Crossing Traditional Boundaries with Information Technology

The Chemical Process Industries first applied information technology in distinct business processes such as process control, financial analysis, and research computing. Today’s applications have crossed these traditional boundaries by using information technology to integrate across business processes to create Enterprise systems. Furthermore, the new information technology has created new opportunities that have blurred the lines of traditional chemical engineering such as nanotechnology and molecular biological engineering. This session seeks to identify applications that have crossed the traditional boundaries to provide new capabilities and opportunities. Presentations should show how information technology was applied to integrate two or more business processes. The papers will present the approaches used to develop the integration, review lessons learned from the implementation, and describe the value generated from these applications. Papers from outside the traditional chemical process industries are welcome to provide insight in how other industries have successfully applied information technology. At the conclusion of the presentation, a round-table discussion will summarize the critical success factors for implementing information technology. The summary will be distributed to the session participants to assist their own business IT integration programs.