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UCB: managing information for globalization and innovation

UCB: managing information for globalization and innovation. Tiffany Wolfe Bus 550 December 7, 2010. What is UCB?. Established in 1920 in Brussels, Belgium Expanded to the U.S. in 1930 2009 total global revenue € 3.1 billion Net sales 51% Europe 35% North America 14% other

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UCB: managing information for globalization and innovation

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  1. UCB: managing information for globalization and innovation Tiffany Wolfe Bus 550 December 7, 2010

  2. What is UCB? • Established in 1920 in Brussels, Belgium • Expanded to the U.S. in 1930 • 2009 total global revenue € 3.1 billion • Net sales • 51% Europe • 35% North America • 14% other • Originally three sectors • Film (1930-2004) • Pharmaceuticals • Chemicals

  3. The three Sectors • Films • BOPP (biaxially-oriented polypropylene) and cellulose films for specialty packaging, labeling, graphic arts and industrial products. • Food and beverages, labels, security products, industrial membranes, health, and pharmaceutical industries • € 396 million in sales in 2001 • Chemicals • Polyester resins (molding and toner) • Acrylic resins (hard plastics) • € 677 million in sales in 2003 • Pharma • € 1.4 billion in global sales • Majority of sales are from Zyrtec

  4. Vincent Damien • Job Titles • 1991-Corporate Auditor • 1993-Management Controller of Pharma • Operations and business groups depend upon IT • 1996-Responsible for Pharma MIS • 1997-Responsible for central services across Belgium • HR, IT infrastructure • 1998-Administrative and group IT Director • 2000-Administrative and IT/IS Director • End of 2000- Member of the Senior management Team

  5. issues • Information technology/information system (IT/IS) • Organization • Redundancy • Inconsistency • Inefficiency

  6. Damien’s IT/IS organization • Role of IT/IS: • Information Technology Operations • Establish an “efficient, robust, and strong motorway” of information that would help support business processes, and improve the end users’ productivity. • Information Systems Development • Understand business requirements and priorities • Develop, implement, maintain, and support IS to meet these requirements.

  7. Global vision • This global vision concerned: • Infrastructure • Hardware/software • Communication • Created Global IT/IS Standards: • To share experience and develop synergies across the group • To reduce heterogeneity, inconsistencies, and hidden costs • To improve communication and cost effectiveness

  8. standards • Single email system • Standardized hardware and software systems • Oracle for database application • Microsoft Office for desktop productivity • Compaq desktop PCs • NT 4 Operating System • Contract negotiations • Group Contract IT/IS Manager • Group vs. each sector; individually • Cost savings of € 2.7 million by 1999

  9. Changes in It/is • 1996 • IT/IS activities were independently initiated within each sector and location. • Inconsistency • Redundancy • Higher cost • 2001 • Wanted to establish global IT/IS standards • Develop synergy across groups • All report to Damien • Improve communication across groups • Reduce inconsistency

  10. The New Data Center • 1st step in improving operational support system • Hub of the UCB global network • Upgraded their computers • Created a central computer room • Underground • 300 servers ran production applications • From all sectors and geographies • Back-ups were handled automatically by a new robot-driven system • Server operations and monitoring were outsourced • Several miles away from the nearest UCB facility • Back-up: original computer room

  11. Help desk support • In 1993, first began • No computers • One person covering the call center • Only spoke one language • In 1998 • Six people • Staff spoke two languages • In 2002 • Centralized database • Supported 200 applications • Call center staff spoke 7-10 languages • High turnover

  12. It operations • Regional Operations • America, Asia, and Europe • Report directly to Damien • Use corporate standards when appropriate • Local needs of various business groups • Variations in technology • Global Operations • Concentrated on infrastructure that applied to all sectors and regions • Such as WAN and corporate network standards

  13. Is development • Global Development • Developing and delivering technological solutions in use by all sectors and regions, such as PeopleSoft • Sectorial Development • Developing and delivering applications for specific sectors, such as knowledge management for Pharma • Major Is Projects: • Knowledge Management • 3R Portal Project

  14. Knowledge management • Past • 60% of all documents were in foreign languages • All on paper • Present • Now all written in English • All critical documents are digital • They have staff dedicated to indexing and translating documents: • Notes from physicians • Published scientific papers related to drug development- competitors • UCB docs- research analysis and in house research reports

  15. Knowledge management • They had robust security • Easy-to-use folder organization for storing and retrieving their 90,000 documents • Pharmaceutical industry • More money was spent on the creation of knowledge than on the equipment used to produce the products developed from that knowledge • Important because pharmaceutics is a knowledge-building process • Laws related to pharmaceutics, which vary by country, require companies to keep documents associated with the drugs for the life of the product plus five years

  16. 3r portal project • Designed to provide access to key information through a customizable/personalized Web portal. • Two key layers: • Corporate level of information • Everyone in the company had access to the same information • Single user name/password is needed for access to all network applications • Sectorial and functional layer • Including site specific information relevant to specific job responsibilities; individually tailored to the person’s job • Personalized Web portal to deliver appropriate information based on the identity of each person • Access could be denied to inappropriate information

  17. conclusion • Improved and changed IT/IS • Now have the foundational building blocks for a next generation knowledge management system

  18. questions • What does UCB stand for? a. United Company of Belgium b. Universal Company of Belgium c. University of California, Berkley d. None of the above • Which one was NOT one of the issues UCB faced? a. Inefficiency b. Organization c. Redundancy d. None of the above • Vincent Damien was…. a. the great, great grandson of one of the founders of UCB. b. president of UCB. c. mostly responsible for reorganizing and restructuring UCB’s IT/IS departments from 1996-2002. d. All of the above

  19. answers • D • D • C

  20. references • UCB: Managing Information for Globalization and Innovation article • http://www.ucb.com/about-ucb/ • http://www.ucb.com/about-ucb/history • http://www.ucb.com/media-room/editorial-guidelines • http://www.ucb.com/rd/

  21. Back-up slide • Union ChimiqueBelge

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