Ducati Motor Holdings have renowned themselves as a legendary Italian motorcycle

designers and manufactures. The Ventures introduced by the two managing directors
Giovanni Contino and Filippo Pellerey encompasses Toyotas traditional was of
manufacturing and production following Kai-zen method and Just-In-Time. The result is an
outsourcing of inbound and outbound logistics while keeping their core operations in-house
such as Product Design, Assembly, R&D, Marketing, Quality control, Innovation and
Customer Service (The Institute of Logistics and Transport, 2016). In order to be able to
integrate all members of their supply chain, the company invests largely in Information
Technology, Business Intelligence and Database Management every year.

According to Alter (2002), information system is described as being a software system which
capture, transmit, stock, save or present information of business activities.

Source: Alter (2002)

In addition, Valacich et al., (2010) define IS as a mix of hardware and software and
telecommunications networks, used by people in order to gather, produce, and distribute
useful data within an organization.
Laudon et al., (2012) says that Information systems are interrelated components working
together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision making,
coordination, control, analysis, and visualization in an organization.

Ducati Motor Holdings has closely partnered with the best in the business in Information
technology and Software. Embracing modern Information Technology and E-business in
operations and supply chain for a company focused on innovation results in efficient data
mining, data warehousing and high levels of cost reduction. The Companys initial phases
were to implement their lean approach before selecting their enterprise software Giovani
Cortino, The Purchasing and Logistics Director explained (Oracle, 2005). Ducati engaged
IBM to find the software solutions as the IT system that they were using based on an IBM
AS/400 platform was getting aged in terms of keeping up with the tasks. Considering the
recommendations and requirements of each department Oracle E-Business Suite was chosen
to be implemented. Particularly the interest in Oracles Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP)
and Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) modules made them lean towards Oracle for
their business intelligence solutions, that will be implemented in Ducatis offices around the
world. Oracle E-Business Suite is comprised of integrated suite of Integrated Business
Applications that allow integration and automation of critical business procedures. The Suite
is completely Internet enabled, meaning that it can be accessed anywhere in the world. The
deployment of the IT system was made in two stages, initiating in Ducati North America in
2004 and heading towards Bologna HQ with Financials, Production, Manufacturing and
Business Intelligence. The Suite makes it possible that more than 1000 of their employees
will be connected.

Along with Oracle, another company that Ducati has made an acquisition to its IT Solutions
is Siemens PLM. Ducati Operates with more than a 1000 employees of which more than 200
are involved in Research and Development and 90 are in dedicated to design. Over 92% of
producing their motorcycles are handled by a vast pool of partners and suppliers. Any Glitch
or delay in communication between them may result to longer lead times and peak costs. A
firmer integration between all members have been pursued by Ducati. The Two technological
solutions by provided by Siemens PLM Software for Ducati are NX Software and
Teamcentre Software and their Computer Aided Design System.

NX is the tool Ducati uses from the moment they think of initiating a project to its
accomplishment. The software is used to generate 3D models and design virtually every
component of a motorcycle, except the engine. More than 50 NX workstations operate at
Ducati synchronously, parameterizing everything, letting the user to choose the end result.
NX covers every aspect of the motorcycle from design, components, electronics to wiring in
a integrated approach within the internal development team as well as the external suppliers.
The collaboration of all members are possible through Teamcentre. The company uses
Teamcentre in 250 workplaces and also in its Saima warehouse in Modena through a
dedicated line in order to access all details and communicate the information produced by the
Engineering department. They can access designs, drawings and assembly tables for all
finished products. The product documentation is required to execute assembly operations and
modifications. The integration of Teamcentre and NX have allowed a digital information
management system that is traceable, role based access and high degree of insintric security,
eliminating file cabinets and papers.