In a difficult area, chemical manufacturer faces many challenges every day. Due to tight construction period, high cost and stricter supervision, some chemical manufacturers have to adhere to their tested operation methods.
Many believe that implementing change will undermine their productivity and put them at a disadvantage. In fact, however, the unpopularity of change is the reason that has hindered some chemical manufacturers from moving forward.
So what are the main challenges for chemical manufacturers?
Keep the reaction to the changes in industry prices
Raw materials used by chemical manufacturers are often expensive. As markets fluctuate between countries, the associated price drop may make manufacturers vulnerable. Take the US 2014 shale gas price drop as an example; as a result, competition in Europe has intensified, which has put additional pressure on manufacturers in this already stressed market.
Manufacturers can hardly control these broader market costs. What they can do, however, is to pay close attention to their internal costs and processes.
With ERP software, manufacturers can gain more visibility into budgets, revenues and costs, in addition to raising their awareness of the inefficiency that exists in the process. By keeping informed, you can respond to the rise in market prices and minimize their impact on your business.
Overcome traceability
Unlike some other industries, traceability is a key priority for chemical manufacturers. Due to strict regulations in the industry, every material needs to be fully traceable before possible recall or quality audit.
Therefore, chemical manufacturers need to establish an effective support system and procedures to effectively obtain these data before they need to. The availability of data makes it easier to identify the root cause of product problems.
Analyze the performance of the final product
In such a complex manufacturing process, it is easy for chemical manufacturers to ignore the performance of their final products. Only by analyzing the complete end-to-end cost of a product can they determine how successful a product is.
This success is often attributed to a hypothesis. However, by acquiring big data, chemical manufacturers can understand the real cost of their operations, which is a key driving force for organizational change. This is the impact factor effect; by gaining visibility into operational inefficiency, manufacturers can implement changes to gain greater advantages than competitors.
The last idea
If you resonate with any of the above challenges, it may be because you are experiencing similar problems caused by inefficient software solutions. What are your answers to the following questions?
Is all the core manufacturing processes visible?
Can you track the product simply and effectively?
Do you fully understand the total cost associated with production?
If one of your answers is “no”, this may indicate that your existing software solution does not run the way it should. To drive your business forward, implementing this change may be a competitive advantage for chemical manufacturers.