Volkswagen Command Center in the Picture Around the Clock

Networked global information and communication environment at a glance: Duration testing of new large-screen monitors successfully completed

Wolfsburg, 08 April 2008 -- The Volkswagen Group is the first enterprise anywhere in the world to use a highly advanced video wall measuring almost 14 square meters to keep track of and steer its data flow and its information and communication systems. The wall comprises flat screens with liquid crystal displays (LCD). This state-of-the-art technology is now in operation at the Volkswagen Group’s IT control center in Wolfsburg. This is the first time ever that it is being employed in such a large format.

The new installation has completed its 100-day duration trial at the Enterprise Command Center (ECC) in Wolfsburg, where the staff works in three shifts per day to monitor and steer the automobile maker’s global web of data highways 24x7. The team at the center is responsible for ensuring the stability of the Group-wide IT network, for data transfer around the worldwide manufacturing and supply network and for operation of the Wolfsburg IT centers. This is also where the majority of applications for the Group’s brands and Group companies, for the electronic connections to some 26,000 suppliers and 20,000 international importers, dealers and service partners and for end customers throughout the world converge. The staff at the ECC helps to safeguard the running of the vehicle configurator on the internet, for example. They also make sure that customer-support personnel at the dealerships have online access to the vehicle data needed for inspections and that payroll services for Volkswagen employees are executed on time. The ECC is furthermore in charge of monitoring the burglar and fire alarm system in Wolfsburg as well as the uninterrupted supply of electricity to the IT centers at the site.

All the messages and warnings issued by the systems in operation and any disruptions to the technology, i.e. all events or incidents, as they are called in the IT world, are readable from PC monitors at the ECC. Important events are filtered out and transmitted to the new video wall and used in briefings. "We need an absolutely reliable video wall to enable us to keep a constant eye on things around the world and around the clock," says Jörg Matthies, the head of IT operation management. "Early monitoring and portrayal of an event allows us to respond very quickly – even before the users themselves realise there is a disruption. In the event of a system fault, we can either immediately re-activate the system or hand the problem over to specialists straight away."

Some seven million "events" are recorded at the ECC every day. Computer hard disks and data networks, for example, report their available capacities at defined regular intervals. If critical values are exceeded, the staff at the ECC will intervene just to be on the safe side. That happens, on average, about 2000 times each day. "The new multimedia wall is the key steering and control tool at the disposal of the staff," says Matthies. "Events may be represented on one or several large displays either as a series of numbers, as graphics or in the form of films depicting the specific work unit. The large 16:9 format makes the information easily discernible for all our staff." Another significant improvement are the "intelligent" graphics now possible. "They keep a "memory" of peaks, fluctuations and trends for certain periods," Matthies explains, "and can then compare this information with running data input."

"The determining criterion in favour of installation of the new video wall was the fact that it can be permanently operated 24 hours per day, with a power-down modus of only fifteen minutes per week," explains Edgar Klopp, who is in charge of mainframe control and facility management at the Volkswagen ECC. Thus, Europe’s leading carmaker has elected to innovate and employ the very latest technology – a technology that offers detailed sharpness of image coupled with lower operating costs and better energy efficiency.

Source: Volkswagen

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