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Even though the chemical industry is full of data and analysis, there are still many unknowns. Global communication is at an historic all-time high, yet there remains a massive amount of disconnection and misunderstanding within the chemical industry.

For example, how well do chemical producers predict future prices? How well do manufacturers understand chemical legislation? How well do they track public trends, or predict the introduction of chemical product restrictions?

Connectivity in Chemical Industry Influencers

With the EU’s REACH program now fully operational, and other regions close to achieving similar legislative models, chemical companies and downstream users are discovering that they need to have a clearer understanding of how their products are or could be regulated and the related impacts.

As Lorenzo Zullo, Managing Director and co-founder of Chemycal, observes, “in terms of regulatory frameworks, what we are seeing is more and more specific chemicals targeted by regulators. The challenge”, he believes, “is to predict future legislation. Governments don’t just wake up and suddenly decide to regulate the use of a chemical. Generally, everything starts from scientific studies that demonstrate the hazardous properties of a specific chemical. Once the hazardousness is know, attention moves to its use and how it could adversely impact human health or the environment. The outcome of the studies are usually picked up and further investigated by various stakeholders. When it emerges that there are clear potential repercussions on the environment or on particular segments of the society, such as workers, consumers or children, that’s the moment when the problems is brought to the table of regulators and governments starts to act. From this perspective, NGOs and other interest groups plays a catalyst role, speeding up the time needed for a ‘problematic’ chemical to be brought to the attention of regulators.”

In order to predict changes in chemical legislation and potential impacts to companies’ business, there is a need, therefore, to monitor and collate all the inputs and influences that go towards creating chemical legislation.

But with so many influences on governments, how can chemical companies keep track of every participant in the process? Zullo believes that his company has developed a tool that could represent a solution: Chemycal combines IT technologies (i.e. automation and machine learning) and human expertise to collect data from worldwide stakeholders and information sources, link it to chemicals and regions, allowing companies to keep full control of their portfolio of chemicals and products.

An explicative case study is available on the post “Are changes in chemical legislation and potential impacts to your business predictable? Case study: Dechlorane Plus” that he published on LinkedIn.

Connectivity in Chemical Supply Chains

As Zullo observes, “The chemical industry itself might not always have a full understanding of how their chemicals are later used along the supply chain. This is because the communication across industry up and down supply chains is very often discontinuous.”

Zullo clarified his ideas in a recent interview for CIEX 2018 when he explained how, “Information on how chemicals are used along the supply chain is not always accessible to chemical manufacturers. What is needed is innovation and improvement of processes on how actors in the supply chain interact and exchange information, possibly via a single communication system.”

CIEX is the premier event created for R&D and Innovation experts from the consumer, industrial and specialty chemical sectors. Every year, CIEX brings together all players across the value chain to create a unique platform for participants to learn, exchange ideas, and collaborate.

One of the main reasons why a single communication system has never been implemented before is the difficulty to define a model that could operate globally and, most importantly, that could be trusted; some information on chemicals might be subject to business confidentiality. Companies require warranties that the information is managed and stored in a robust and traceable manner and can be accessed by authorised parties.

As Zullo states, “blockchain is a technology potentially highly suited to address this challenge by creating a single, global, secure and trusted infrastructure to exchange and track chemical-related information along supply chains and across sectors”. He is working on the development of a unique global open-source blockchain infrastructure, called “ChemChain” and a standard communication protocol to track and exchange information on chemicals along supply chains and across sectors. ChemChain will provide efficiency, security, reliability, targeted accessibility and transparency among economic operators at different levels of the supply chain.

According to Zullo, “ChemChain would enable tracking of chemicals throughout their lifecycle, enhancing companies’ connectivity and stimulating the establishment of chemical-sustainable circular models.”

Zullo is not alone in thinking that connectivity across the supply chain is one of the keys for enhancing innovation in the chemical industry. Connectivity can be used not only to improve chemical business along the supply chain, but also during production itself.

BASF already has its Sustainable Solution Steering in place; a tool for chemical companies to “evaluate the entire value chain considering industry- and region-specific views in chemical markets.”

