Eastman Chemical and Kolbe: The Right Mix

Eastman Chemical Co. knows that different chemicals react when they're mixed together. In taking on the biggest operational challenge in it's history, Eastman Chemical learned that mixing different kinds of people causes a reaction too.

For the past two years, Eastman Chemical has been undergoing a major revamping of its business transaction software. Like thousands of companies around the world, Eastman Chemical is racing to be one of the first to install the hot new software, SAP. Thanks to Kolbe systems, Eastman Chemical is within sight of the finish line.

"We have a very aggressive cycle time for implementation and a very tight budget," said Robert Dorsey, Project Director at Eastman Chemical. "Most companies - in fact every company that I know of - have not met their timelines and have significantly exceeded their budgets. I think we've come closer to meeting our timeline and budget than anyone else that I know of. I think the competitive advantage it (the Kolbe) gave us enabled us to install the software more quickly and at less cost."

SAP software is designed to keep important information flowing throughout a company - the missing link to re-engineering. Because implementing SAP requires employees throughout a company to work together, team building is crucial to successful SAP implementation. Kolbe systems' precision team-building techniques and performance forecasting enabled Eastman Chemical to create synergistic teams that bypassed many of the pitfalls other companies attempting to install SAP encountered.

"What we had were people who understood how the business process ought to work within their function. Then you had the IS folks who understood how a computer could be programmed to effectively meet business needs, but they weren't necessarily looking at the same solution to the problem. We had to get the IS people and the business people talking the same language," Dorsey said. "We're really having to get people to not only adapt to a computer solution for their business process, but re-engineering that business process at the same time."

"It really does take a lot of interaction of people working effectively together to make that happen. And I think Kolbe helped us achieve something most companies haven't been able to address," he said.

With the SAP implementation almost behind Eastman Chemical, Dorsey said there's still plenty of work for Kolbe systems within the company. Future team projects will rely on the Kolbe system's ability to meld a diverse group of people into a highly productive unit.