14 January 2003
£29 million 10-year partnership to create an integrated foundation for 20,000 employees
Transport for London (TfL), the body responsible for the capital’s transport system, and London Underground Limited (LUL) have jointly embarked upon the largest organisational transformation program in their history. TfL will be responsible for planning and delivering bus, road, rail, river and other transport services to millions of people every day. Working with business transformation consultancy, Axon, and e-business solution provider, SAP, TfL and LUL are undertaking this program to deliver improved business processes and information management systems to support a world-class integrated transport system for London.
The new organisation inherits an array of more than 30 back office systems from its constituent organisations – including six HR, 20 finance and seven procurement systems. TfL and LUL have chosen to implement a single integrated business solution to replace these systems and deliver a foundation on which to support the 20,000 employees who will be integrating and coordinating the use of London’s £25bn transport infrastructure. Beyond the replacement of a multitude of existing systems, this program will also provide a foundation with which to meet 2005 eGovernment targets, improve customer service and reduce business support costs.
Procurement staff designed an intensive selection procedure which considered submissions from over 50 groups of companies and identified a partnership between SAP and Axon to be number one. Their innovative and comprehensive selection process is now the subject of some interest from other large public sector bodies embarking on similar transformation projects.
TfL, LUL, SAP and Axon have agreed a 10-year strategic partnership worth £29m. Axon will design and implement a complete integrated business system based on mySAP.com covering the Finance, Procurement, HR and reporting requirements of 20,000 users. SAP’s latest Portal, eBusiness and Transport components will be incorporated into the system. The rollout will begin in the first quarter of 2003 and reach more than a 100 locations including Victoria Coach Station, the London Transport Museum, the Public Carriage Office, the Docklands Light Railway and many of the capital’s tube stations.
“The introduction of the new integrated system will lead to a business change across the Transport for London organisations and that will dramatically improve our efficiencies and benefit all of London’s commuters and visitors,” said Jay Walder, Managing Director, Finance and Planning, TfL.
Bob Mason, HR director for LUL added: “We see this exciting implementation as part of the positive cultural change underway in London Underground and an investment in our people. Through continuous skills training and development for our staff and greater access to information, we aim to provide a better service to our customers.”
Axon CEO, Mark Hunter, commenting on the contract, said: “This represents one of the largest business transformation programs in the transport sector today. Through its implementation, Transport for London and the London Underground will be in a position to ensure its staff can enjoy maximum productivity and offer the highest possible standards of customer service.”
Simon Etherington, Account Manager for Service Industries SAP UK said: “This project really is the foundation upon which the transport organisation of the future can be built and will set the standard for best practice in integrated business processes within the transport sector. It is also one of the first European implementations of our most advanced product, SAP 4.7”
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About TfL
Transport for London (TfL), formed in 2000, is the integrated body responsible for the capital’s transport system. Its role is to implement the Mayor’s Transport Strategy for London and manage the transport services across the capital for which the Mayor has responsibility.
TfL has responsibility for both the planning and delivery of transport facilities, which enables it to take a truly integrated approach to how people, goods and services move around London. TfL manages London’s buses, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and Croydon Tramlink. It also runs London River Services, Victoria Coach Station and London’s Transport Museum. Once the PPP contracts are signed, London Underground will become part of TfL. Together LUL and TfL employ more than 20,000 people.
About LUL
London Underground Limited (LUL) serves over 3 million passengers a day and employs around 20,000 people.
About Axon
Axon is a business and technology consultancy that designs, implements and supports solutions to complex business issues faced by multinational companies who have selected SAP as their strategic enterprise platform.
Founded in 1994, the company built its reputation as a leading implementer of SAP solutions by employing the best consultants and partnering with leading business and technology companies to deliver complete business solutions to the SAP client base. Axon has built upon this track record and it now offers end-to-end solutions, from business consultancy through to the integration, support and evolution of systems. Axon employs over 350 people and its client list includes BP, Centrica and Xerox.
About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of e-business software solutions. Through the mySAP.com® e-business platform, people in businesses around the globe are improving relationships with customers and partners, streamlining operations, and achieving significant efficiencies throughout their supply chains. Today, more than 18,800 companies in over 120 countries run more than 56,000 installations of SAP® software. With subsidiaries in over 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)
