Case Study: Rexam PLC achieves near-continuous SAP availability and reduced downtime with Stratus Technologies ftServer systems

Perfect Plants Depend On SAP SOFTWARE AND STRATUS SERVERS To Address Planned And Unplanned Downtime

Rexam BCNA, the North American arm of the world’s largest beverage-can manufacturer, faced a critical manufacturing IT challenge: keep production transactions and reporting available across 17 plants despite planned maintenance, WAN outages or ERP downtime, while avoiding costly on-site IT staffing. The company wanted a “lean MES” that integrated seamlessly with its SAP R/3 environment and allowed corporate SAP updates without disrupting shop-floor operations.

Rexam deployed SAP xMII at each plant on Stratus ftServer fault-tolerant systems with a local database and Acumence analytics, implemented by Tata Consultancy Services. The solution provides local survivability—operators can continue using familiar transaction screens offline, transactions are queued and forwarded when SAP is back online, and ftServer’s always-on design delivers five‑nines availability. The result: reduced R/3 customization, fewer interruptions to production, better information sharing and efficiency, and a cost-effective, low-maintenance platform for continuous operation.

Rexam PLC

Paul Martin

CIO