Chemical competitive differentiation

The various formulatory raw materials necessary to produce these programs are available as either commodity, semispecialty, or specialty chemicals worldwide. Although today all water treatment companies, no matter their size or location, have virtually the same opportunities for materials sourcing, some depth of experience is required to provide blended (and branded) products that have genuinely beneficial properties and the potential for competitive differentiation. 

The portfolio of services performed by chemical distributors is an important opportunity for competitive differentiation. Specifically, these services include ... 

Three interrelated trends of globalization among chemical producers and customers, increasing QHSE (quality, health, safety, and environment) standards, and outsourcing by the producers and customers are currently shaping the chemical distribution industry, offering distributors considerable opportunities for competitive differentiation. 

Because commodity and fine chemicals tend to be purchased on the basis of their chemical composition alone, they are undifferentiated. For example, there is nothing to choose between 99.9% benzene made by one manufacturer and that made by another manufacturer, other than price and delivery issues. On the other hand, specialty chemicals tend to be purchased on the basis of their effect or function and are therefore differentiated. For example, competitive pharmaceutical products are differentiated according to the efficacy of the product, rather than chemical composition. An adhesive is purchased on the basis of its ability to stick things together, rather than its chemical composition and so on. 

Competitive immunoassays may also be used to determine small chemical substances [10, 11]. An electrochemical immunosensor based on a competitive immunoassay for the small molecule estradiol has recently been reported [11]. A schematic diagram of this immunoassay is depicted in Fig. 5.3. In this system, anti-mouse IgG was physisorbed onto the surface of an SPCE. This was used to bind monoclonal mouse anti-estradiol antibody. The antibody coated SPCE was then exposed to a standard solution of estradiol (E2), followed by a solution of AP-labeled estradiol (AP-E2). The E2 and AP-E2 competed for a limited number of antigen binding sites of the immobilized anti-estradiol antibody. Quantitative analysis was based on differential pulse voltammetry of 1-naphthol, which is produced from the enzymatic hydrolysis of the enzyme substrate 1-naphthyl phosphate by AP-E2. The analytical range of this sensor was between 25 and 500pg ml. 1 of E2. 

Competition is the most effective driving force for innovation. In competitionintensive, quality-differentiated, saturated and demand-dominated markets the most important impulses for hazardous substance substitution should originate from the customers, both from the end customers and from industrial or commercial chemicals users ... 

When the question is raised today as to how the European production industry faces global competition, the answer is quality competition and knowledge-based product differentiation. At the same time it is noted that classic areas of the chemicals industry, such as the production of textile dyes, is practically nonexistent in Europe today. This poses the questions of how do the economic actors... 

ChemKit is the only consultancy which has accumulated the specific technical know-how in the sector, as well as all the experience from studies of pilot projects and focuses 100% on the implementation of Chemical Leasing projects. Due to its concentrated knowledge, specialisation and competence, ChemKit is highly differentiated from its competition. 

Microarrays based on cDNA or oligonucleotides differ fundamentally in how their experimental outputs are analyzed. Typical cDNA arrays are hybridized with differentially labeled cDNA pools generated from two separate RNA sources. For example, RNA may be harvested from untreated cells grown under a standard set of conditions and the cDNA produced from this RNA pool may be labeled with one fluorescent dye. A second RNA sample is then harvested from the same cell type after it is treated with a chemical or grown under a different set of conditions, and the cDNA is labeled with a second dye. Once the two cDNAs can be distinguished by their labels, equal amounts are mixed and hybridized competitively to the same cDNA array. The ratio of one dye signal to the other at each probe will reflect relative differences in abundance between the two RNA samples for the gene represented. 

Finally, interest in biotech has increased recently thanks to its role in product innovation. At a time of increasing competition from Asia in established products and the subsequent commoditization and strong price decline, chemical companies are once again looking to innovation as a key source of differentiation. At the... 

The problem of differentiating the rates of back electron transfer and of chemical reaction of radical ions can be addressed in one of two ways either the rate of reaction of the radical ions can be increased, or the rate of back electron transfer between the components of the radical ion pair can be suppressed. Although the reactivity of the component radical ions can be manipulated by standard physical organic techniques (which alter the electron density and steric access to sites of electron sufficiency or deficiency), it is very difficult to change the chemical reactivity of fixed members of a donor-acceptor pair. Yet the rate of chemical reaction, rearrangement, or trapping of the individual radical ions must be competitive with the rate of back electron transfer (the reverse of Eq. 1) if net chemistry is to be observed. Obviously, if the rate of reaction of these radical ions is extremely fast, the relative rate of back electron transfer may be slow enough to obviate this problem. 

Desjardins C, Maruniak JA, Bronson FH (1973) Social rank in house mice Differentiation revealed by ultraviolet visualization of urinary marking patterns. Science 182 939-941 Humphries RE, Robertson DHL, Beynon RJ, Hurst JL (1999) Unraveling the chemical basis of competitive scent marking in house mice. Anim Behav 58 1177-1190 Hurst JL (1990a) Urine marking in populations of wild house mice Mus domesticus Rutty. I. 

In addition, the methodology recognizes a key difference between the economics of commodities and specialty products that is easily overlooked. There is little risk that a commodity chemical manufactined by a new manufacturer or plant will go unsold if it is priced comparable to the competition. This is because manufacturers are generally imable to differentiate their commodity products from those of their competitors if they are priced the same, and so by the laws of supply and demand, any small increase in supply will lead to a small decrease in price for all manufacturers of the commodity as the market absorbs all the commodity produced by the new manufacturer. As all of the commodity manufactured at a new plant will sell at this new market price, the primary business decision is whether the investment in a new plant is justified by its return. 

Viewed through this lens, innovative activity focused on opportunities for new markets in sustainably designed products presents the chemical industry, and the industries it supplies, with potentially enormous entrepreneurial opportunities. As feedstock providers, chemical companies have the opportunity to shape new competitive space in the near future. They can differentiate their products and strategies in ways that will gain future competitive advantage over those who fail to react. In... 

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