The turnaround began in 1985, when Cemex appointed a newCEO. Lorenzo Zambrano is the grandson of the man who foundedCemex. After working his way up through the ranks of hisgrandfather´s company, he found himself at the helm of amonolithic company struggling with inefficiency and poorcustomer satisfaction, both caused by an inability toforecast customer demand.

Zambrano began Cemex´s makeover at ground zero by changingthe fundamental business strategy. In 1987, he hired GelacioIniguez as CIO, and the two sat down with the rest of themanagement team to solve the issues of efficient delivery andunforecastable demand. "At that point, there was no ITdepartment," says Jose Luis Luna, Cemex´s current CIO, whojoined the company in 1987 as the head of technologydevelopment. "Basically, there were a couple of computersthat ran accounting programs. We realized that IT needed tobe a key part of our new business strategy." Rather thanbuilding an IT department concurrently but separate from theongoing business redesign, Luna and the other Cemex officialsfocused on fundamental alignment.

Cemex´s production and delivery methods weren´t serving thecompany or its customers very well, so the executives lookedat how other companies---FedEx, Exxon and the city ofHouston´s 911 emergency system---handled similar problemssuccessfully. FedEx had created a reliable worldwide deliverysystem that successfully managed unforecasted demand. Exxon´stracking, scheduling and rerouting system efficiently handledits network of oil tankers and deliveries despiteunpredictable weather, market and politicalconditions. Houston´s 911 system had developed a way todispatch and coordinate emergency vehicles in response tooccasionally sketchy information.

New Foundation

Because Cemex couldn´t change the way its customers work,Zambrano and his IT team changed the way the company handlesunpredictability. Dependable, on-time delivery and customerflexibility are at the heart of their business, so theylooked to technology and the lessons learned from FedEx,Exxon and Houston to streamline Cemex´s processes. "We saw itwas almost impossible to deliver information in real-time,and we knew it was time to invest in infrastructure," saysGilberto Garcia, IT planning director at Cemex, who alsojoined the company in 1987.