How an ERP System for Chemical Manufacturing Can Address Industry Needs
Market dynamics are rapidly changing the strategic models in the chemical industry. Companies that have an existing competitive advantage are being challenged by eroding customer loyalty, new low-cost competitors, customer and feedstock proximity, intellectual property, and technology know-how.
In a connected world where every chemical company is becoming a technology company, outcome-based business models; end-to end process automation, integration, and collaboration with extended ecosystems; and strategic agility in response to market opportunities and needs will become the new paradigms for a sustainable future. Recent advancements in digital technology are offering connectivity, granularity, and speed in accessing, processing, and analyzing huge amounts of data. Early adopters of these technologies are getting a unique opportunity to master the market challenges and act as game changers or digital disruptors. But how do you prepare for digital transformation, and what are the key strategic priorities you want to enable by it? The starting point of the digital journey is the ability to completely reimagine your business together with customers. That means reimagining your business models, your products, your business processes, and your work. The potential is huge.
Strategic Priorities for Chemical Companies
Leading chemical companies plan to capture new business opportunities by driving customer experience, focusing on step change in productivity, and empowering innovation culture. Leaders focus on these four strategic priorities:
- Deliver tangible customer results. Connect to and collaborate with your customers, understand and become part of their value chains, and leverage digital technology to deliver innovative services and business outcomes instead of selling products
- Simplify to slash cycle times. Run simulations and predictive models, enable real-time sense and response, and leverage IT/OT integration and the IoT to reduce time to market, streamline operations, maximize asset performance, and minimize rework
- Integrate with ecosystems to unlock superior value. Capitalize upon open innovation, leverage extended manufacturing networks, go beyond the boundaries of your existing value chain, and understand your customer‘s customers needs. Adopt the capability to flexibly redesign your network and relationships in line with market dynamics. Chemical companies are emerging with no manufacturing footprint – the manufacturing process itself is not a core competency and can be outsourced to low-cost manufacturers close to sources of demand
- Adopt strategic agility in response to market dynamics. Adjust strategy and portfolio dynamically in response to market opportunities and needs, grow rapidly into new markets or segments, and capitalize on mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs to secure continued growth in a challenging global environment
Successfully embracing the opportunities from new technologies and consequently leveraging them as enablers for these four strategic priorities will be the foundation of successful digitalization and staying ahead of the innovation curve, starting with ERP Chemical Software.
Existing Challenges for Chemical Companies:
All chemical companies are grappling with the reality of the digital economy. These companies are discovering that their existing enterprise systems cannot deliver the capabilities needed to drive their strategic priorities; nor can they help organizations move to the next level of customer experience, productivity, or workforce engagement. The challenges that Chemical Companies face can be broadly categorized into:
Experience:
- Inconsistent user experience across multiple IT systems
- Lack of role-based capabilities and cockpits
- Difficulty accessing contextual insights in real time
Applications
- Multiple applications for the same function across different divisions and business units
- Fragmented application landscape, resulting in a lot of customization, which makes it difficult to embed new technologies
Platform
- Multiple niche platforms to create solution extensions, adding to complexity
- Platforms that are not equipped with built-in intelligent technologies
Infrastructure
- Mergers and acquisitions over the years that have resulted in multiple data centers and silos
- Majority of operational budget going into maintaining existing infrastructure
Benefits of an ERP System for Chemical Manufacturing
Chemical leaders are also investing in an IT environment that enables these strategic priorities and meets the future requirements. With an effective ERP Chemical Software from SAP such as S/4 HANA or Business One, chemical manufacturers can:
- Accelerate new business models and deliver the best customer experience by connecting the front office to the back office
- Realize significant reduction in cycle times and build a more adaptable supply chain, unleashing significant savings and responsiveness
- Engage the workforce with better user experience and by automating high-volume repetitive processes
- Deliver Tangible Customer Results
- Simplify to Shrink Cycle Times
- Integrate with Ecosystems to Unlock Superior Value
- Adopt Strategic Agility in Response to Market Dynamics
Initial results from adoption of SAP solutions are so promising that companies cannot ignore the impact on their industry cost structure and competitive play. This especially includes ERP systems for small manufacturing companies.
Contact us today to see how Saberpoint can help with ERP for Chemical Manufacturing companies.
