WebSphereIBM Software Industrial Products

ASG is a leading supplier of end-to-end packaging solutions, delivering innovative and eye-catching packaging for the world’s premier consumer brands. The company was born after two industry leaders, AGI World and Shorewood Packaging, merged in 2012. ASG operates manufacturing facilities on four continents – North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America – and employs 3,000 people. ASG’s core business, special packaging, is complemented by two sub-brands: creative services (ASG Spark!) and plastics (ASG Amaray).

Localisation and integrationMany of ASG’s clients are multinational consumer products companies that sell products in many international markets. Typically, the packaging of these products needs to be localised – translated into the appropriate languages and made to conform with specific standards and regulations for different countries. ASG’s localisation teams have vast experience in this area, and handle approximately 30,000 to 40,000 individual localisation jobs per year.

Dave Meaker, Programme Manager at ASG, explains: “One of our key differentiators is the fact that we integrate our packaging design and production processes very tightly with our clients’ own product manufacturing and logistics processes. With direct access to clients’ systems, we can synchronise our operations with theirs seamlessly – a significant advantage over competitors who are still reliant on email and phone calls to co-ordinate their activities.

Challenges of integrationHowever, integration can be a complex, uncertain process. Clients of ASG use a wide range of different production and logistics systems – from enterprise-class ERP systems to custom-developed web services platforms – and integrating these with ASG’s own Java-based platform used to be a difficult task. The process usually involved weeks of requirements-gathering by ASG’s business analysts, and then complex interface coding by its development team.

ASG Worldwide offers clients the complete packageRapid, seamless integration into clients’ systems and processes helps maintain competitive advantage

OverviewThe needThe clients of ASG need to be able to launch products in multiple countries on a tight schedule. The ability to deliver correctly localised packaging on time and in the right quantities is a key challenge.

The solutionASG uses IBM® WebSphere® Cast Iron® Hypervisor Edition to integrate data from its clients’ systems (such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server databases, QuickBooks and SOAP web service endpoints) into its own localisation and manufacturing processes, providing a seamless end-to-end service.

The benefitThe ability to offer rapid, low-cost integration is a competitive differentiator for ASG. Analysts can now integrate systems without help from programmers, reducing costs and accelerating delivery.

WebSphereIBM Software Industrial Products

“Successful integration relied on our analysts getting the right information from the client about their systems, and then communicating it accurately to our development team,” says Dave Meaker. “If any details got lost in translation, it could lead to defects, re-work, delays, and ultimately even failure of the integration project.”

When ASG decided to outsource its development work to an external off-shore provider, the potential for miscommunication became an even greater risk. The company realised it needed a better way of handling integration projects, and began looking for a solution that would simplify the development of new interfaces.

Finding a solution“Our business analysts evaluated a shortlist of three products, and chose IBM WebSphere Cast Iron Hypervisor Edition,” comments Dave Meaker. “They were impressed by its ability to simplify the integration process to the point where they can design the interfaces themselves, without any need for specific programming knowledge.”

The ASG team installed the WebSphere Cast Iron solution as a virtual appliance, running on a server in third-party data centre. The implementation was quick and straightforward – the solution was up and running within six weeks, without any support from the vendor or from external consultants.

“Since WebSphere Cast Iron Hypervisor Edition runs as a virtual appliance, there is very little to worry about in terms of infrastructure or technical maintenance,” explains Dave Meaker. “Since our original implementation, IBM has even launched a cloud-based version of the solution, which we might consider adopting as we move our operating platform into the cloud. This could give us greater flexibility as our use of Cast Iron expands.”

Simplifying interface developmentThe WebSphere Cast Iron Hypervisor Edition virtual appliance sits between the standardised application programming interface (API) of ASG’s internal systems and the external client systems that need to be integrated. Cast Iron acts as a repository for business rules that translate messages from ASG’s systems into a format that the clients’ systems can process, and vice versa.

When ASG wins a new client, its business analysts simply create a new set of rules in the virtual appliance to map the unique requirements of the client’s systems. Thanks to Cast Iron’s simple interface and native support for integration with a wide range of common technologies, protocols and message formats, the business analysts are now able to

Solution componentsSoftware• IBM® WebSphere® Cast Iron®

Hypervisor Edition

WebSphereIBM Software Industrial Products

handle the entire integration process themselves, drastically limiting the need for the ASG development team to make changes to internal systems. Moreover, if requirements change, the rules can be updated in a matter of minutes – much faster than a traditional IT change request, which might take days or weeks.

“In essence, we closed the gap between requirements and delivery,” says Dave Meaker. “Now, the person who has the knowledge of the requirements also has the responsibility to deliver the interface, and we use Cast Iron Studio to document the results.”

Faster response to clients“WebSphere Cast Iron Hypervisor Edition not only saves money by reducing our development team’s workload; it also helps us respond much more quickly to new opportunities with clients,” comments Dave Meaker. “The fact that we can offer fast, low-cost, low-risk integration into their production processes is a key differentiator for our business.”

He continues: “It doesn’t matter whether a potential client is a small business with relatively simple systems, or an enterprise with a complex Oracle or web services landscape – WebSphere Cast Iron Hypervisor Edition gives us the tools to meet their needs. Since we adopted the virtual appliance, our success rate for integration projects has risen to nearly 100 percent.”

Seamless deliverySimpler integration means lower costs, faster delivery, and less risk for ASG and its clients. Once the systems have been integrated, ASG is able to work seamlessly with its clients, delivering the right quantity of the right packaging with the right localisations to the right places at the right time. Ultimately, this helps clients meet their own delivery deadlines to end-customers, which helps to build stronger relationships all along the supply chain.

“IBM WebSphere Cast Iron Hypervisor Edition has already made a significant contribution to our business – helping us support our existing clients more effectively and make our bids for new business even more compelling. At the same time, it has reduced our own development costs and served as a key enabler for outsourcing development to an offshore provider. As a result, we’ve seen Cast Iron deliver a full return on investment in less than 12 months.”

For more informationTo learn more about IBM cloud integration solutions, contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit us at: ibm.com/castiron

“WebSphere Cast Iron Hypervisor Edition not only saves money by reducing our development team’s workload; it also helps us respond much more quickly to new opportunities with clients.”

— Dave Meaker, Programme Manager, ASG Worldwide

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© Copyright IBM Corporation 2013

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Produced in the United Kingdom March 2013

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