Sara Lee, the KwaZulu-Natal based manufacturer of popular brands of household and body care products (including Sanex, Kiwi, Status and Ambipur), has embarked on an upgrade to its IT infrastructure.
Motivated by IT advances, such as the implementation of a client server environment and JD EdwardsOne World Xe software, Sara Lee enlisted the assistance of networking company 3Com SA to redesign its local area network (LAN) to incorporate the latest high-speed switching technology.
Jimmy Gounaris, IT manager at Sara Lee, revealed that the upgrade, which centred on the installation of 10/100Mbps links to the organisation`s more than 100 desktop workstations, and a fast 1GB core, linking enterprise, mail and terminal servers, has resulted in significant response and performance increases.
"One of the areas of focus for us was our factory area," says Gounaris. "With only slow, 10Mbps shared hubs in place, operators found that delays were becoming intolerable and our production efficiency was in danger of being compromised.
"An important element of our brief was to ensure that the proposed e-commerce development, which will include Web portal access for our customers - including buyers from Pick `n Pay, Spar and other major retail stores - would be adequately supported by our IT infrastructure when orders are being placed or queries filed."
He says the project was part of a three-year growth plan devised by Sara Lee to improve its ability to compete in an increasing competitive environment especially in the e-business arena.
"The move was also made to optimise our IBM AS/400 computing environment and JD Edwards software solutions that we see as the twin platforms upon which Sara Lee`s computing future will be based," he adds.
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