UPM, a Finnish manufacturer of printing papers, is expanding its business relationship with IBM that began in 2003. IBM will manage the completion of UPM's ongoing supply chain project and provide application management services for global supply chain applications.
"We consider this contract as a major step in our IT strategy implementation," says Conrad Frede, UPM chief information officer. "The partnership with IBM gives us the opportunity to establish our global IT delivery model in a short time frame. Applying the best-practice model of application management by IBM also gives us the confidence that the future IT delivery model will be efficient and serve our business in the best way possible."
To support the new service delivery model, IBM will help UPM establish a Supply Chain Application Centre. A team of 40 UPM IT experts will join IBM to further develop, roll out and maintain a portfolio of applications that will assist UPM to respond quickly to customer and market changes and help improve the company's supply chain.
Visit www.ibm.com and www.upm-kymmene.com.