$2 Billion Manufacturer Standardizes on Infor iEnterprise
August 7, 2012 Alex Woodie
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Infor‘s IBM i development group got a shot in the arm recently when A. Schulman, an Ohio-based manufacturer of plastic compounds and resins, decided to standardize its global operations on Infor10 ERP iEnterprise (LX), the application formerly known as BPCS. Infor doesn’t get a lot of respect from mainstream analysts, who seem loathe to mention the ERP software giant in the same breath as rivals SAP and Oracle. Even Microsoft, which can’t match Infor in terms of enterprise application revenue or installed base, gets more love than poor Infor. Infor’s applications, goes the thinking, make good second-tier ERP systems for individual sites that have specific business needs. But when it comes to picking a business application that will be the corporate standard for worldwide operations, you’d best pick a first-tier ERP solution (i.e. accounting system) from the other three, and modify it to fit your particular business needs. That mindset got blown out of the water with the recent disclosure that A. Schulman–a solidly midsize manufacturer with $2.3 billion in annual revenues and 3,100 employees–will replace multiple ERP systems used at 35 manufacturing plants around the world with its new corporate standard: iEnterprise running on the IBM i server. Standardizing on iEnterprise–a widely used and well-respected RPG-based ERP system for process manufacturers–will enable A. Schulman to move to common business practices and create better operational visibility, says Joe Gingo, the company’s chairman, president, and CEO. “We needed to shift our global operations to a single system, and after reviewing Infor10 ERP iEnterprise and Infor’s ION platform and strategy, it was clear that Infor was the ideal partner for us.” Infor’s ION middleware will be used to hook iEnterprise into several other Infor applications, including Infor10 Demand Planning, Infor10 Advanced Planning, and Infor10 Advanced Scheduling. It will also open the door for A. Schulman to user other Infor products down the road. A. Schulman participated in Infor’s Flex Exchange program, and consolidated several older Infor ERP systems to iEnterprise through that program. The company is rolling out iEnterprise globally in a phase approach, and is also using Infor’s Education Performance Accelerator Kit (EPAK) for end-user training and support. RELATED STORY Two-Tier ERP Deployments Gain Steam
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