Its methodology is to analyse outside influences on specific chemical products. In doing so, it evaluates three key areas:

• Growing customer needs to differentiate with sustainability.
• New regulations and standards in value chains.
• Changing societal and business environments prompting demand for sustainable products.

Meanwhile, BioMar, a leading producer of animal feed is applying the same process to its supply chain. The result is that by, “… year-end it will have finalized a full source-to-market sustainability rating of its entire raw material portfolio.”

However, while the BASF solution and BioMar’s progress focus mostly on the sustainability of raw material inputs and their journey to the consumer, there is a growing need to develop a platform to assess a chemical product’s path through regulatory issues.

Connectivity in Chemical Production

Patrick Deruytter, VP Northern Region Europe for Emerson Automation Solutions, sees setting up an interconnected process for chemical manufacture as something that is integral to the chemical industry’s future.

In a recent interview with the industry journal, Process Engineering, he discussed his vision for connectivity when he said that, “While the chemicals sector must react as best it can to political/economic pressures that it cannot control, it can shape its digital future to ensure unprecedented levels of productivity and competitiveness.

In terms of running a chemical processing plant along data analysis guidelines, he sees the progress made in the automotive industry as a classic example. He observes how, “Twenty years ago there were many more independent dealers and garages, the job today has changed significantly – you bring in your car, they bring out a large diagnostic device and they plug it in.”

Through this technological step, he sees a similar step being made in chemical production. “I think that, for all connected services, we are going to see that trend accelerating,” he notes. “That means a need for diagnostic devices, extended access to huge databases… which will require deeper knowledge, more investment.”

It will also require plenty of innovation. For while technology is creating new opportunities daily, it is only by innovating connectivity between all parts of the chemical industry supply chain that improvements can be made.

Connectivity Among Chemical Industry Professionals

This is because innovation in chemicals does not just come from the chemical industry and chemical researchers. Innovation also comes from the influence of other entities; governments, NGO’s, pressure groups, lobbyists, the media, and campaigns against individual companies.

It is for this reason that Zullo is participating in the upcoming CIEX 2018. An event he sees as, “… an ideal opportunity as it brings together a broad range of actors from across the supply chain.”

As Zullo notes, “Innovation is only possible with full cooperation across the supply chain.”

At CIEX it is possible to connect, discuss and discover the most compelling ideas emerging globally with an unmatched group of innovators from companies such as Merck, DSM, BASF, Cefic, Lego, IKEA, DAW SE, Avantium, Evonik, Unilever, Covestro and many more!

This year, CIEX is scheduled to be held on September 19-20 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Photo credit: Freeimages

There has been a spate of stories in recent months spreading fear of shortages of major chemical feedstocks. But how accurate are they? Fake news? Click Bait? A growing trend? Or simply a part of the natural economic cycle of supply and demand?

One of the most popular stories is the increased demand (and slow increase in supply) of cobalt, a metal used in modern batteries.

Cobalt Shortages

As the BBC reported in June 2018, companies searching for Cobalt deposits were causing a new form of gold rush. The report noting that, “In the past, cobalt supply depended on the markets for copper and nickel, more valuable metals that are typically extracted alongside cobalt. But with cobalt prices on the up and consumption projected to rise by between 8% to 10% a year, its status as a by-product has started to change.”

Chemical procurement officers will note, of course, that this story has been running for some time.

As demand for portable electronics has grown, so has demand for raw materials for batteries. At the same time, electric cars are on the verge of impacting the automobile industry, upping the pressure to source raw materials.

As such, the ‘Cobalt Shortage’ is less of a shock, but more of a long-term trend, well known among chemical industry suppliers. For example, even a year ago, in 2017, a different BBC report asked ‘Could you Cope with Smartphone Rationing?’, stating that, “[Cobalt] has become a crucial metal used in the batteries powering millions of tech gadgets, including the electric cars made by Tesla and others. The problem is, we can’t get enough of it.”

So, the news of supply shortages is in fact not news at all.

