SAP gives Safe Passage to TBC Corporation

Representatives from business suite solutions provider SAP AG have announced that TBC Corporation, America’s largest vertically integrated marketer of tires for automotive replacement, has signed on to utilize the Safe Passage program in performing its migration to SAP. TBC also chose the SAP for Retail solution portfolio. TBC marks yet another firm finally achieving consolidation of multiple subsidiaries into a single platform and, after a reportedly extensive review process, TBC chose SAP.

The company will leverage SAP for Retail, a solution portfolio combining mySAP Business Suite solutions with a wide range of integrated retail applications to assist in serving consumer demand across multiple channels, in hopes of increasing growth, improving efficiency and managing retail, wholesale and franchise lines. SAP for Retail includes core capabilities for financial management, human resources, supplier relationship management and customer relationship management, as well as support for industry-specific merchandise management and planning, store and channel management, demand forecasting, replenishment, sophisticated allocation, workforce management, POS data management and RFID.

To complete the hat trick, TBC also selected the SAP NetWeaver platform to standardize its primary business units. SAP NetWeaver promises to enable consolidation of business practices and processes to increase profitability, lower costs and drive innovation at the company. In general, the Safe Passage programs are for those companies facing uncertainties at the end of life of JD Edwards, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Retek and Siebel solutions. These are promised to be comprehensive offerings including access to SAP enterprise resource planning; financial protection for a customer’s existing investment in JD Edwards, Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Retek, and Siebel Systems; SAP financing options; immediate integration through the SAP NetWeaver platform; and migration support services.

Surely finding a little wordplay irresistible, SAP Americas president / CEO Bill McDermott, said that “the Safe Passage program provides companies with a proven and affordable road map to protect their current investments and to begin the process of innovating their businesses today.”

TBC Corporation, though the largest vertically integrated marketer of tires for the automotive replacement market in America, is popularly known for its automotive service centers Tire Kingdom, Merchant’s Tire & Auto Centers and National Tire & Battery, along with its franchised Big O Tires outlets. In 2005, TBC Corporation was purchased by Sumitomo Corporation of America, the largest subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, one of Japan’s major integrated trading and investment business enterprises.