In the news for the chemical industry not too long ago was the fact that the Society for Plastics Engineers has undertaken a cooperation with SpecialChem that will allow “SPE members full access to SpecialChem’s Universal Selector database of plastics and additives.”
Those of us who are not plastic or chemical engineers can only imagine the help that access to this resource will provide, for there is certainly a wealth of information in the more than 125,000 chemical datasheets, which will save many man-hours of research time.
As Christophe Cabarry, founder and CEO at SpecialChem said, “This strategic partnership with SPE is completely aligned with our corporate mission to help engineers faster select the products they need by giving them access to all products in the world and the knowledge to select them.”
In a world where information is power, large, well-organised databases can provide a competitive advantage. In the world of the chemical trader a database of chemical businesses is vital. Knowing who wants what leads to profit, and having an industry database (a Who’s Who for business) is so valuable that today a number of companies now provide access to such information.
A company like LexisNexis, which has a huge database of markets, company profiles and even executive directorships. For a fee, access to these resources can help businesses make the necessary contacts for the next big chemical trade.
Meanwhile, the company Ragic enables its members to personalise their own databases, with customised features that allow you to dictate how you access data. A simplified interface, they claim, will speed up the process.
For chemical suppliers, manufacturers and producers who do not have the time to create a database, the company Spotchemi (who host this website) will allow access to theirs. It contains more than 211,000 companies who buy and sell chemical products. The database is structured in a way that allows companies to focus their efforts on a market, region, product user or supplier, thus saving sales time and money.
Databases like these can provide businesses with real market insight, for there are many ways that data can be analysed; for sales forecasting or product trends, competitor studies or basket analysis. You can check out some approaches to data on the kissmetrics blog here. Meanwhile the Database Marketing Institute provides a full list of uses here.
Whatever you think about databases, most chemical businesses cannot afford to ignore information. The Society for Plastics Engineers recognizes the power of a good database. The question is, do you?