Carbon Dioxide Shortages

Another recent popular story was the carbon dioxide shortage that hit the UK a few months ago. Fortunately for the media, the shortage was timed with the FIFA World Cup and a hot summer spell that gave added fear of insufficient gas to give beer its bubble.

As the UK’s Daily Telegraph reported at the time, “Britain’s carbon dioxide shortage has been caused by an unusually high number of closures of the factories which produce the gas as a by-product of the fertiliser industry.

The process of manufacturing ammonia releases vast amounts of CO2, which is captured and sold commercially and on which the food and drinks industry depends. But because farmers need little fertiliser over the summer, ammonia plants often close down for essential maintenance, and the current crisis has been caused by too many plants shutting at the same time across Europe.”

Fortunately, England only made it as far as the World Cup semi-finals, and so there were no major crowd disturbances over the lack of fizz in consumers’ beer.

Research Chemicals Shortages

Another raw material challenge that rises occasionally is the demand for research chemicals.

While the search for a few grams of a chemical product may seem as insignificant as the amount of product, the rarity and obscurity of the chemicals required can make this a common supply problem, and one that requires

As one research chemist explained on the scientific website ChemistryWorld, when he told of the time when he, “… was working at an industrial R&D centre, where dozens of HPLC instruments were using litres of acetonitrile and water, when stocks of acetonitrile began to dwindle.”

At the same time, he describes how, “A hurricane in Texas then resulted in the shutdown of another manufacturing plant, kicking off a dramatic shortage of acetonitrile around the country and prices skyrocketed. In some cases, there was no acetonitrile available, no matter the price offered.”

Fortunately, the author tells how, “Heroically, the analytical manager developed a completely new set of HPLC conditions that used methanol and water. This won him praise and recognition – and allowed the data from those crucial instruments to flow unchecked.”

What is interesting in the anecdote, is the desperation in the author’s tone. Even though the event happened more than a decade ago and was resolved on time, the importance of just a few grams of acetonitrile is still felt. And the colleague who solved the problem (this time with a substitute substance and method) is labelled a hero!

The Emotion of Chemical Raw Material Sourcing

I think we can all sympathise with the drama in these situations. The BBC listener hearing that their mobile phone might be rationed, a hot and thirsty football fan being denied a glass of beer, or a research chemist having his experiments stopped, all were waiting on a delayed or limited supply of chemicals with a sense of helplessness and fear.

However, these levels of helplessness and fear are multiplied when there are delays or supply shortages for industrial chemical products. The stress, the panic, the desperate calling of old contacts to find anyone who can provide the necessary chemicals on time is a terrible train of emotion

So, what then for the raw material procurement officer, who is waiting for a delayed supply of a chemical or production will stop?

A Solution for Chemical Raw Material Sourcing

Today, beyond picking up the phone to search for replacement industrial chemical sources with old contacts, we have the Internet. A chemical purchaser’s dream that can make sourcing chemicals like shopping on Amazon.

But while Alibaba, ChemIndia, and other online trading websites offer a whirlwind blur of offers from far flung corners of the world, perhaps what is truly needed is a longer term trading portal for industrial chemical professionals.

At SPOTCHEMI, (who host this blog page) chemical companies provide offers to sell, can make enquiries to buy, can request information, specifications, and data sheets on any industrial chemical, can join forum discussions on chemical industry trends and challenges, promote their companies or chemical products, and can network with like-minded chemical industry professionals.

No one can totally avoid the emotion of industrial raw material supply chains, there are simply too many factors. But there is a way to smooth the ride!

 You can read more insights into the chemical industry and chemical industry markets at the SPOTCHEMI blog page.

Photo credit: Freeimages

Buzzwords and business go hand in hand.

But don’t worry if this isn’t your field of expertise, because the ‘Dilbert Gobbledygook Generator’ is on hand to help. At the click of a button it creates phrases such as ‘Refigure real-time bottom line metrics’, ‘Implement end-to-end scalable interface’, and ‘Optimize efficient client models’, so you can impress colleagues at your next meeting.

