Robots in Charge

Lets admit it. IT is no more just about technology, but it is the core

function supporting any business. Therefore, todays organizations are keen to

revamp and restructure their IT infrastructure with one mantra in their minds

that is new technology implementations that deliver business results.

For Century Enka, thats exactly the case as the company went ahead with

reforming its IT infrastructure in the recent times. "We chose to upgrade our

systems in accordance with our needs, and designed the same in a manner that

enabled us to use our resources fully with minimal downtime," says Tushar P

Kasbekar, VP, IT, Century Enka.

Enabling through IT



The company recently migrated to IBM servers based on open technology,

replacing its old servers with proprietary technology. This move has not only

brought in production efficiency, flexibility and full resource utilization, but

has also helped the company to reduce its running cost by 50%.

The solution offered Century Enka greater cost benefits as well as

flexibility in terms of future scalability, both for business as well as

technology.

Further, the company has shifted to an integrated single instance of

database, substituting the earlier multiple instances that were running. This

was possible by revamping the entire network infrastructure as the company

migrated to a more reliable network platform based on wireless technology. To

ensure service continuity, the company also opted for a back-up network

connectivity by adopting services of non-traditional network service providers

like RailTel and Tata Power. "The above setup provided the users a single window

view of the entire business processes like logistics, marketing and

manufacturing," informs Kasbekar.

All the manufacturing plants have also been highly automated, and some of

them are managed by robots.

All Done Internally



Century Enka has its own team of IT experts working under Kasbekar; and the

entire research, development and management is done in-house. It is this team

which has developed a unique interface connecting the manufacturing system with

the database on a real-time basis; thus, enabling Century Enka capture real-time

manufacturing data and feeding it to the database server for instant access.

The entire manufacturing process is thus seamlessly integrated with the

business processes. "This integrated approach has enabled smooth and faster

information flow across the organization as well as given better business and

performance efficiency, productivity enhancement and overall cost

effectiveness," explains Kasbekar.

The company has also recently deployed a self developed supply chain

management system and as a CRM application that has been further integrated with

the business process to produce effective results. "The entire overhauling of

the IT infrastructure has been undertaken considering the growing business

needs. This new structure has given us a platform for any kind of business

growth or expansion," concludes Kasbekar.

Piyali Guha



piyalig@cybermedia.co.in