Client: Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH
The German machine builder AG Kühnle, Kopp Kausch, founded in 1899, manufactures steam turbines, compressors, and fans for industry. In 2006, the company was acquired by Siemens AG and has operated as Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH (STE) since 2007. Since October 2017, the company has belonged to the Scottish machine builder Howden, a subsidiary of the US-based Colfax Corporation. The company employs approximately 660 people worldwide at a total of four locations in Germany, Italy, Denmark, and the USA. About 530 employees work at the headquarters in Frankenthal, Germany.
Locations of Howden Turbo GmbH
Initial Situation and Challenge
In general, the sale of Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH to Colfax Corporation necessitated a carve-out from Siemens AG’s IT infrastructure on 03.10.2017. To prepare for the subsequent integration into Colfax subsidiary Howden, it was necessary, among other things, to build a standalone infrastructure. For the implementation of the project, the company sought support from digatus. The project duration was limited to just three months. The project gained urgency and criticality due to a lack of resources in the IT infrastructure and a complex documentation situation. Due to contractual obligations, the scheduled change of control could not be jeopardized under any circumstances.
In addition to building the new infrastructure, it was necessary to maintain ongoing operations at all locations in parallel. Under Siemens, IT at the external locations was managed by the Siemens IT service provider. Consequently, these locations had neither their own IT department nor extensive IT expertise. The situation was different in Frankenthal. This location operates its own IT infrastructure, but there were also resource bottlenecks that needed to be bridged.
“The sale of our company presented all involved parties with major challenges. However, thanks to the quick and flexible intervention of digatus, we managed to meet all deadlines and build our own infrastructures. We look forward to continuing to work closely with digatus in the future.”
Ulrik Damgaard – CFO, Howden Turbo GmbH
Solution
To maintain ongoing operations and ensure the scheduled change of control, digatus initially took over server and network operations at all locations from the previous operator. In Frankenthal, the IT service desk was also taken over. At the external locations, the back-office infrastructure was prepared for the transition to an STE-owned infrastructure. The migration of individual components included the setup of an STE-owned network and its own server infrastructure, including software distribution, Active Directory, file print server. To compensate for the lack of on-site resources, digatus provided the external locations in Mornago (Italy), Helsingør (Denmark), and Springfield (USA) with a rollout team of two to four employees. These carried out the migration of all PCs, printers, and servers in a short period of time and introduced Howden as the future IT service provider to the new systems. Subsequently, the handover to the IT service provider took place. For aftercare, digatus continued to be available remotely.
“For a successful carve-out process from a corporation like Siemens, you need extensive technical know-how, a structured way of working, and many resources. Through extensive expertise and great commitment, the team from digatus supported us in this demanding project.”
Daniele Franck – IT Manager, Howden Turbo GmbH
Customer Benefits
Despite the tight time frame, a smooth spin-off of Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH from Siemens AG was achieved. The Change of Control was maintained.
The compensation for missing IT resources and the staffing of the IT service desk by digatus employees ensured continuous operation at all times.
The four international locations of Howden Turbo (HTO-DE) are now independent and have a separated and individually adapted IT infrastructure. The separation from Siemens AG is complete, and the stage is set for the subsequent integration of HTO-DE into the Colfax subsidiary Howden.
