Piaggio, the largest three-wheeler manufacturer who is expanding in India, has not only started a separate business unit for its vehicle division, but is also integrating its technology across all platforms on SAP. 

As a part of smart integration, the Italy headquartered company, which also has office at Baramati in Maharashtra, is integrating its IT division with all the setups including legacy and other organisations.

"We are co-expanding in a big way. With newer targets, and a new manufacturing setup (of engines) in the next two months, we felt that IT integration was the first step," said Thiagarajan .N, CIO at Piaggio." The company is starting another division for vehicles and will absorb 2,000 new people in due course. The desktops and connectivity are already in place. Videoconferencing equipment is also being installed."

So, how many people will use IT full-fledgedly? "25 percent of the employees are expected to make full-fledged use of IT. With production of the vehicles to be started soon, we are in the process of automating the entire process." 

Piaggio already has a SAP ERP in place. It comprises modules such as finance, control, material management, quality analysis, production, sales and distribution, and supply chain. "All aspects, except HR. The new divisions will also be incorporated on the SAP ERP," said Thiagarajan.

Piaggio spends 2 percent of its total turnover on IT. While it has already adopted virtualisation technology, it will soon be on the cloud. Affirmed Thiagarajan, "Yes, a cloud computing strategy is in place. We will be on the cloud soon."