SET Releases

(Translation) Form 57 (Y2K) Report on the preparation to solve the anticipated problems with the coming of the year 2000 Thanulux Public Company Limited+s main business is textile industry and clothing. The company+s head office is located at 129/1 Chongnontri Road, Chongnontri, Yannawa, Bangkok 10120. Its telephone numbers are 2950911- 19, 2954171-80 and its facsimile is 2945101. This is the first report on the preparation to solve the anticipated problems with the coming of the year 2000. The information was finalized on June 30th, 1998. The Company has been aware of the problems of the year 2000, concerning both the Information System and the Embedded System, which may affect the personnel, accounting, production, and business departments. Therefore, the company has prepared and planned for Y2K in order to be able to cope with any problems which may occur. The relevant technical adjustments are expected to be completed within the third quarter of 1999. 1. Analysis and Assessment of the Impact At present, the Company is using two computer systems to process data - - Mainframe and PC. The Company is well aware of the problems which will occur in the year 2000 and has been trying to solve the problem since 1996. From the study, it was discovered that the data processing conducted on Mainframe Computers will definitely be problematic in 2000. As a result, the Company plans to solve the problem by downsizing all of its computers from Mainframe to PC. The Company has already set up the LAN system to replace the mainframe. As for the LAN system which is currently in use, it is in the process of operating, testing, and revising. Parts of the software have been developed by the Company itself whereas others were bought from software vendors. The newly-developed software has already been tested to make sure that it can be used to solve the problem of the year 2000. In analyzing and assessing the impact which will result in 2000, the Company has appointed a team to study the impact and search for solutions before the year 2000 finally arrives. 2. The Impact of the Year 2000 on the Operation of Business The impact is likely to be on computer systems and internal management systems. The Company has set a policy dealing with the development of different software in order to cope with the impact of the year 2000 and to carry out tests. The Company is actually an industrial factory which mainly uses human resources. There is some machinery and equipment that uses microprocessors and thus will not be affected by the year 2000. It is not expected that there will be any impact on the factory and its production. There are 3 cases of possible impact outside the company: Case 1 Connecting data among the affiliated companies -- the Company and its affiliation will cooperatively solve the problem of the year 2000. Case 2 Connecting data with government and financial institutions such as data about salary transferred to the bank and data about social welfare sent to the Office of Social Insurance. The Company will contact such organizations to change the data to be delivered. Case 3 As for the company+s business partners such as suppliers, the company will hand out questionnaires to elicit information on the Y2K problem for later use. From the above analysis, the company is going to downsize from mainframe computers to PC's. Consequently, in the plan to deal with the problem of the year 2000, only the hardware of PC will be tested. To make it easier to monitor and test, the team has divided the problems into two parts, as follows: Part one Hardware * Computers 1. Mainframe There will be a direct impact of the year 2000 on the mainframe, so the Company will cancel its use and downsize it. The downsize of the mainframe is expected to be completed within the second quarter of 1999. 2. Servers There will be no impact on the servers because they are new computers which were bought to replace the mainframe to cope with the problems of the year 2000. Budget Approximately 1,000,000 Baht. The person responsible for the operation Mr. Narongsak Natepisarnwanich 3. Microcomputer / Workstation From the initial test, computers can be divided into 3 groups as follows: Group 1 Those with no Y2K problems Group 2 Those with the problems which can be corrected by a change of date... Group 3 Those with the problems that cannot be corrected The person responsible for the operation Mr. Somphob Visuthithep Budget Approximately 1,300,000 Baht. * Peripherals, i.e. printers, modems, and scanners Since the company itself cannot test these peripherals, the person who is responsible for the operation will have to contact the distributors of this equipment for confirmation that they are able to deal with the problems of the year 2000. The person responsible for the operation Mr. Somphob Visuthithep Budget Approximately 900,000 Baht. * Networking Products, i.e. routers, switchings, hubs, LAN Card (s) Since the company itself cannot test these networking products, the person who is responsible for the operation will have to contact the distributors of this equipment for confirmation that these products are able to deal with the problems of the year 2000. The person responsible for the operation Mr. Narongsak Natepisarnwanich Budget Approximately 1,000,000 Baht. * Other accessories with embedded computer systems such as PABX, COMMARKING, Card Strippers, BARCODE scanners, production line controlling computers, satellite equipment, SECOM, and production machinery with monitors, etc. Since the Company itself cannot test these accessories, the person who is responsible for the operation will have to contact the distributors of these accessories for confirmation that the accessories are able to cope with the problems of the year 2000. The person responsible for the operation Mr. Narongsak Natepisarnwanich Part 2 Software Software is divided into 5 categories as follows: * Operating System Software, i.e. Dos, Window 3.11, Window 95 This software has the problem of reading the year 2000 and has to be corrected by the manufacturers. The person who is responsible for the operation has to obtain the information from different sources as well as keep abreast with updates on how to correct the problems from the Internet, software distributors or magazines. In the case that the manufacturers are not able to solve the problems in time, it is worth note that there will be no impact on the main operation systems of the Company. The systems can still be operated with no obstructions. The person who is responsible for the operation Mr. Narongsak Natepisarnwanich * Database Management Software, i.e. SQL, FoxPro SQL has a problem with the year 2000 but the Company has already downloaded Service Pack 4 to initially correct the data. However, there are the problems of Backup Database and Task Manager which still cannot be solved. According to the documents of Microsoft, Service Pack 5 is going to be released to specifically