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They're The Best

InformationWeek conference showcases top technology users

Who are the best corporate users of information technology? Attendees of the fifth annual InformationWeek 500 Conference, held this year in Phoenix, Ariz., just found out. On Sept. 12, InformationWeek presented the 1995 Excellence in Information Systems Awards at a ceremony hosted by James I. Cash Jr., chairman of the MBA program at Harvard Business School and an InformationWeek columnist . The awards recognize the innovative and effective use of IT to improve business processes, boost efficiency, and cut costs. And the winner s are:


Distinguished guests: Some of hte winners and attendees at the IW500 conference (seated, from left): Joseph Smialowski, Sears, Roebuck & Co.; Nina Das, Citicorp; Alan Guibord, R.R. Donnelley; Leslie Benmark, E. I. du Pont; Carl Moore, International Paper; Joyce Wrenn, Union Pacific. Standing (from left): Bob Hartmann, Ernst & Young; John Danielsen, Pacific Gas & Electric; Rudy Alexander, AT&T; James I. Cash Jr., Harvard; Tom Trainer, Eli Lilly & Co.; Pat Horrigan, Motorola; and James Sutter, Rockwell Information Systems.

  • Aerospace: Rockwell International . All the major IT trends in the aerospace industry--integrating legacy systems and designs, standardizing platforms--are happening at Rockwell. The company, long an IT leader, continues in this role. "The IT infrastructure is the glue for 'Team Rockwell,' " says James Sutter, VP and general manager of Rockwell Information Systems.
  • Banking: Citicorp . The banking giant hopes to top competitors by integrating its global IT resources. Citicorp is also the first major bank to standardize on Microsoft's Windows NT Server and NT Workstation.
  • Chemicals: E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The company is retooling its entire IS operation. A key part of the project is to move DuPont to Andersen Consulting's Method/1 and Design/1 CASE system; Some 1,400 DuPont employees will be trained to use the new systems. "We're shifting the IT focus from a cost overhead to providing tremendous value-add," says Cinda Hallman, DuPont's chief information officer.
  • Computers: Hewlett-Packard . HP already rings up a large percentage of sales from resellers via electronic data interchange (EDI). Now the company is leading the charge to exploit the Internet, working to take advantage of the World Wide Web. It expects all f orms of online transactions to increase dramatically.
  • Consumer Goods: Black & Decker. B&D hopes to improve its supply chain by moving to client-server computing. The company opened a distribution center based on Digital Equipment Turbo Laser 8400 servers, IBM 486 PCs, and Oracle's database management system to automate and support several computer-generated business and mechanical processes.
  • Electronics: Motorola . The company runs several IT programs to improve overall efficiency and the quality of its products. One, called Synergy, stores data from each phase of the manufacturing process on a single database. Synergy also allows engineers to study data and adjust the manufacturing process.
  • Energy: Chevron . The oil company has boldly moved from mainframes to a distributed system based on Microsoft's Windows and Windows NT. Among the new applications are a 4,500-node Lotus Notes groupware n etwork that will link 15 operating companies worldwide. Another is SAP's R/3 suite of client-server applications. The move has already reduced Chevron's operating costs by more than 20%.
  • Financial Services: Merrill Lynch & Co. The company will spend more than $1 billion over the next five years to reengineer its retail brokerage business. At the heart of the effort is a new system called Trusted Global Advisor. As part of the effort, Merrill Lynch will install 25,000 Pentium and PowerPC multimedia machines. It will also give its financial consultants notebook computers with presentation and analytical tools to take on client visits.
  • Food Processing: Sara Lee. Better customer service is the goal at Sara Lee. To accomplish this, business units use EDI, bar coding, category management, and data warehousing. EDI and bar coding allow Sara Lee to provide "cross-docking" services. Sara Lee drivers deliver pallets directly to customers' loading docks. From there, goods are loaded directly onto trucks for delivery, eliminating the need for customers to warehouse the goods.
  • Health Care: Baxter Healthcare.Baxter continues to be one of the most innovative IT users in health care. Baxter delivery drivers use handheld devices to access corporate databases. At day's end, the drivers download data from their handhelds to the database. Baxter then helps customers track inventories by sending them invoices electronically.
  • Insurance: Cigna . The insurer is installing a process to help the IS staff strive for excellence while managing change. Cigna is working with the Software Engineering Institute to improve software development and applications deployment.
  • Manufacturing: Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing. 3M is breaking new ground. Rather than purchasing and installing traditional transaction-based package software, the company hopes to save $1 billion in su pply-chain costs by using a new management package from i2 Technologies. 3M will run i2's Truly Integrated Planning System to upgrade its materials, manufacturing, distribution, and transport requirements.
  • Media: R.R. Donnelley & Sons. Donnelley is migrating its core business applications, which run on mainframe and midrange systems, to client-server platforms. It's also created a unit devoted to developing and implementing new media. One effort will develop digital print-on-demand, enabling 24-hour turnaround on printed materials.
  • Metals and Natural Resources: International Paper. The company is involved in more global IT activity now than in the last 10 years combined. International Paper is reengineering all financial processes, upgrading its corporate network, and redoing cost systems for its 24 paper mills. The company recently purchased a global financial information system to improve the way it does business.
  • Pharmaceuticals: Eli Lilly & Co. Like many drug makers, Lilly has had to downsize, consolidate, and reorganize in recent years. The company is building a nationwide health-care information network that will link its systems with doctors' offices.
  • Professional Services: Ernst & Young. E&Y launched a program called Powerstart to quickly set up temporary IT infrastructures that support auditors and consultants at a client site. If four or more professionals need to work at a site for at least a month, E&Y will dispatch a truck with servers, portable PCs, and cabling for a wide area network.
  • Retail: Sears, Roebuck. The merchandiser credits IT for its dramatic turnaround. Sears has moved from mainframes to a client-server setup, installing AT&T 3600 multiprocessing systems linked to IBM OS/2-based Pentium PCs in stores. This allows managers to analyze data faster and adjust merchandise levels appropriately.
  • Telecom: AT&T. The company is in the midst of an aggressive reengineering project. Rather than let the regional Bell operating companies handle billing for its 90 million customers, AT&T will take back the process by building systems to perform the function in-house. IT is at the core of the reengineering process. "All our investments are in line with the customer-driven model." says CIO Ron Ponder.
  • Transportation: Union Pacific. The railroad is assembling a network of 8,000 servers and PCs. The network will help improve customer service by linking departments such as marketing, finance, and the systems that keep track of trains.
  • Utilities: Pacific Gas & Electric. PG&E is preparing for deregulation by using client-server technology to improve billing, accounting, and customer service. PG&E has also teamed with Microsoft and cable TV carrier Tele-Communications Inc. in a pilot program to let consumers do business with the utility from their homes.
Fred Wier sema, senior VP of consultants CSC Index and a keynote speaker at the conference, provided encouragement for the winners: "[Organizations] believe they have to be customer-driven. We have to turn the tables and drive the customer instead. We cannot wait for our customers to tell us what they need from us."

Photo: Tom Gerczynski

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