{"id":5424,"date":"2021-03-12T11:26:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T11:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/?p=5424"},"modified":"2021-03-17T08:19:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T08:19:34","slug":"eastman-chemical-company-finds-right-formula-for-emergency-alerting-with-blackberry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/2021\/03\/12\/eastman-chemical-company-finds-right-formula-for-emergency-alerting-with-blackberry\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastman Chemical Company finds right formula for emergency alerting with Blackberry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eastman Chemical Company, a global specialty materials manufacturer headquartered in Tennessee, has upgraded its emergency notification system by deploying BlackBerry AtHoc.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A warehouse operator has a heart attack while on-site at a chemical plant, collapsing without warning as his colleagues rush to call an ambulance. A process creates a hazardous vapor release that has the potential to put a chemical plant and its surrounding area at risk. A severe thunderstorm threatens the safety of workers who are outside and on elevated equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all three scenarios, communication is critical. The faster one can get the word out about a developing situation, the better. It\u2019s not just a matter of efficiency \u2013 it\u2019s about keeping people safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what Eastman Chemical Company has always sought to do. A global specialty materials manufacturer headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, Eastman was originally established in 1920 to manufacture photographic chemicals for Eastman Kodak. Today, over a century later, it has become a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of advanced materials, chemicals and fibers for everyday purposes. The company now has more than 50 manufacturing sites worldwide and employs approximately 14,500 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, as part of a strategic safety improvement initiative to eliminate workplace injuries, the company re-evaluated its emergency notification infrastructure. After finding it lacking, the company opted for an upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overcoming the complexity of crisis communication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingsport hosts more than just Eastman Chemical Company\u2019s headquarters. It\u2019s also the location of a major manufacturing site. With over 7,000 employees and contractors on-site at any given time, the Kingsport plant is not only Eastman\u2019s largest manufacturing facility, but also one of the largest in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur site hosts five operating divisions and multiple manufacturing operations, both batch and continuous,\u201d said Keith Bennett, Emergency Services Manager at Eastman. \u201cThis is in addition to our corporate campus, which requires completely different messaging from the rest of the facility. Eastman employs its own firefighters, EMTs and fire maintenance teams at this site, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastman\u2019s original emergency notification system used only three device platforms, was antiquated and ill-suited to handle this large site and level of complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe lacked both standardization and modern technology,\u201d said Bennett. \u201cUsing three different platforms, including ringdown phones, two-way radios and pagers, we had the potential for inconsistencies. Sometimes you wouldn\u2019t communicate the same message on each device, or sometimes you\u2019d forget to use one of the devices or only terminate the message on one of them. The device technology was also outdated and not reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After evaluating the market, Eastman chose BlackBerry AtHoc. Trusted by organizations around the world for collaboration in times of critical events and emergencies, AtHoc offers invaluable situational awareness, visibility and control. In Eastman\u2019s case, it eventually would act as the foundation for a customized, on-premises alerting system known as Eastman Alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The birth of Eastman Alert<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we deployed BlackBerry AtHoc, we intended to replace our ringdown phone system,\u201d said Bennett. \u201cBut we wanted to retain both our local pager system and our two-way radios as important communication devices. BlackBerry AtHoc had the ability to interface with these legacy devices while at the same time adding new IP addressable devices such as email, computer pop-up messages and VoIP phones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Eastman completed the initial deployment, it established two different sets of communication templates, one for the manufacturing plant and another for corporate campus. These templates were divided into three categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n