AxleTech JD Edwards Upgrade & Private Cloud Deployment

About the Client

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Troy, Michigan, AxleTech is a leading technology company that engineers, designs, manufactures, sells and services powertrain solutions, axles, brakes, components, and aftermarket components for on- and off-highway heavy-duty commercial vehicles. AxleTech’s products are used by global customers in construction, material handling, forestry, mining, military, and agriculture markets worldwide. AxleTech traces its industrial roots established in 1919, as the original Rockwell International. With over 800 employees worldwide, it has locations in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; Saint-Étienne, France; Osasco, Brazil; Pune, India; and Shanghai, China.

Challenges the Client Faced

AxleTech made the decision to pursue avenues to upgrade their JD Edwards system, as they were on JD Edwards Release 8.0, a nearly 20-year-old platform. The system had been highly customized and no longer supported the business requirements or the plans for business growth and change. The challenge for AxleTech was to find a partner who could serve as a “one-stop-shop” for all of their JD Edwards consulting and hosting needs, as the project would encompass a major upgrade and a new hosting arrangement. On the business side, they realized that there were considerable opportunities to transform their processes by leveraging the feature-rich capabilities of the latest release of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, while incorporating digital transformation technologies into the plan. After going through an extensive due diligence process, AxleTech selected GSI to assist them with their project based on their extensive experience, their resources, and their innovative approach. 

GSI's Solution

AxleTech’s “Like New” implementation of the latest version of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, as well as its transformation and data center migration to the Cloud, was completed on time and on budget. The upgrade improved AxleTech’s business processes by:

• Standardized data and processes globally to support
  company growth strategies
• Improving data reliability, visibility, and timeliness
• Saving $200k per year with this upgrade by avoiding excess inventory through standardization of processes and part numbers, as well as improving inventory turns
• Creating inter-company cooperation and efficiencies between branches and functions
• Multi-branch planning reduced internal supply chain signals from 3-4 weeks to 1-2 days
• Technology advancements replaced many customizations, reducing from 1,400 to 200
• Eliminated an unreliable front end layer (3rd-party tool) that was previously required as EnterpriseOne 9.2 was web-enabled
• Implementing mobile solutions for off-site workforce, BI Publisher for forms, UX One and One View for reporting which eliminated multiple third-party applications
• New hosting solution replicated to another data center providing an additional layer of protection in the event of a disaster

AxleTech continues to partner with GSI for planned future phases of the implementation consisting of additional business transformation targets and to leverage additional planned net new functionality and further digital transformation.