Oracle 11i is the name of the computer software that is being installed this year in PPG Coatings businesses across the Asia Pacific region. For many businesses already using Oracle software it's just an upgrade. For others like businesses based at Suzhou, it's a whole new system and way of doing things.

The upgrade is taking place because Oracle is planning to phase out support for v4.10.10 and is pushing all its customers to move to 11i, a much more stable, reliable and more capable system. 11i is not just an improved version of 4.10.10, but a complete rewrite, intended to make the most of Internet technology and bring in a lot of new features that users have requested (and some they haven't!). Obviously PPG wants the benefits that 11i brings, and having done the sums decided the upgrade made sense.

Users familiar with v4.10.10 quickly grasp 11i. It uses the same logic in general. Order Management is probably the area of the most change.

But the biggest change from v4.10.10 is not visible to most users. Where before each major site had its own large database (and in the end these applications are really just large databases), and each was quite separate from the other, under 11i the whole Asia Pacific Region will be running on one common database. Albeit a very large one with thousands of tables all linked in various ways. This is commonly known as 'running on a single Instance'.

Multiple sites and businesses running on a single Instance potentially brings great benefits for a business, but at the same time is very complex to set up and will require a high level of rigor to maintain.

Potential benefits include the ability to view and run the whole Region as an integrated supply chain, to work with customers and suppliers at a Regional level, to establish best practices across the Region based on common standard measures. In short to enable PPG people to make the very best of the resources across the region to supply truly outstanding service to customers consistently everywhere, whether large or small.

Difficulties arise around the need to manage the naming of products across the region, formula security, and precise consistency of use to ensure for instance that the single MRP run for the Region doesn't crash.

The 11i Project kicked off last September with the formation of five Streams; Technical, Supply Chain, Order Management, Business Finance and Corporate Finance.

The Regional Leader of each Stream is a senior business manager who works hands on in the area. IT Analysts and Consultants based in the US, and the Asia Pacific Region support them. This has been found by PPG to be a good way to ensure business needs come first.

              Technical: John Chapman

              Supply Chain: Susie Condron

              Order Management: Steve Boyall

              Business Finance (Costing): Andrew Klose

              Corporate Finance: Clement Chui

Similarly Local Stream Leaders have been appointed on each site from amongst the business team.

The Project has advanced through a series of workshops in first Australia, then Malaysia and most recently in Tianjin. In between workshops each Stream works together using virtual communication technology such as MS SharePoint (giving a common workspace for sharing information), MS Exchange Conferencing and teleconferencing. This practice has greatly reduced the amount of travel needed compared to previous similar projects.

It's proving successful too. Malaysia was the first site to cut over to 11i, at the beginning of April with a smooth transition. Australia is next, at the beginning of June, Tianjin next at the beginning of August. Suzhou is set for October and Thailand in November. The Reseller sites are scheduled for the month ends in between.

Behind the scenes there are other changes as well. For instance all processing is moving to General Office, (from Australia), bandwidth to some sites has been greatly increased and the reporting system known as Discover with v4.10.10 is being replaced by the industry standard COGNOS.

With so much change some difficulties are inevitable but so far the 253 people working on this Project have proved more than a match for everything that has come their way.

Our Asia Pacific leading lean & quality process practioners.
Back row from left: Theerawuth Sungwalpetch (Bangplee, Thailand), Allan Liu (Tianjin, China), Jason Park (PPG-Dongju Korea), Billy Zhong (Tianjin), Jerry Song (Suzhou, China), Tee Boon Kheang (PJ, Malaysia);

Front row from left: Zainun Abu Bakar (PJ), Thanyarat Pengart (Bangplee), Simone Nash (AP, based at Clayton Australia), Weng Yong Feng (Suzhou), Roger Hilton (Clayton).

We are using Lean Enterprise & PPG Quality processes to increase plant capacity where required by doing more with existing resources, improving our ability to provide our customers the value and supply performance they expect, and to reduce the cost of doing business through waste elimination.

Impressive results have been achieved to date. Our sites are working on lean and quality projects targeted to support specific core business needs. These include the implementation of pull systems (not just within our own sites but also with suppliers and customers), product focused manufacturing cells and standardisation of our processes for better, more consistent quality. Visit the 'Successes' and 'New Projects' pages within the AP Lean/Quality web site to view specific project details.

Here is a recent example of a total process overhaul achieved through application of Lean Enterprise & PPG Quality Processes´.

Using Lean and Quality processes, significant results are being achieved in our urgent need to improve supply performance to HMI. Existing and new business is depending upon this improvement. The improvement work is still continuing and very closely monitored to ensure we don't 'drop the ball'. The key is to prove a good track record for not just one month but as an ongoing state.

Set up finished product classification to ensure focus on 'never run out' products such as clearcoat, primer & staple colours.

Caption:This is part of the APPG team who set up a second RM supermarket at a Mumbai warehouse to pull materials from overseas vendors via a kanban trigger. It was hot work but we got it done!)

Our fully automated, 48 head polyester intermix dispense cell is now in commercial production. The dispense equipment manufacturer is Paintmaker (manufactured in Malaysia, with parent company Inkmaker from Italy).

Make to order SP3 technology coil product orders will be manufactured by the PIX cell, with a goal lead time of 48 hours from order receipt to dispatch. Lead by Roger Dunkley, Industrial Business Manager, the 48 hour lead time will enable PPG to bid on new business where having the short lead time for supply is a major competitive advantage.

The PIX implementation team has worked very hard to get the cell up and running. The project leader, Stuart Boundy (Engineer) has managed to keep the project costs within budget.

