Chemical value-added services

Focusing on the complex area of the market where chemicals are required at short notice and in fairly small quantities, chemical distributors have developed over time into important players in the value chain from producers to consumers in a broad role, serving as supply chain managers offering a wide range of logistics and value-added services. 

Leading distributors offer a broad spectrum of these services. Brenntag, for example, as a full-line distributor of industrial and specialty chemicals, provides a one-stop shop of over 25,000 chemical products for more than 150,000 customers, combined with a broad range of related value-added services such as mixing, blending, repackaging, and technical services and support. 

Outsourcing by chemical producers as chemical producers faced up to increasing competition over the past decades, they attempted not only to expand their market positions geographically, but also to improve operational efficiency by focusing on their core activities. As a result, suppliers have continuously outsourced sales and logistics functions as well as related value-added services to third-party distributors. 

Over the course of time, chemical distributors have developed in the complex small-volume, rapid-response area of chemical distribution into playing an important role in the supply chain from chemical producers to consumers. In addition to fundamental delivery capabilities, distributors offer value-added services, skills in complying with environmental and safety standards, and economy of delivery to remote and small customers. 

After recent consolidation and globalization efforts, many chemical companies are now geared towards creating better value for customers. The main way of achieving this is to offer customer-specific products and services. Bundling commoditized products with customer-specific value-added services allows customers to outsource manufacturing tasks and services. 

E-trading platform Focus on highly standardized commodity chemicals Real-time auctions Financial products for risk management E-exchange Focus on intermediates, fine chemicals and specialties Auctions based on bid and ask system Additional value added services, e.g., online product testing... 

Apart from the provision of various permutations of (chemical-based) boiler water programs, it is common to find water treatment companies supplying value adding chemicals and services in other boiler plant-related areas where their expertise in applied chemical technology can deliver additional economic benefit. Such areas typically include cleaning services for boiler waterside and fireside and the provision of fuel treatments and combustion additives, dust suppressants (for coal and ash handling), acids, and cleaner products. 

Chemical Leasing is a service-oriented business model that shifts the focus from increasing sales volume of chemicals towards a value-added approach. The producer mainly sells the functions performed by the chemical and functional units2 are the main basis for payment. 

If the distributor does not play an important role in terms of value-added and customer access, a direct disintermediation approach may be advisable. Such a strategy is unlikely to lead to complete elimination of the distributor, since chemical producers will not want to build capabilities speciBcaUy for the complex supply chain management of small customers. However, the distributor s role will change more to that of a logistics service provider. The approach of some of the consortia remains to be seen here. 

Money is a measure of the value of products and services. The value of a chemical material is the price it can be exchanged for in dollars. Investments may be made in units other than dollars, such as stocks, bonds, grain, oil, or gold. We will often refer to value, or value added, in describing investments. The term va/ue is a general one and, in our case, maybe assigned a dollar figure for economic calculations. 

In reality, however, water treatment companies sell services, such as technology transfer, problem solving management, and applications specialization. These services, when used with chemical tools, provide a range of benefits, including operational efficiencies and added value to customers product. 

Based on this understanding, a unique selling proposition that is not based just on products (i.e., chemical molecules) but on a whole concept of products, qualities, innovations, and services that offers added value to the customer and also allows Degussa to share in this value. 

Profile The company provides scientific information products and services to the fine-chemical, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, biotechnology, and academic research communities. Synopsys operates worldwide, with offices and distributors in Europe, the United States, and Japan. It specializes in chemical reaction databases that deliver added-value information and refined data. 

The Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) Registry has more than 90,000,000 organic and inorganic substances with about 16,000 added per day. CAS hsts more than 65 million protein and DNA sequences. CAS has a database (CHEM-LIST) of about 315,000 regulated substances. More than 60,000 chemical compounds have significant economic value and are in the marketplace. 

Stabilizer n A chemical added to some plastics to assist in maintaining the physical and chemical properties of the compound at suitable values throughout the processing and service life of the material and articles made therefrom. An emulsion stabilizer serves to keep emulsions and suspensions from separating. A viscosity stabilizer is used in vinyl dispersions to retard viscosity increase on aging. An agent used primarily to protect plastics and rubbers from deterioration by oxidation is called an... 

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