solve the problem. The Company will have to wait for the download from Microsoft Company. If the problem cannot be solved in time, the information backed up before 2000 will no longer be usable, and the date 29 February 2000 will not be recognized, on part of Backup Database and Task Manager respectively. FoxPro has no problem with the year 2000. The person responsible for the operation Mr. Baramee Kannikar * Network Operating System Software, i.e. Window NT This software has the following problems: - User Manager : users' expiration date set up will not be affected even if the problem cannot be solved in time. - Date time : the date running on screen will not match that on the actual calendar. If the problem cannot be solved in time, "screen date" will be incorrect. However, there will be no direct impact on the information itself. - Find File : the search for files will be problematic if the years are kept in a two-digit form. If the problem cannot be solved in time, when searching for a file, the year needed must be keyed in a four-digit form so that the operation will not be affected. The Company will obtain information from various sources and keep abreast with solutions posted on the Internet, and from the suppliers or magazines. The person who is responsible for the operation Mr. Narongsak Natepisarnwanich * Software applications Software applications can be divided into 3 parts as follows: Part 1 The mainframe-based software developed by the Company will be replaced by PC-based software also developed by the Company itself. All the software will be tested within the third quarter of 1999, on the following operating systems: - Inventory System of the Company's branches - Human Resource System - Asset System Part 2 Customized software to solve the problem of the year 2000 such as the Inventory System. Part 3 Off-the-shelf software to solve the problem of the year 2000 such as the accounting system. The person responsible for the operation Miss. Siri Ratanapaiboon Budget Approximately 9,000,000 Baht, which can further be divided as follows: 1. For customized software -- 5,000,000 Baht 2. For off-the-shelf software -- 4,000,000 Baht * Software, i.e. Lotus, MS-Office, Nomon, Visio The Company will search for norton information from various sources and will keep abreast with the solutions posted on the Internet or from the software developers or magazines. The person responsible for the operation Miss. Siri Ratanapaiboon 3. Solution Plan In order to solve the problems which may take place in the year 2000, the Company has come up with the following plan: Operation Plan--Timetable of Thanulux PLC. Action Plans 1997 1998 1999 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 1. Set up the Y2K committee Q1 2. Compile a report on all the computer systems currently in use: - Hardware Q1 Q2 - Software Q1 Q2 Q3 3. Write a report on the Q2 Q3 Embedded System equipment 4. Design the operation plan Q3 to solve the problem with the year 2000 5. Test all the computer equipment Q2 Q3 to make sure that they can deal with the year 2000 6. Correct the parts with an impact Q3 Q4 on the Hardware Operating System 7. Correct the operating systems which will be affected by the year 2000: - programs developed by Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 the company - customized programs Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 - off-the-shelf programs Q3 Q4 8. Test the corrected operating systems which will be affected by the coming of the year 2000: - programs developed by the Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Company - customized programs Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 - out-of-the-shelf programs Q1 Q2 9. Test the operating systems Q3 Q4 connecting the Company with other organizations which will be affected by the coming of the year 2000. 10.Test all the computer systems Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 for the last time before putting them in actual use. 4. The Company+s Current Problem Solving Operation 4.1 The Company has come up with an operating plan and set up the Y2K committee which consists of 5 members from the company's board of directors and representatives from the data processing division. The head of the committee is Mr. Vinai Panusuwan. 4.2 The Company has compiled a report on all the computer systems currently in use as well as conducted an initial test to classify its own hardware. 4.3 The Company has hired a firm to develop the Inventory System. 4.4 The Company has downloaded Service Pack from the Internet to solve the problems with software and to retest the results. 4.5 The Company is now buying the accounting system. 4.6 The Company is now trying to solve the problems with the internal systems developed by the Company itself. 4.7 The Company is now contacting the distributors of the equipment and accessories. 4.8 The Company is now contacting its supplies to investigate the Y2K problems. 5. The Administrative's Analysis and Explanation The Company has been studying the problems of the year 2000 since the end of 1996 and set up the Y2K committee since early 1997. The Y2K committee consists of 5 members from the board of directors and representatives from the data processing division. The Y2K committee have been set up to study and make needed preparations for the year 2000. The Company is a manufacturer of ready-made clothes and leather goods and it depends largely on human resources. There are only some machinery and equipment with microprocessors. However, these microprocessors will not be affected by the year 2000. The problem with the year 2000 will affect the data processing system of the Company. The Y2K committee have set up an operation team to study and analyze various aspects of the problems and their solutions. The operation team has reported on the operation plans to the Y2K committee. As for the study and preparation of the operation team, the Company will be able to solve the problems with the coming of the year 2000 within the third quarter of 1999. We hereby certify that we have checked the statements and information included in this report and guarantee that all the statements and information are accurate and complete, not misleading, and no important information, which may cause damage to the shareholders or buyers, is missing. To prove that all the certified documents are exactly the same, we have assigned Mr. Vinai Panusuwan to sign each page of this document. If any of these pages does not contain the signature of Mr. Vinai Panusuwan, we would regard it as invalid and is not the document we have certified. Name Rank Signature 1. Mr. Somchai Songsakdecha Managing Director 2. Mrs. Varindr Leelanuwatana Deputy Managing Director 3. Mr. Vinai Panusuwan Board 4. Miss Dusadee Soontrontumrong Board 5. Mr. Supotch Pakaworawuth Board 6. Mr. Sopon Narongkananukul Board 7. Mr. Wichai Suthitivanich Board Authorized Member: Mr. Vinai Panusuwan, Board, Signature _____________