Thamasak says technically, his SCM project did not cause much pain."We had the best people-- more than 50 of them from around theworld--including consultants from IT One, an Accenture and the SiamCement Group joint venture. The great pain was effecting theorganisational change required. People had to learn new skills andchange--and how to drive that became key. We tackled this throughsurveys, assessments, group interviews and training. It involved thewhole organisation, including HR, with support from top management. Weare fortunate our organisation is a young one with staff averagingjust 27 years old," he says. It took Cementhai almost six monthsbefore the system could deliver organisational capabilities,he adds.

Cementhai Chemicals is not the only business unit under the SiamCement Group that has embarked on a supply chain reengineering effort.The forward looking Group, one of Thailand's largest conglomerates,has also installed supply chain software from i2 Technologies at itsDistibution business unit for a year. The Group also plans to increasesupply chain planning and optimising capacity at two additionalbusiness units--Cement and Building Products--with i2's SCM solutions.The project is in its sixth month of roll-out.