Outsourcing trends

Even without the current outsourcing trends, it has always been difficult for service companies to find sufficient numbers of well-trained, experienced, and motivated field representatives. This is because the range of water treatment problems and potential solutions are very wide and the business involves the marketing of many different types of chemicals and equipment, coupled with consulting work and innovative trouble shooting. 

Pine Chemicals, Sifting for Gold (2001) (e.g.) Global healthcare equity research. Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Trends (e.g.)... 

If there was ever a time for this book it is now. With the United States facing continued pressure to follow the global outsourcing trend, the country must adapt to maintain its edge as a global innovator. But how ... 

In the future, the outsourcing trend based on chemical producers strategic focus on core businesses and efficiency considerations is expected to continue in line with the increasing geographical coverage and availability of professional distribution services. 

Since the 1990s, however, the district network has had to come to terms with an outsourcing trend to low-labour-cost countries that is always a threat to mature and... 

Most usually the pretreatment plant is a capital item fixed asset facility, but the trend is increasingly noticeable around the world today for the supply of properly conditioned MU water to be outsourced from a contractor, who either leases a mobile plant to the facility or generates a profit from the direct sale of water to the boiler plant. 

The extent to which the current trend toward mergers and acquisitions continues in life sciences, and also the extent to which larger pharmaceutical companies outsource research and development to smaller companies. It may become necessary for rapid integration of systems between companies that had previously had no relationship at all, and for the secure integration of particular systems between collaborating companies. 

A growing trend is the late-stage outsourcing of commercial manufacturing activities. Conversely, there is also a commensurate increase in early... 

CROs are growing and mutating making it difficult to identify specific trends. However, one thing is certain, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical devices sponsors expect to increase outsourcing to the several hundred CROs. In fact, pharmaceutical companies have already increased their use of CROs from 28% of clinical studies in 1993 to 61% in 1999. This... 

Buyers may use outsourcing as much as possible. This is a modem trend (or perhaps it merely seems so) and often finds favor. Also, buyers may require additional labor services or may relinquish much of the day-to-day water treatment work normally accepted as an in-house function and pass over to water treatment service company contractors. This may include functions such as the disposal of empty chemical drums, chemical tank fillup, or equipment hookups. Such service-oriented contracts are fine, but the buyers cannot totally abrogate all control and have to take responsibility, in the final analysis, for policing their own contracts. 

Distributors with sufficient financial resources, geographic scope and/or knowhow could benefit from these three trends and offer both chemical producers and customers significant value by handling outsourced business and services in a cost-efficient and market-effective way. 

This trend has also been accelerated by the fact that producers have, for instance, steadily increased the minimum order size they are willing to ship directly, seeking to provide direct delivery focused on large and strategic customers and to outsource distribution for all others. 

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. 

Globalization has been a key trend in the chemical industry for many years, with regard not only to business with suppliers and customers on all continents, but also to operations. The shift of production to the Far East and business process outsourcing to India or Eastern Europe are only the latest examples of this trend. 

Scarlett, J. A. (1996). Outsourcing process-development and manufacturing of rDNA-derived products. Trends Biotecbnol. 14, 239-244. 

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