Customer: Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH
The German mechanical engineering company AG Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch, founded in 1899, manufactures steam turbines, compressors and industrial fans. In 2006, the company was taken over by the Siemens AG and has been known as Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH (STE) since 2007. Since October 2017, the company is part of the Scottish machinery manufacturer Howden, a subsidiary of the US Colfax Corporation. The company employs approx. 660 people worldwide at a total of four locations in Germany, Italy, Denmark and the USA. About 530 employees work at headquarters in Frankenthal, Germany.
Locations of the Howden Turbo GmbH
Initial situation and challenge
In general, the acquisition of the Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH by the Colfax Corp. required a carve-out of the IT-infrastructure from the Siemens AG until the third of October 2017. In order to prepare the subsequent integration into the Colfax subsidiary Howden, it was necessary to set up a standalone infrastructure. For the implementation of the project, the company was supported by digatus. The project duration was limited to only three months. The project gained in importance and urgency due to a lack of resources in the IT infrastructure and a complex documentation landscape. Due to the contractual obligations, however, the change of control was not to be jeopardized under any circumstances.
In addition to setting up the new infrastructure, it was also necessary to maintain ongoing operations at all sites. With Siemens, IT at the remote locations was managed by the Siemens IT service provider. Accordingly, these locations did not have their own IT department nor any distinct IT know-how. The situation was different in Frankenthal. This site operates the IT infrastructure itself, but there were also resource bottlenecks that had to be overcome.
“The selling of our company posed major challenges for all those involved. Thanks to the fast and flexible involvement of digatus, however, we were able to meet all deadlines and establish our own infrastructure. We look forward to working closely with digatus in the future.”
Ulrik Damgaard – CFO, Howden Turbo GmbH
Solution
In order to maintain ongoing operations and keep the scheduled change of control, digatus initially took over server and network operation at all sites from the previous operator. In Frankenthal, the IT service desk was taken over additionally. At the remote locations, the back-office infrastructure was prepared for the conversion to an STE custom infrastructure. The migration of the various components included the implementation of an STE custom network and server infrastructure including software distribution, Active Directory, file and print servers. In order to compensate for the lack of resources on site, digatus provided a rollout team of two to four people for the remote sites in Mornago (Italy), Elsinore (Denmark) and Springfield (USA). In a short period of time, they carried out the migration of all PCs, printers and servers and instructed Howden, as the future IT service provider, in the new systems. Subsequently, everything was handed over to the IT service provider. For follow-up, digatus continued to be available remotely.
“A successful carve-out process from a company like Siemens requires extensive technical know-how, structured working methods and many resources. The digatus team supported us in this challenging project with its distinctive expertise and a great deal of dedication.”
Daniele Franck – IT-Manager, Howden Turbo GmbH
Customer benefits
Despite the narrow time frame, a seamless carve-out of the Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH from the Siemens AG was accomplished. The change of control could be kept.
The compensation of missing IT resources and the staffing of the IT service desk by digatus employees kept the company up and running at all times.
The four international locations of Howden Turbo (HTO-DE) are now independent and have a separate and customized IT infrastructure. The separation from the Siemens AG has been completed and the course has been set for the subsequent integration of HTO-DE into Colfax subsidiary Howden.
