The Use of the Sap System in the Aviation Industry: A Case Study of Mtu Aero Engines Poland

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It has taken a long time to finish this project research. It has been a challenging journey. Through the research and the writing process, I have learnt a lot of things from all of the modules of Logistics at University of Huddersfield have been also very helpful to this research.

First of all, this Project Report was created not only based on the author's input but also because of the commitment and support of several people who contributed to my thesis and many events that influenced my work during the last few months. Therefore, I would like to sincerely thank them for their contribution to my research.

I am grateful to my supervisor, Ms Christine Corns. Her competence both in the area of construction projects and academic research were extremely helpful for me. Her valuable and precise feedback combined with strong support and encouragement guided me throughout the process of thesis writing and contributed significantly to its success. Many times her inputs helped me to focus the topic and increase the quality of final report.

Special thanks are also given to Prof. Colin Bamford who also gave me much support in writing process and many academic problems. Moreover, he has given me much energy and good spirit without this writing seems to be impossible.

Many thanks to the people who participated in the research and found time in their busy schedules to complete my questionnaire. Their commitment and quick responses contributed to the research development and made it possible within the time frame provided.

With the support of these people this Research Project has been successfully completed.

Thank you all

CONTENTS

Page

1 INTRODUCTION 8

1.1 Background 8

1.2 Hypothesis 9

1.3 General aim 9

1.4 Objectives 9

1.5 Methodology 9

2 ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING THEORY 11

2.1 The role of ERP in supply chain 11

2.2 Enterprise Resource Planning 12

2.3 Selection of a suitable ERP system 13

2.4 SAP as the Enterprise Resource Planning system 14

2.5 The ERP system implementation process 15

2.6 SAP system implementation 17

3 AVIATION MARKET IN EUROPE 20

3.1 Aviation industry in Europe overview 20

3.2 MRO service providers and OEMs in aviation industry 23

3.3 Economic downturn impact on aviation industry 25

4 DATA ANALYSIS 27

4.1 MTU Company overview 27

4.2 SAP system implementation at MTU Aero Engines 33

4.3 SAP effects on logistics at MTU Aero Engines 37

5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 40

5.1 Conclusions and Implications 40

5.2 Research Limitations 42

5.3 Recommendations for further research 43

BIBLIOGRAPHY 45

APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN 49

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

FIGURE 2.1 Information sharing with ERP 13

FIGURE 2.2 ERP implementation process 16

FIGURE 3.1 Air traffic in Europe 22

FIGURE 3.2 Projected MRO commercial and military projects 24

FIGURE 3.3 MRO companies by revenue 25

FIGURE 4.1 MTU's corporate strategy