The rest of the team consists of Martin Griffin (Project Engineering Manager), George Crevatin (Electrical Engineer), Peter Olechnowicz (Coil Technical Project leader), Alan Phelan (Manufacturing Manager), Brendan Willems (Coil Group Leader), Esther Potisomporn (Lean Facilitator), Graham Bowd (Coil Sales Manager), Tony Dorz (Planner) and George Law (Planner & PIX Cell Coordinator), Ziggy Wawryzycki, Peter Gajica, Rod Smith & Ron Kane (plant operators), Simone Nash.

Process safety management is the application of management principles and systems to the identification, understanding and control of process hazards in order to protect people, property and the environment. Recognizing the importance of process safety management programs within manufacturing facilities, PPG applies process safety principles worldwide.

The foundation of process safety is the process risk assessment. A process risk assessment (PRA), sometimes called a process hazard analysis, process hazard evaluation, or process safety review, is a thorough, orderly, systematic approach for identifying, evaluating, and controlling the potential hazards associated with the processing or handling of highly hazardous chemicals. A PRA is directed toward analyzing potential causes and consequences of fires, explosions, and releases or spills of toxic or flammable chemicals. The consequences of interest include environmental impacts, both on-site and off-site. The PRA focuses on chemical processes and operations, equipment, instrumentation, utilities, human actions (routine and non-routine), and external factors that might impact the safe operation of the process.

A four day course was held at the PPG Dongju site in Cheonan, Korea for EHS and other associates from all over Asia to teach them how to perform process risk assessments. PPG associates attended from China, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. By applying the information from this workshop, these associates will better be able to identify and address hazards at our manufacturing plants decreasing the likelihood of a major incident that could impact safety, the environment and our ability to produce product for our customers.

From left to right: William Hsu, TCI-Taiwan; Xu Yongwei, Suzhou; Harry Yang, Shanghai; H. J. Lim, PPG-Dongju, Cheonan; Mark Zhang, Tianjin; Jacy Wang, Tianjin; John Hauser (Course Instructor), PROSAF, Pennsylvania; Nutthinee Chaiwannathum, Bangplee; S. J. Lee, PPG-Dongju, Busan; Joe Lee, TCI-Taiwan; Lisa Morrison (Course Coordinator), Allison Park; Jayathasan Duraisundrum, Petaling-Jaya (can't be seen in photo); K. D. Lee, PPG-Dongju, Cheonan; H. C. Jung, PPG-Dongju, Busan; Sesuthas Uvakaram, Petaling-Jaya; M. S. Chun, PPG-Dongju, Cheonan

At April, 2005, the Asia Pacific raw material price index stood at 105 (Dec 2004 =100), comparable to other locations. Looking forward, we expect to see prices of raw materials - led by benzene, propylene, ethylene and crude oil - stabilizing.However, Packaging SBU is still facing a shortage of some key raw materials, particularly PVC, and efforts to ensure continuity of supplies are in progress.

Powders: Success in securing a lower price for Polyester Resins.Industrial Coatings and Packaging: Joint purchasing effort between Tianjin and Suzhou Packaging, realizing a RMB80000 saving for PMA (solvent).

Automotives (GCS): Global Sourcing Lab approved the first shipment of 3 million tons of methyl carbamate from JiangDu XinHua to the USA, with annualized savings of USD200,000.

FibreGlass: (Supplier Development): Developed Guo Tai Hua Rong in ZhangjiaGang as a PPG approved supplier of silanes (additive).

James C. Diggs announced the new organization of the Law Department, which is effective June 1, 2005. This organization expands the Operations Section to further align the department with the new operating structure recently announced by Chuck Bunch.

Under the new Law Department organization, a Corporate Counsel will be aligned with each of the recently-named operating Senior Vice Presidents to focus legal support on the new business structure. As part of this alignment, the Intellectual Property attorneys and the Labor, Employment & Benefits attorneys responsible for a business group will report to the Corporate Counsel supporting that group.

The lawyers supporting the Asia Pacific region, Corporate Secretary function, Corporate Finance, Compliance and Training will continue to report to James C. Diggs in the current reporting structure.

In addition to the new Law Department organization, Winnie Ngai has joined the A/P Law Department as Regional Legal Administrator, Asia Pacific. Winnie will assume responsibility for all Corporate Secretarial matters in the Region as well as other responsibility in record keeping, contract administration and compliance monitoring. Sandy Ng has joined the A/P Law department as Legal Secretary replacing Carmen Sui.

Managers frequently evaluate company's competitiveness and define strategies according to the analysis. The most common place analyzing tool used probably is the SWOT analysis. In the process of examination, different perspectives are often taken to view the business (as distinct from day-to-day operation, fire fighting views) and gain fresh notions to approach being competitive. SWOT is a quick-and-dirty method but the simplicity of the analysis often creates vague arguments which result difficulty to agree on actions.

One of the best competitiveness analysis frequently used by international consultancy firms like BCG or McKenzie's to demonstrate the competitiveness of a firm within an industry is Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis. He provided a framework that models factors determining business competitive edges over rival firms and sustaining levels of profitability. In examining the outer forces influence competition, three major strategies can be derived for winning the competition:

• Low-Cost (through low production, distribution or marketing costs): Wal-Mart will be the best example.

• Differentiation (branding, pricing, product feature): Apple Mac Computer differentiate itself from Win-tel computers

• Redefining battlefield/business scope: Best example will be South West Airline complete changes the rules of airline industry from luxury, full-services (meals, seat reservations) mode of transportation, to a way gets people from point to point at low costs.