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A Passion for Progress - Solvay moves with the times
The German Solvay Group is part of the international Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company Solvay AG, located in Brussels.
In 2003, the company employed some 30,000 staff worldwide and made a turnover of 7.6 billion Euros. The Solvay Group is active in three industrial areas: Chemicals, including soda, fluorine products and hydrogen peroxide. Plastics, e.g. with techno-polymers, PVC and special foils. Pharmaceuticals, concentrating on therapy areas such as cardiovascular and gastrointestinal. "A Passion for Progress" is Solvay's commitment to even more quality, service and professionalism. One element of that is the expansive concept that Solvay is developing together with primion as part of the reorganisation from PAISY toSAP.
The Background
"Moving with the times" was the motto of HR Management and the responsible Facility Managers in 1996 as Time Management and Access Control were introduced together with Technology AG (then known as AZS) at the facilities at Hannover, Bad Hönningen, Bad Wimpfen, Nienburg and Bernburg. Everything started in Hannover. There, 85 infrared card readers as well as 16 time recording terminals and 12 PC correction terminals were connected to a server, running an Oracle 7.4 database. Accounting for the staff restaurant was also implemented on the staff multi primion functional infrared cards. Additionally, all 2000 staff cards were personalised with name and photo using an integrated badging system. The relevant accounting data was transmitted to the external computing centre run by IBM in Brussels and processed using the Personne Accounting System PAISY.
One after the other, further locations were equipped with decentralised server systems and access control readers and time recording terminals. As Solvay is always keen to implement leading-edge technologies, proximity readers were installed in the locations that were added later. As Solvay was required to migrate all HR functions from PAISY to SAP as part of a global SAP project, specialists from Solvay and primion developed a transition concept together in 2002. Implementation had to be complete and operational by 1st January 2003. No rescheduling was possible as the PAISYbased salary system was being switched off on 31st December 2002.
The goals were: Migration from PAISY to an HR/PDC 4.5 SAP interface The combining of all decentralised primion systems onto one central server and the migration from Oracle database version 4.5 to version 9i. The use of browsers as front-ends for all functions, such as administration, reporting and system maintenance The implementation of the badging module into the browser-enabled software The conversion of the Hannover location to Legic proximity technology Decentralised access by the appropriate HR Officers to the corresponding employee data from the locations, using Microsoft Internet Explorer
The Solution
As Solvay had already been working successfully for many years with the primion Visual Systems software, the first step was simply the replacement of the PAISY interface with the HR/PDC interface, certified by SAP. The advantage here was the high level of investment protection the primion software offered. The first of the stated goals was achieved on schedule, by the addition of the SAP interface without having to replace any other software components.
The migration to Oracle was also achieved without problem, as this had been part of primions standard offer scope for a long time. Using the global standard TCPIP protocol, the connection of the access controllers and time recording terminals to Solvay'sWANwas completed within just a few days. Now 59 time recording terminals along with 131 access control readers at various locations could all be administered from Hannover. At that time, the system was handling some 5600 employees. “Moving with the times" was and remains today the challenge that Solvay gives both to its employees and its suppliers. This was one of the reasons why the client/server based Visual Systems program package was replaced by the new browser-based, platform-independent Visual Web solution.
This allows all operators and administrators to access the data located on the server through the Internet browser installed on their workplace PCs, simply and efficiently, without needing to install any additional client software. Of course, data traffic is protected by RSA encryption. For primion developers, the concept of modular construction is not just restricted to the software but is embodied in the design of our hardware. As a result of this, it was only necessary to exchange the infrared readers for Legic at the Hannover facility, without having to exchange any other hardware components. This saved costs and the work was completed over the course of one weekend. The user authorisation features within the Visual Web software mean that each operator only has access to the data of the employees under his/her control. In the same way, security officers in the various locations can only administer access rights in their specific facility. And this in spite of the fact that all data is held in just one database.
Special Features
Because of the nature of the materials that are processed at the Solway Works in Bernberg, safety regulations, imposed by legislation relating to the mining industry, require special monitoring functions to be carried out. By the use of specially monitored card readers that are used to make site entry and exit bookings, in the event of an emergency situation, security officers can see who is on site and, at the press of a button, can produce a report that is then used at all muster points. This also includes visitors and suppliers who are issued with a card on arrival, which is then automatically retained as they leave site, through the used of a motorised card capture reader. During the first quarter of 2004, an interface was introduced for new premises at Hannover, which controls the heating levels within the building based on the presence of employees. This saves on heating costs and is further evidence of Solvay's commitment to "moving
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