Published on 31-Aug-2011
"We can now look at the distribution chain across all our centers and closely monitor the detail of each production step. It has helped reduce time-to-market for products by 20 percent." - —Saul Vargas, Senior Database Administrator, ColCerámica
Customer:
ColCerámica
Industry:
Wholesale Distribution & Services
Deployment country:
Colombia
IBM Business Partner:
IT Consultings
Overview
When ColCerámica implemented a warehouse management solution from Infor to help it manage its inventory and optimize fulfillment and distribution processes, it selected IBM® Informix® as its database platform. With its warehouse management solution running on IBM Informix, ColCerámica can closely monitor the detail of each production step across its 16 distribution centers for faster and more efficient fulfillment of customer orders.
Business need:
To deliver more value to shareholders, the firm needed to obtain a comprehensive view of key assets. It needed a way to look across wells and identify which wells, company-owned and others, to query and sought to analyze attributes on those wells, their production and well works. To achieve this, it was vital to draw information from many applications, organizational silos, and repositories.
Solution:
With its warehouse management solution running on IBM Informix, ColCerámica can closely monitor the detail of each production step across its 16 distribution centers for faster and more efficient fulfillment of customer orders. Informix was selected as its database platform based on performance, price and ease of administration.
Benefits:
• Reduces time-to-market for order delivery by 20 percent
• Improves supply chain management across 16 distribution centers
• Increases operational efficiency to reduce costs
Case Study
ColCerámica S.A. is the leading manufacturer in Colombia for faucets, toilet seats and fittings. With annual sales of nearly US$100 million, ColCerámica products are sold worldwide. The company is a subsidiary of the Corona Group, a Colombian multinational company engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of home improvement and construction products.
The need
With 16 distribution centers across Colombia supplying parts for each customer order, ColCerámica was having difficulty managing and monitoring the fulfillment processes to confirm that products were delivered on time and in full to every customer.
The solution
When ColCerámica implemented a warehouse management solution from Infor to help it manage its inventory and optimize fulfillment and distribution processes, it selected IBM® Informix® as its database platform. “We chose Informix for performance, price, ease of installation and ease of administration,” explains Saul Vargas, senior database administrator for ColCerámica. “Informix is very fast. We don’t have to worry about the amount of information we store. We can still maintain performance and query response times even as the data grows.”
The company compared Informix with Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle Database and found Informix to be 50 percent faster than both during a Proof of Concept (POC) test. This performance is critical as fast access to data helps staff quickly analyze market trends and customer needs and fulfill customer orders more quickly. Using IBM Cognos® software, ColCerámica executives can explore and analyze the data from Informix and other data sources to aid in their decision making. “We can now look at the distribution chain across all our centers and closely monitor the detail of each production step,” says Vargas. “It has helped reduce time-to-market for products by 20 percent.”
Ease of administration has also helped reduce operational costs. “You can say that with Informix, you can set it and forget it,” says Vargas. “We have one database to support 16 distribution centers and only need half of a DBA’s time.”
ColCerámica is working with IBM Business Partner IT Consultings to upgrade to Informix 11.7. The ability to run Informix in a server cluster will further increase scalability. Data compression features will help reduce storage requirements. New performance enhancements will provide even faster query response times.
The benefit
• Reduces time-to-market for order delivery by 20 percent
• Improves supply chain management across 16 distribution centers
• Increases operational efficiency to reduce costs
For more information
To learn more about IBM Informix, please contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/software/data/informix
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Software:
Informix Servers, Informix Dynamic Server
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011 IBM Corporation Software Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America August 2011 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com and Informix are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml Microsoft and SQL Server are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. The information contained in this documentation is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this documentation, it is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this documentation or any other documentation. Nothing contained in this documentation is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM (or its suppliers or licensors), or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software. IMC14691-