Specialties elements that have so far been partially or sufficiently adapted in how we operate,” says Mark Dorn, corporate senior vice president and global head/craftsmen, construction, and professional business at Henkel’s adhesive technologies subsidiary. “This includes procurements, production, supply chain, sales, and innovation. Digitalization is a key enabler for customer and consumer value creation. The data generated along the customer journey will allow us to better serve our consumers and customers through the insights generated,” he says. Dorn is also responsible for the worldwide customer experience at Henkel’s adhesive technologies and for the digitalization efforts of the business. “Digitalization will enable the adhesive technologies business unit to launch products and services faster, in a more targeted, personalized, and efficient manner to our consumers and customers, based on a seamless customer journey,” he says. Accelerating digital transformation Digitalization, unlike digitization, is about using digital technologies to improve business processes rather than merely mapping and representing an existing lab workflow in a digital form, according to Max Peterson, associate vice president/chemicals and materials at scientific informatics company Dotmatics (Bishops Stortford, UK). “Digitalization goes hand in hand with business transformations. It is about rethinking workflows and providing a more efficient way of doing it,” Peterson says. “Our mission at Dotmatics is to give scientists access to all of the data all the time. What makes us unique is that we always start with the question of how we get the data out rather than how do we put it in.” Dotmatics says it is using companies’ existing infrastructure and data-intelligence capabilities to offer them an additional infrastructure that can provide a more holistic view on their data. It is also mapping workflows and proceeds to diverse innovation initiatives, it says. “We can use the same technology that is used to harmonize existing data, to take a workflow and map the requirements onto the IT infrastructure,” Peterson says. Dotmatics also offers lab data automation services—infrastructure that can automate the flow of data through the systems, Peterson says. Dotmatics has collaborated with specialty chemical companies such as Arkema, Clariant, Croda International, and Firmenich, chemweek.com as well as with BASF. “There is currently a production employees in analyzing positive momentum as more companies in manufacturing processes and measure-the industry are interested in partnering with ment data, detecting patterns and trends us to advance their digitalization efforts,” in these data, and thus improving the Peterson says. “Digitalization tops the agenda production process,” says Hellwig. of many specialties and chemicals companies. Lanxess says it is furthering its digitaliza-There is time pressure to advance digitaliza-tion and now working on linking all the data tion and now the drive for it comes from a in its supply chains, from raw-material managerial or executive level. There is a procurement to the finished goods, to create top-down drive to become more strategic on transparency and improve planning pro-how we use data and start with capturing this cesses. “We are able to react more quickly to data in a more accurate way to use it more changing dynamics and are thus making our efficiently.” supply chains more resilient,” Hellwig says. Digitalization is now seen as part of Altana says it is well underway with a companies’ innovation model, and chemical “comprehensive and integrated” digital firms want to get to the digital transformation program. Beside framework to change the way innovation and speed, digitaliza-they are innovating, according to tion at Altana helps to improve Peterson. “Companies are also customer service, through wising up to the fact that data offering a digital customer needs to represent more interface and an optimized accurately what the subjects of customer journey overall, the the innovations are,” he says. “I company says. A key factor is an think that there is a real disrup-increasingly personalized tion that stands behind that. The customer experience, it says. “It challenges that we are facing, also optimizes the utilization of such as sustainability and climate our plants because production change, require a different type of planning supported by digital PETERSON: Digitalization is innovation that can be achieved tools enables optimal on-time, about business transformation. much faster than what we in-specification deliveries,” traditionally have seen. COVID-Genten says. “We use systems 19 can be seen as a dress rehearsal applications and products [SAP] for future challenges, such as as the basis for our ERP feeding the increasing human applications including e-com-population and responding to merce, as well as leading digital climate catastrophes we are now solutions for customer-relation-starting to experience.” ship management, big data Sustainability is also driving analytics, modern tools for digitalization, since it is no longer collaboration, and web confer-a corporate responsibility but a encing. R&D workflows are also product itself or a way to make part of our strategically defined products more competitive, digital transformation program.” Peterson says. “There is demand Digitalization of Henkel’s DORN: Digitalization will enable for products to be more sustain-adhesive technologies business improved customer experience. able now,” he says. unit started years ago, with Lanxess launched its digitalization large initiatives to digitize processes and initiative in 2017 and established a dedicated systems, Henkel says. “In terms of a digital team. The initiative’s core action areas are to backbone, Henkel Adhesive Technologies has develop digital business models, introduce integrated all business units on one global new technologies throughout the value SAP platform, consolidated their websites on chain, develop and utilize big data, and foster a single technology by Adobe, and today runs digital expertise among employees, it says. a global e-shop with more than €2-billion The company says it is digitalizing at all revenue,” Dorn says. “But this is just a start. levels. “We use artificial intelligence to Based on a dedicated effort, a digital agenda speed up our product development. In and roadmap 2021-23 has been established production, we have implemented a and addresses systematically the opportuni-self-service data analytics system at most ties for further digitalization in all aspects of of our sites worldwide, supporting the business.” ■ 18/25 October 2021 | Chemical Week | 25
Chemical Week October 18/25: Page 25
