Ucb -Ucb Global Supply Chain Process with Focus on Cost and Service-Enhancement

Union Chimique Belge (UCB) was founded by Baron Emmanuel Janssen in Belgium in 1928. Initially a group of chemical companies, UCB expanded via acquisitions and added pharmaceuticals and specialty films to its portfolio. Today, the UCB group comprises the parent company, UCB S.A., together with about one hundred and forty (140) subsidiaries and associated companies, mainly in Western Europe, the USA and Asia. UCB also covers the whole world through its agents, distributors and licensees and its products are sold in virtually every country. It has more than 10,000 employees, half are who are in the Pharmaceutical Sector and the other half in Chemicals and Films.

UCB fosters an entrepreneurial corporate culture that encourages innovation, flexibility and speed of action. It promotes employees from within and invests very heavily in research and development in order to succeed and stay relevant in a highly competitive marketplace. UCB’s IT department is highly aligned with its corporate culture. It is run in an extremely efficient manner, with a constant focus on cost reduction and developing synergies with other business units.

This case examines some of the challenges encountered by Vincent Damien, UCB’s Administrative and IT Director. Damien has made major strides in establishing a unified IT organization to replace the individual IT fiefdoms that were prevalent, realizing millions of euros in savings in the process. He has overseen the deployment of a single company-wide email system, a standardized desktop environment and a new data center. He has also established procedural efficiencies in operations, customer support and vendor contract management. In this case we take an in-depth look at Damien’s cost-saving measures, his IT demand prioritization processes and his approaches to application selection and helpdesk outsourcing. We also reflect on challenges in running an operations department and in implementing SAP at UCB. Finally, we offer some...