Arch Chemicals Case Study

Key Challenges

• Safe applications on different releases & platforms
• Inability to utilise new functionality
• Security & audit conformance

Project Objectives

• Single Sage image
• Resilient & Secure operating
  environment
• Reduce costs

Solution & Services

• ERP Solution
• Use of VPN to link into remote Data Centre

Key Benefits

• All users on current version
• Highly resilient network
• Compliance with Sarbanes-
  Oxley
• Reduced operational costs

Web Address

• www.archchemicals.com

“The Consolidation Project was to time and to budget – which gives Arch a strong base on which to build the Inecom relationship” Brett
Walton, Arch’s European IT & South East Asia Manager

Company Profile

Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (USA), Arch Chemicals, Inc. is a global Biocides company with annual sales of approximately $1.5 billion Arch and its subsidiaries provide innovative, chemistry-based solutions to control the growth of harmful microbes.

The Company’s concentration is in water, hair and skin care products, treated wood, paints and coatings, building products and health and hygiene applications. Arch Chemicals operates in two segments: Treatment Products and Performance Products. Together with its subsidiaries, Arch has approximately 3,000 employees with manufacturing and customer-support facilities in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

Arch’s Biocides portfolio includes four businesses within the Treatment Products business segment:

• Water Products (sanitizers and related treatment chemicals) 
• Industrial Biocides and Health and Hygiene Products (biocides incorporated into industrial, commercial and consumer products)
• Personal Care Products (active ingredients for in hair and skin care products.)
• Wood Protection (advanced preservatives protecting against wood from fungal decay, insect damage and fire damage.)

Arch is the leading, global supplier of advanced wood preservatives. Its Wood Protection business greatly expanded its presence in Australasia and South-East Asia in 2007 when it purchased the remaining 51% of its former Koppers-Arch wood treatment business in Australia.

System Consolidation

Brett Walton, Arch’s European IT Manager and acting Information Technology Manager for South-East Asia, realised that Sage systems in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia were on different platforms and on different releases. Some were many years old, and although still supported by Inecom, were not exploiting current application functionality and security.

Working with Inecom and with Arch’s Data Centre Manager in Connecticut, Brett developed a project to bring all systems to the same level of technology, capitalise on the new functionality In Sage Line500 V6, lock in high quality support and resilience – and at the same time, save money!

The project’s objectives were to

• Implement a single image of Sage for all South East Asia users
• Host the software at Arch’s Data Centre using VMware (server virtualisation) which would provide a well-supported and resilient operating environment
• Utilise Arch’s self-managed Internet-based VPN to connect all the Sage users in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia into the Data Centre
• Establish the procedures for Inecom to provide Sage application consultancy and support

The project team of two ( Brett Walton and an- Inecom Senior Consultant ) loaded and configured the Sage software in the Data Centre remotely using the Wide Area Network – and then visited all three locations for only three days at each to achieve parallel running, cut-over and user acceptance. Support routes are working perfectly.

The Next Steps

Building on the consulting and technical work which has already taken place, Arch is reviewing with Inecom several further productivity projects

• Rolling out the full suite of Sage Business Intelligence ( Finance, Sales, Stock, Budgets) using a web portal for reporting
• General Ledger consolidation (now available with the current ERP solution)
• Rolling out the total application suite to other territories. 

Arch Wood Protection provides treatments that protect both exterior and interior wood from termites, mold, mildew and fungus.