GM achieves a quantum leap in employee communication
GM implements the inxire ECM Suite in the Intranet
The slogan "Fresh Thinking for Better Cars" adopted by Opel, General Motor's largest European brand, was also the thought behind the creation of the new, web-based Intranet for the European development organisation. It is built on the philosophy of an avowed intention to innovate. Creative processes that should generate surprising solutions for the classical goal conflicts such as that between diversity and dynamics, should be constricted as little as possible by conventions.
Just as straightforwardly, the concept of the big IT picture, led to the establishment of a jumping-off point for a central Knowledge Management System. Since May 2005, there has been a uniform platform for information interchange and document research at some 7,000 computer workstations.
The goal of the extensively beneficial system is to serve as a central repository and source for the experiences and the knowledge of the Vehicle Development staff. What makes SSPR "Self-Service Publishing Retrieval" so special is that it offers both full text and metadata searches, based on a uniform storage structure. A further system highlight is the user interface: Fast, self-explanatory and secure, it offers excellent levels of user friendliness in terms of Window Technology (Context Menus and Drag & Drop). Each content holder has the option to insert information without having to acquire any special programming knowledge.
Seamless integration of all data owners
"Right from the kick-off, we were focussed on two goals", explains Uwe Deller, Director of Communications, General Motors European Development. "We wanted to expand the dialogue with the organisation and contribute to further increasing the efficiency of our vehicle development function." To this end, the company looked for a web-based solution for internal communication purposes that offered significant improvements in the areas of duplicated data storage, cumbersome replication and the time-consuming search for documents or content. Whilst previously, trawling through Test Reports for individual parts for specific module groups required long search times, simply because of the depths of folders that had to be searched through, today, information is just a few clicks away. "Test Report Mounting Vectra Wheels" could be an example of a search query and the results would be delivered to your screen in a matter of seconds by SSPR.
The pre-launch preparation phase was characterised by the drawing up of clear specifications. "From the start, key factors were the involvement and inclusion of the original data owners, the consolidation of existing databases, storage systems and individual pieces of information and thus, the introduction of a central Intranet. Additionally, we implemented suitable measures to monitor the achievement of weekly project milestones and to continuously optimise the system", explains Deller
Create and manage content independently
Developed by inxire and built on an Oracle database and their own inxire Software Suite, SSPR uses contemporary technology standards such as J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) and XML (Extensible Markup Language). The complete Web content is available in a media-neutral XML format, based on DocBook standards. This creates the ideal conditions to be able to use reuse the content directly, in print and electronic media. A further advantage is that employees from the different departments are able to create and manage their own content themselves. Each access can be controlled through multifaceted user authorisations.
An end to duplication of data and time-consuming searches
SSPR offers an efficient solution to radically simplify and consolidate heterogeneous storage structures. This has a positive effect both on the IT environment and on the business. Now, there is a central information pool available which, as an added bonus, offers a very low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). With the Oracle platform and an Oracle Application Server as the basis, the system is scaleable, has high availability and also offers stability and performance.
Expansion of the project and the knowledge platform
Thanks to the modular design, expansions can be installed while the system is running and the functional scope of the complete system can be expanded step by step. As a result, cross-functional teams benefit from integrated functions. It is possible to communicate with each other in virtual project rooms, to exchange data and to plan and execute projects. Every member of the team has the opportunity to access this data at any time and to participate proactively in the information interchange. Coordination effort is optimised, project management becomes more transparent and the bottom line is that cost savings are made in time and money.
Achieved improvements
A central source for the total knowledge of the development organisation, in the sense of information marketing
User-friendly operating interface
Browser-based, multi-lingual information system
No HTML knowledge required
Achievement of high savings potential for the business
Optimisation of data storage and administration efforts
Increase in efficiency through quicker display and dissemination of information as well as a central knowledge store
Complete editing system
High system performance
Basis for "networked knowledge" (Knowledge Management)
Why inxire?
The search was on for a Content Management System, which was suited for implementation as a central source for the total knowledge of the development organisation, in the sense of Information Marketing. It should offer the latest technology and support the media-neutral XML format. "We chose inxire because the combination of inxire and Oracle offered just what we were looking for and moreover, it enabled the creation of documents and content, without having to acquire any special programming knowledge."
Why Oracle?
"When it comes to databases, Oracle is certainly a first choice. The combination with the Application Server is awesome", confirms Andreas Roess, Business Services, Information Systems. "Further convincing reasons are the platform independence, the ease of integration and the high scalability, as well as its conformity to the GM Corporate Standards, of course."
