JAPAN'S KOMATSU MOVES MOUNTAINS WITH INFORMIX
Informix Corporation, a technology leader in enterprise database-powered solutions, has announced that Komatsu Ltd., an $8.9 billion global provider of industrial products and services, has completed the first phase of implementation to standardize its quality control operations on Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option.
Dubbed by Komatsu's Construction and Mining Division as "Service Map" (SMAP), Komatsu's new intranet-based information management system enables the company to store and manage detailed maintenance data, including such complex data as photos and drawings of Komatsu's line of hydraulic shovels, bulldozers, wheel loaders, dump trucks, cranes, and other heavy construction equipment. The ability of the new system to track customer repair requests and distribute maintenance information globally has significantly improved Komatsu's customer service operations.
"Since 1998, we have been undergoing a major business process reengineering project that involves all of our information systems, including quality control," said Kenichi Tabata, chief examiner of Information Technology of Komatsu's Information Systems Division. "Our objective is to standardize all of our intranet-based systems on Informix because their products provide excellent performance and scalability, and their personnel offer us excellent global service and support capabilities. We expect Informix technology to play a key role in our ability to maintain our competitive edge as we enter the 21st century."
Initially deployed in Komatsu's Japanese facilities, Komatsu plans to implement SMAP throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia by the end of 1999. When completed, this enhanced global version of SMAP will provide even more information to distributors, such as details on planned product improvements or information on competing products.
"We are pleased that Komatsu selected Informix as their partner to help them build a global information infrastructure for the 21st century," said David Appelbaum, vice president of product marketing at Informix. "We look forward to working closely with Komatsu as they add additional functionality to SMAP, such as video capabilities and new datatypes."
Komatsu selected Informix Dynamic Server for SMAP after reviewing all of the available database products that would operate on the company's HP9000 K460 server, while ensuring the performance and scalability the company required of SMAP. Informix Dynamic Server was already in use at Komatsu, powering the Baan ERP solution that managed the company's supplier network and business processes worldwide. The success of the ERP solution, as well as the power, performance and flexibility of Informix Dynamic Server, made it the choice for SMAP.
"We are amazed by the high-speed processing performance offered by Informix's unique parallel architecture, Dynamic Scalable Architecture," said Tabata. "We are also impressed by Informix Dynamic Server's superb reliability and its ability to flexibly manage multimedia data. These advantages make Informix a clear choice for SMAP."
Komatsu was also pleased that it could quickly implement Informix Dynamic Server and its server options without extensive customization, which allowed the company to plan and implement the complete system in less than one year. "The construction of SMAP in such a short time is owed largely to the high development productivity of Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option and the Web DataBlade module," said Tabata.
One particularly useful benefit of SMAP is the ability for Komatsu distributors worldwide to access informative photos and drawings of Komatsu products via an intranet. Informix Dynamic Server with the Web DataBlade module makes this possible by providing Web browser-based functionality for multimedia data such as drawings and photos stored in a database server.
In addition, the Informix Web DataBlade module gives SMAP a highly intuitive user interface. This is key since SMAP users range from distributors and sales personnel to production teams to plant workers, and many are unfamiliar with computer systems.
Since adopting Informix, Komatsu has seen improvements in quality reporting and resolution on a global basis in several areas, including registration, search capabilities, management, and stratification.
By using these functions provided by SMAP, Komatsu distributors can view customer history, including any previous product malfunctions, before visiting the customer site. In addition, when a product malfunctions, a distributor can search SMAP and view previous cases with similar circumstances. "Because of our Informix SMAP system, we have been able to drastically reduce the time required to resolve product problems," said Tabata. "And on the plant side, efficient quality improvement has been achieved by collecting stratified information on problems and analyzing their causes to prevent them from occurring in the future. As a result, we are delivering a higher level of service to our customers -- a key element to our company's success in the 21st century."
Informix Dynamic Server speeds query and administration tasks, maintains optimal performance regardless of computing environment, and enables the development of database applications that take full advantage of all available hardware resources. With flexible configuration options, Informix Dynamic Server supports all data types, provides maximum performance and scalability for decision support, supports data warehouse applications running in high-end parallel environments and allows the creation of intelligent web applications.
The Universal Data Option uses DataBlade technology to extend the traditional relational database functionality of Informix Dynamic Server to incorporate new data types such as photos and maps, and new industry-specific business logic such as package routing rules or complex currency exposure analysis. This option also allows customers to take advantage of new server functions and indexing methods for web and content management.
Founded in 1917, Komatsu Ltd. is one of Japan's major manufacturing names, offering construction, mining and engineering equipment and electronics products--including bulldozers, dump trucks, sheet metal presses, and silicon wafers--around the world. Today, Tokyo-based Komatsu Ltd. operates 81 subsidiaries, employs nearly 27,000 people, and is expanding into new markets, such as civil engineering, transportation and logistics equipment, and the production and sales of metals and other materials.
Informix Corporation, based in Menlo Park, California, provides innovative database products that assist the world's major corporations to attain competitive advantage. Informix is widely recognized as the technology leader for corporate computing environments ranging from small workgroups to very large parallel processing applications. Informix's database server, application development tools, superior customer service, and strong partnerships enable the company to be at the forefront of major information technology solution areas including data warehousing, high performance OLTP, and Web/e-commerce. For more information, contact the sales office nearest you or visit our Web site at http://www.informix.com.