Webmethods: the Central Data Hub for Every Destination
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- Europe
Country
- Switzerland
Product
- webMethods suite
- webMethods Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)
- webMethods Broker
Tech Stack
- Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management
Applicable Industries
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
- Public Transportation Management
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Flughafen Zürich AG operates Zurich Airport as a diversified, publicly traded company and license holder from the government. In 2015, the company with more than 1,700 employees posted revenues of Fr.989 million and profits of Fr.179.8 million. The Canton holds 33.3 percent of shares in the company, and the city of Zurich holds 5 percent. The Zurich Airport is Switzerland’s gateway to the world: 26.3 million people departed, arrived or changed flights here in 2015, making it the region’s top transit hub as well as its most important meeting place. Around 280 companies employ more than 25,000 people at the economic driving force that is Zurich Airport. Recognized international awards confirm Zurich Airport’s strong performance, high quality and customer orientation again and again.
The Challenge
The infrastructure at Zurich Airport is highly complex and must meet the requirements of a wide array of user groups: passengers, airlines, ground crew, customs, security services and air traffic control, to name just a few. Vastly different systems are used for these tasks, requiring millions of data to be transferred among them every day. Until a few years ago, scenarios like this in which data from one system needed to be made available quickly to several other systems posed a major challenge for Flughafen Zürich AG as the airport operator. The interaction between these applications constantly needs realignment as well. But the file export provided in most cases means that nearly every change or new development requires pulling in 30 to 40 IT service providers to achieve a one-to-one integration among the affected partners.
The Solution
To ensure a quick and precise integration at all times, Flughafen Zürich AG utilizes the standards-based, platform-independent webMethods product suite. It was used to develop StarGate (the SOA gateway), the backbone for smooth data sharing between all of the instances involved in a business process. Today 300 interfaces between the different applications are managed by an in-house team of experts with the help of the webMethods ESB for controlling the data transfer. These include typical business solutions such as its fully electronic accounting with airport partners through the integration of Flughafen Zürich AG’s SAP system with Conextrade, Switzerland’s leading e-commerce platform. Furthermore, webMethods intelligent operations technology also enables live monitoring and real-time analysis of processes.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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