The Intelligent Enterprise For the Chemicals Industry

SAP recently published a very interesting White Paper with detailed data points that outline the importance of the innovation and digital transformation in the chemicals industry in particular, and we wanted to highlight a few that focus on the effect of the supply chain in the bottom line.

There are endless reasons why now is the right time to embark on a digital transformation, especially for companies in the chemical sector. According to many sources like this one, the chemicals industry is heading for a complete makeover this decade, and it will circulate around sustainability, digitalization, and accelerated globalization.

With this in mind, here are some specific ways in which technological advances derived from the white paper that directly impact the chemicals industry, and can potentially answer your questions about whether digitalization is for you:

• Although manufacturers have been using the Internet of Things for some time, now the entire value chain can be connected from development to production to supply chain. Data-driven insights can drive customer-centric innovation, lower material costs, and reduce risk.
• Predictive analysis will enable chemical companies to anticipate downstream supply chain disruptions and take corrective actions in real time.
• Digital technologies such as blockchain, the IoT, 3D printing, and machine learning provide opportunities to optimize, extend, and even disrupt supply chain processes and models. Digitalization benefits supply chain processes ‒ from authentication of raw materials and fair labor practices to automated tank replenishment and fleet management. It helps optimize trading and shipping, additive manufacturing, and product integrity management while minimizing supply chain risk.
• Many chemical companies still suffer from siloed data and lack of integration in manufacturing and supply chain, which prevents them from further automating processes in those key business functions.

To read the full White Paper and further understand the extent to which optimizing supply chain visibility and insights is an intricate part of a sustainable growth pattern for a company in the chemicals sector, please click here.