:: InSync Technologies LLC
:: Ampacet: Coloring Your World with iQ4bis

Ampacet Corporation is the world’s leading volume provider of color and additive master batches, the pelletized pigments that add colors to plastics. Ampacet has achieved their position through state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, inventive research and development, multi-level statistical quality and process control, dedicated customer services and constructive safety and environmental policies. Ampacet’s products include utility and specialty white, black and additive master batches, as well as custom and stock colorants.

Spanning the globe with 12 manufacturing sites on four continents and 4 R&D facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Ampacet is well placed to remain the global leader. Their network of more than 1,200 service and support staff combines industry experience with local knowledge to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction.

Managing a global enterprise is a challenging proposition. “We never had a global view of our organization,” says John Smith, Business Intelligence Data Warehousing Manager for Ampacet Corp. “We had different reports from our different facilities around the globe coming in different formats, at different times and containing different data. By the time we were able to take the data and normalize them so we could analyze our performance in standardized terms of reference, the information was virtually out-of-date. We needed a system that would allow us to get near real-time information from our facilities, regardless of where they were located, so that we could react immediately.”

Ampacet had been an early adopter of the PICK Database and had implemented Pick at their US and overseas facilities. “PICK was great for our needs when we started using it years ago,” says Smith, “but as our information requirements grew, it couldn’t keep up with our requirements. It wasn’t built with a relational data model in mind, it had no OBCD drivers and it was hard to pull data out for reports. So in 1999 we decided to upgrade our systems in our larger US-based facilities and implemented a JD Edwards ERP solution.”

The JD Edwards solution was fine for the larger factories, but was too cost-prohibitive for the overseas and smaller locations. “We still had the same problem as before,” says Smith. “We had essentially two separate systems. Our biggest headaches were very basic we couldn’t easily switch between metric and imperial measures and currency conversions were a nightmare. Finally the word came down from our CEO that he wanted a global view.”

The selection process took a couple of years. “We basically looked at all the data warehouse and business intelligence (BI) solutions on the market but none really satisfied our needs,” says Smith. “They were either too expensive, too complex, too rigid or too restricting. So we kept looking. Then we heard about a new BI solution that was optimized to run in conjunction with JD Edwards called iQ4bis.”

“We were amazed,” continues Smith. “We called them up and had a short conversation. They said they could demonstrate iQ4bis using our own data if we could send them a data extract from our JD Edwards system. Just a few days later they gave us a live web-based ‘Proof of Concept’ demo that literally blew us away. It was the first time that any company had backed up their BI claims. They proved to us that not only would their system work, but it could be implemented quickly and easily.”

The implementation process went extremely smoothly. “We started by doing a remote install using a VPN connection between our California office and their New York facility,” says Jeremy Dean of iQ4bis. “This is worked out extremely well. We then followed up with a week on-site for advanced hands-on training for John Smith. Because he was assigned as the full-time iQ4bis Project Manager he has been able to integrate sophisticated business logic into the iQ4bis design, especially in the areas of currency and unit of measure conversions. He has been instrumental in building customized views for their staff world-wide.”

Ampacet is now running iQ4bis in a number of locations around the world over their Citrix-based network. “I can manage the whole system from my home office in Indiana,” says Smith. “I can, for instance, monitor inventory in Thailand, track production from Texas and look at sales by territory from our sales reps in British Columbia. With iQ4bis, we now have a global view of our operations.”

Another benefit of iQ4bis has been that it has extended the life of the PICK database at the smaller US plants and the overseas facilities. “PICK has been great for us,” says Smith, “but, by itself, it couldn’t produce the reporting we needed to stay competitive. With a iQ4bis front end, however, we can fully utilize the data and prepare near real-time reports that give us the metrics we need to make informed decisions. This alone has saved us significant resources as we can avoid upgrading our systems at these facilities.”

• Chief Executive & Upper Level Management
• Sales and Marketing Teams
• International Facility Managers
• Business Intelligence / Data Warehouse Team

• Provides near real-time metrics of a world-wide enterprise
• Extends life of legacy systems around the globe
• Enhances and speeds decision-making processes
• Ease-of-use streamlines training process for new users

• JD Edwards ERP
• IBM RS6000
• Oracle Database
• PICK D3 Database Management System
• Microsoft SQL Server 2000

• Addressed all of Ampacet’s requirements including cost and capabilities
• Cost-effective site licensing
  for world-wide roll-out