Dilbert, the infamous cartoon businessman, is well-known for his love of buzzwords, as one of his comic strips from 1994 reads:

Colleague to Dilbert: Here’s your “Buzzword Bingo” card for the meeting. If the boss uses a buzzword on your card, you check it off. The objective is to fill the card.
Boss at meeting: You’re all very attentive today. My proactive leadership must be working
Dilbert: Bingo, Sir.

Love them or hate them, business buzzwords will always be here, and nowhere more so than the chemicals business. So, whether you are into ‘blue skies thinking’ or ‘corporate synergy’, here are the top 5 chemical industry buzzwords.

1. Sustainability

Modern industry understands that nothing lasts forever: unless of course it is a sustainable source of raw materials. As the chemical industry increasingly strives to take a stand in the ‘circular economy’ the use of the word ‘sustainability’ will long remain in the chemical supplier’s lexicon.
In fact, you can’t overuse the buzzword ‘sustainable’. Which is quite poetic, really.

2. Innovation

The concept of ‘innovation’ is simply ‘using your brain to improve something’.

Whether you believe in the words of Isaac Newton who described his theories as a result of ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ or the lyrics of the band Barenaked Ladies ‘It’s all been done before’, every new idea is based on earlier thinking.

Naturally, there is no progress or business development without ‘innovation’, which is why every ‘wanna be’ chemical industry executive should keep this word as part of their ‘core-competency’.

3. Big Data Analytics

The idea of using a computer (or a linked ‘cloud’ of multiple computers) to improve efficiency makes clear sense. If the computer can analyse data quicker than the human mind, then it is logical that many computers can analyse huge amounts of data; identifying and fixing problems that the human brain cannot even see.

The use of computers to analyse how chemical products are manufactured, traded, transported, and used simply saves money.

4. Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 works hand-in-hand with data analytics and is set to transform the way that we work, in the same way that the first three industrial revolutions changed everything.

Industry 1.0 Deciding to have industry in factories, not cottage industries.
Industry 2.0 Henry Ford’s production line.
Industry 3.0 Robotic production line (think Japanese automobile industry in the 1970’s).
Industry 4.0 Computers analyse huge amounts of data to streamline business.

However, it is worth pointing out here that the existence of ‘Industry 4.0’ is doubted by some. For example, the respected, and published chemical process engineer, Sean Moran, has questioned, “Is there really a fourth industrial revolution going on? If so, these four revolutions were powered by respectively: water (and later steam), electricity, digital technologies and hot air. #Industry4 #spin #meaninglessterm”

You can make your own mind up.

5. Digitalization

This phrase is very much linked to ‘Big Data’. As the chemical industry consultants at McKinsey note, “Companies can use advanced analytics to extract management-relevant information from the large amounts of unstructured data that they generate.”

While like other buzzwords it may be labelled as a #meaninglessterm, no one can deny the impact that computers have had on our world. And surely it would be crazy to deny the impact that they have on the chemical industry; both its present and its future.

What’s the Purpose of Chemical Industry Buzzwords?

Some buzzwords are just a trendy way of saying something. Why say, ‘That is correct,’ when the phrase ‘Bingo’ may sound much more ‘hip’ in a business meeting?

This is often why English business words are used in non-native English-speaking offices, as they sound linguistically educated and well-informed. For example, in the Czech Republic, the words ‘mitink’, ‘byznys’ and ‘home office’ are everyday words for ‘meeting’, ‘business’, and ‘working from home’.

However, the words in this list are more helpful because they describe a concept that is new. They are a useful to explain a business idea more simply. For example, it is far easier for a chemical supplier to request ‘sustainable raw materials’, than to request ‘raw materials that conserve an ecological balance by avoiding the depletion of natural resources’.

So, ‘Yes’, the chemical industry has buzzwords, but with good reason. The chemical industry has buzzwords because those words are relevant.

You can read more insights into the chemical industry and chemical industry markets at the SPOTCHEMI blog page.

Photo credits: Dilbert, StareCat, MMAWeb, Surrender.biz, & SoftwareStrategiesBlog