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Nuremberg, 09.06.2004
Added-value of specification management recognized by UnileverIn reward for contribution to meeting Unilever's Supply Chain Management objectives In recognition of the strategic breakthrough achieved in terms of data accessibility and transparency, Unilever has presented its internal 2004 IT Award to its own ambitious product specification management project, relying on Siemens' Simatic IT Interspec technology. The Simatic IT Interspec specification management system has helped to drastically improve the management of Unilever's most important material and product specifications, leading to important cost savings, reduced time to market, and a faster global innovation rollout.From tea and ice cream to shampoo and toothpaste, Unilever responds to everyday consumer needs with one of the most comprehensive brand portfolios. This wide gamut of products generated a massive quantity of specifications, increasingly demanding for an efficient and comprehensive management approach. In the past, Unilever used to purchase several thousand different ice cream ingredients in many countries worldwide, including flavors, aromas, milk powder, whipped cream, and sugar. Thanks to the specification management system Simatic IT Interspec, Unilever has succeeded in cutting the immense number of ingredients to a third! Initiated in 1997 by Unilever Europe and the Compex company (acquired by Siemens in 2001) as a stand-alone project, the Interspec project was incorporated in 2000 into Unilever's new five year strategic plan. This plan, known as the "Path to Growth", addressed the new challenges of the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries and proposed a series of initiatives sharing a common objective: to narrow the company's focus onto fewer strong brands and accelerate top-line growth, fueled by savings from organizational streamlining and simplification. Simatic IT Interspec provided the ideal solution to ameliorate the access and transparency in one of Unilever's most important intellectual property areas: material and product specifications. Nowadays Unilever's global Foods and HPC (Home and Personal Care) Divisions in North America use Simatic IT Interspec. Several thousand users worldwide manage over 200,000 specifications in this system, including all production item specifications - from ingredient and packaging materials that are received to finished products. Huw Evans, Unilever's Interspec Global Team Manager, comments on winning the 2004 IT Award: "It is an immense honor for all personnel involved in the Interspec project to receive Unilever's most prestigious IT Award. It is an acknowledgement of the catalyzing role of this project in three broad areas: material cost savings; reduced time to market; and a faster global innovation rollout. As our crucial partner in this project, the Siemens Compex ITPS Interspec team should take great pride in the work done for Unilever over the past 7 years!" More information on Simatic IT Interspec Simatic IT Interspec, the product specification management system of Siemens, can be implemented separately or as part of the MES portfolio Simatic IT, a component-based concept following the ISA-95 standard. Simatic IT Interspec manages all product specifications, including both company-wide and plant-based specifications. It helps users formulate product specifications for raw materials, intermediate and finished products as well as for packaging materials and delivers secure access to those specifications for both internal and external parties (the latter being enabled through a web interface). Simatic IT Interspec helps companies to exchange and standardize product specifications in a multi-site and multilingual environment. It is the single point of reference for product and quality data and it distributes these specifications across all enterprise systems (ERP, SCM, MES, LIMS, etc.), providing the benefit of data integrity and avoidance of duplicated data entry. More benefits include global purchasing, faster product development and introduction, improved customer information, enhanced supply chain flexibility, better responsiveness to customer needs and demands.... Simatic IT Interspec supports the FDA rule 21 CFR Part 11 and supports companies to comply with the growing amount of strict regulations including food safety, labeling and traceability (EC 178/2002) and the US Bio Terrorism Act that imposes US food-importing companies to report on all product info within 4 hours, 7 days a week. More information on Simatic IT Interspec on www.siemens.be/pqm. Contacts: Vera Janssens/Béatrice Delfin-Diaz Corporate Press Office Tel : +32 2 536 72 67 Sophie Smeets Tél: +32 54 312 715
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