Success Stories

Elf-Atochem Creates Just-In-Time Systems Value with INTERACTIVE UNIX

INTERACTIVE UNIX Installed at Elf-Atochem

Elf-Atochem (UK) Ltd., a part of the $18 billion Elf-Aquitaine group, has long sought an efficient and integrated information technology scheme, knowing that better use of corporate data could translate directly into competitive advantage. But like many large organizations, the company was saddled with numerous existing hardware and software systems, installed over several years - none of which could communicate directly with one another. The cost-effective solution to the communications problem was supplied by the INTERACTIVE

UNIX® System from SunSoft.

"We examined a considerable range of options, and more than one system could have met the majority of our functional criteria" recalls Peter Cripps, Elf-Atochem's data processing manager, "DEC, for example, could have supplied us with all of the equipment necessary for the task - at about five times the price of the INTERACTIVE UNIX/Intel combination we selected."

The company's most urgent data communications need was to get timelier manufacturing process information from the plant floor to the executive suite. Elf-Atochem specializes in the manufacture and modification of the base materials used in plastic mouldings. Raw resins are brought into the plant and mixed with colorings and a variety of additives and catalysts. The end product is a variety of base PVC or polystyrene granules with physical properties tuned to suit particular product categories, such as plastic bottles or air-cushioned shoe soles.

For maximum efficiency, the plant's goal is just-in-time manufacturing: keeping in inventory just enough stock to cope with short-term demand, and scheduling production of just the amount of product needed to fulfill customer orders.

To control this process the company installed an MRP II system, a flexible set of applications designed specifically to manage process industries. The MRP II software runs on DEC VAX® equipment under the VMS® operating system. But although the MRP II system was running well, its vital reporting function was not available on-line to the people who make the purchasing and scheduling decisions. They had to wait for periodic hard copy reports to be delivered to their offices.

These people, equipped with PCs on LANs running Novell NetWare®, needed real-time access to data from both the MRP II and the site-to-site communications systems resident on DEC MicroVAX 2 and VAX 3800 computers. Not only was real-time access unavailable, but due to the various systems incompatibilities, printing resources had to be duplicated for each system. As a whole, the computing environment was virtually uncontrollable.

Cripps took on the formidable task of trying to glue these diverse proprietary systems together and forge them into some form of integrated and coherent whole.

Once the primary problems and goals were defined, Cripps brought in local consultants YACC (Yet Another Computer Company - honestly!) to help design and implement a solution. After examining a number of alternatives, the choice was to link the management PCs to the MRP II and site-to-site communications systems using INTERACTIVE UNIX System software running with portable NetWare on an Intel 403 PC server.

The Intel 403 acts as the central coordinating hub of the system. The VAX systems now run standard SunSoft NFS® (Network File System) software, which simplifies transfer of information from one location to another. The INTERACTIVE UNIX System allows instantaneous access to the VAX-based systems by PC users via their NetWare LANs or PC-NFS.

"Using INTERACTIVE UNIX gives us an open file system that PC-equipped managers can access whenever they need MRP II or other data, " notes Cripps. "In effect, we have come through the back door to a type of client/server system."

Modification of polystyrene and PVC base materials seems to be an expanding industry, and Elf-Atochem is now planning an additional manufacturing facility. "With the new facility, we will be extending our MRP II capabilities and introducing new process control equipment," says Cripps. "Both new systems will run SunSoft's INTERACTIVE UNIX System software on Intel-based computers. We believe this combination provides a stable, flexible and extensible platform for mission-critical applications, and at a very competitive cost."

In addition to the variety of applications available for the INTERACTIVE UNIX System - including MRP II - the flexible and open UNIX foundation provides a ready-made, comprehensive development framework. "As the new plant is constructed, we'll be developing a set of process control applications in house," Cripps explains. "We could have expanded our DEC systems, but the costs were prohibitive. With the INTERACTIVE UNIX/Intel combination, we can implement a complete system for less than the cost of the DEC hardware alone."

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