It has been more than a decade that the chemicals industry has adopted IT and related solutions to keep track of raw material spend, freight, and logistics. Fast forward to 2017, big data and analytics have emerged as vital processes for enhanced business activities, better execution of operations, and improved marketing strategy. Most chemical companies are now looking for comprehensive solutions which bring together data on suppliers, sales & marketing, lab information, as well as inputs on the third parties. Today, major players in the chemicals industry strongly believe that people, processes, and technology are not the only pillars of modern business – rather big data and data analytics have joined this list.
Big opportunities which big data brings to the chemicals industry
From dishing out products in huge volumes to adding a human face to their products and services, the chemicals industry has come a long way in the past two decades. Manufacturers are expanding their product portfolio to cater to the new demands of the consumers and gain a competitive edge in the global market. Due to these reasons industry experts are looking for ways in which big data will open new opportunities for the chemicals industry.
Improved pricing, smart production, move towards greener industry, and better management of the workforce are some of the block-bluster opportunities which data has brought into the chemicals industry.
Smart production
Through platforms like Hadoop that seamlessly integrate multiple data sources to provide real-time information on asset utilization businesses can enhance operational decisions. Data analytics further helps in monitoring the amount of energy consumed, bringing down the volume of waste, and boosting the overall ROI. A major area where data has brought big change is that of product distribution. Distribution optimization is a major challenge for manufacturers in the chemicals industry. Through real-time tracking, big data enables companies to transfer products from manufacturing facilities at the right time to various destinations, thereby bringing down the inventory holding costs. This way by bringing together data from various departments in the chemical industry, analytics helps in making smarter and quicker decisions.
Improved pricing
Pricing in the chemicals industry is a rather complex phenomenon. It is often seen that the factors on which the prices have been announced are based on customer insights that turn outdated in a short span of time. By considering accurate data from a variety of sources, we help clients in building pricing strategies that are highly competitive in nature. There are chemicals companies that employ big data to integrate marketing information with production strategy to initiate better contract negotiations and arrive at competitive pricing. It also enables easy revision of existing prices, so that manufacturers can build their procurement strategies.
Enhanced management of workforce
With several companies resorting to employee intelligence and HR analytics to manage their workforce in an effective manner – big data is being employed to gather information from third-party sources, and from front-line managers to forecast workloads as well as to measure job satisfaction and employee engagement. It also helps to consider the least visible contextual insights to improve the hiring process and improve employee retention. Therefore, it is evident that precise information is helping the chemicals industry grow – rather it is a force that is all set to reign in strategic changes in the global chemicals industry.
