Siemens, Wacker Chemical win inaugural SAP awards

SAP AG on January 16 announced that Siemens VDO Automotive and Wacker Chemical Corporation are the inaugural recipients of the new SAP Industry Leadership Awards. The awards program recognizes SAP customers that demonstrate business process excellence through adoption and application of industry best practices. Award winners are selected based upon the highest average best practices scores from the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) and SAP benchmarking and best practices surveys. The SAP Industry Leadership Awards are being presented to representatives of Siemens VDO Automotive and Wacker Chemical Corporation at the SAP Americas annual kickoff meeting, being held this week in Las Vegas.

"We established the SAP Industry Leadership Awards to give recognition to those customers who are leaders in their field, and to show our appreciation for their commitment to the SAP solutions that help them achieve business excellence," said Bill McDermott, CEO, SAP Americas. "I am pleased to recognize both Siemens VDO Automotive and Wacker Chemical as inaugural winners of the SAP Industry Leadership Award, and I personally want to thank them for their longstanding confidence in SAP in partnering with us to help realize their business objectives. Both organizations are proven leaders in the manufacturing industry and are pre-eminent examples of the success that comes with the practical application of industry best practices."

With an initial focus on the manufacturing industry, the SAP Industry Leadership Awards evaluates customers based on the importance they place on industry best practices, and on the level of deployment they have reached to achieve those best practices. Companies from both the process manufacturing and discrete manufacturing models were judged on best practices such as quality management, environmental health and safety, manufacturing integration and plant maintenance. The winners, Siemens VDO Automotive and Wacker Chemical, represent the leading survey participants in the manufacturing industry. SAP will be announcing additional winners representing various industries over the coming months.

"We deployed SAP technology in 2002 and it has revolutionized our business process infrastructure," said Paul Borror, manager, SAP Center of Competence North America at Siemens VDO Automotive. "It serves as the foundation upon which our business is run, and a platform to continuously improve and harmonize processes within the region and globally. Additionally, we've been able to rapidly integrate growth and acquisitions. To be recognized as a leader in our industry as a result is truly an honor for myself, our entire project team and Siemens VDO Automotive as a whole."

"Wacker Chemical is honored to receive the SAP Industry Leadership Award," said Joachim J. Reichel, chief information officer, Wacker Chemical. "By leveraging SAP software, Wacker Chemical has realized efficiencies that allow us to adhere to business process best practices that have resulted in significant overall improvement of our business. We are proud to be recognized as one of the first winners of this award and look forward to many more years of success in the chemical industry leveraging our partnership with SAP along the way."

Beginning in 2005, ASUG and SAP have collaborated on a number of benchmarking programs to help customers compare their organizations' key performance indicators (KPIs) with best-in-class KPIs. The programs provide a unique opportunity for organizations to assess areas of excellence and determine those for improvement. They allow participants to learn about current and emerging best practices and to quickly adopt ideas fueling excellence at world-class organizations. Participation in the programs is free. More than 400 SAP customers have participated in the benchmarking and best practices program since its introduction, with more the 650 studies completed.