, state-of-the-art telecommunications and information systems are essential. The rapid and reliable exchange of data both within the Porsche group and with its business partners is vital to the further development of the company and its products. This calls for a highly effective communications infrastructure - one which allows effective coordination and management of highly complex, highly flexible development, design and production processes.

High-speed data communications is one of the engines driving the growth of the Porsche group. Against this background, Porsche's Informations-Kommunikations-Services (PIKS) has a clear mission: to establish and enhance Porsche's communications infrastructure. A key aim was to enable virtual design teams to cooperate around the globe, permitting them to contribute to projects without duplication of effort, or human or technical resources being underutilized. This meant linking the various information systems and networks operated at all Porsche sites. PIKS was looking for a standard solution which it could then tailor to its own particular needs. After considering a number of options, PIKS opted for an ENX® Solution.

The T-Systems solution

T-Systems, division of Deutsche Telekom, implemented an ENX® Solution on Porsche's behalf. The ENX® Solution gives the car manufacturer guaranteed high bandwidth, accelerating the exchange of information both within the group and with external partners and suppliers. For both development and manufacturing processes, the need for transmission capacity is high and will continue to grow. The ENX® Solution was initiated by the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA). The VDA is also responsible for registering and authorizing the companies entitled to participate.

Deutsche Telekom is the first ENX® Solution provider to be officially certified by the VDA, underlining the automotive industry's faith in the company's expertise and resources. Following its successful launch in Germany, the ENX® Solution is now being expanded to other European countries. In the longer term, plans exist to combine it with similar networks operated, for example, in the USA and in Japan, to create a global data transmission platform.

Customer benefits

By enabling the exchange of information with external engineers, designers, and other partners, the ENX® Solution has already helped to speed up development processes -and further improvements in efficiency can be expected in the future. This has allowed Porsche to streamline the entire value chain, including all key suppliers, subcontractors, and service providers.

The platform has also raised the transparency of production processes, permitting Porsche to identify potential problems at an early stage, and to take immediate action. A further important aspect is security: the ENX® Solution represents a quantum leap forward in terms of the confidential communications and legally binding transactions.