Game-changing collaboration at CIEX 2021

Game-changing collaboration at CIEX 2021

Innovation and close collaboration provided the platform for discussions at CIEX 2021. SCI CEO Sharon Todd gives her perspective on the two-day event.    

It’s always great to meet new – and old – contacts at events. For so many months, crossing borders wasn’t possible, physically at least, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thankfully, the Chemical Innovation Conference (CIEX) provided a welcome change.

On 6 and 7 October, we came together in Frankfurt to discuss the challenges and opportunities in our sector. It was an honour for me to give the opening address – in the same year as SCI’s 140th anniversary.

Indeed, this year’s event included a well-paced mixture of talks and panel events that addressed post-pandemic difficulties, the challenges of climate change, the need to innovate and much more.

The chemical-using industries face an array of challenges besides the practical fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Brexit, new regulations, supply chain issues, climate change, sustainability, and geopolitical unrest pose significant problems

As an innovation hub, SCI connects industry, academia, patent lawyers, consultants, entrepreneurs and government, and other organisations. And I like to think of CIEX as an innovation hub too.

We have no choice but to innovate, but we must do so in a collaborative, sustainable way. The climate change emergency, for example, means society is looking to chemistry to help find long-term innovative solutions. That’s what made CIEX such an apt time for those in the industry to come together and navigate these challenges.

Innovating beyond barriers

The theme of this year’s event was ‘Game-Changing through Collaboration’. But I also thought of it as Crossing Borders – not just physical borders, but getting through the barriers that block innovation. These barriers hold back the translation of scientific solutions from the laboratory into business and, ultimately, into society.

Our sector is in the spotlight as never before and we can shape a better future. The debates at this year’s CIEX, and the exchange of ideas that took place, will help move us all forward. And what an exchange of ideas it proved to be.

We heard from an amazing line-up of speakers, addressing some of the industry’s most salient issues. BASF’s Christian Beil spoke about how best to leverage lean experimentation and rapid prototyping to improve customer centricity in product design, while Iris AI’s Anita Schjoll Brede described how we can reimagine the R&D work environment.

Furthermore, Johnson & Johnson’s Luis Allo spoke about the rise of consumer awareness as a driver for innovation. He provided interesting insights on accessing information on real customer trends and needs. DuPont’s Fred Godbille also described several tried and tested methods to assess the voice of the customer.

Elsewhere, Croda’s Nick Challoner assessed how we can unlock innovation through collaboration and partnerships. He also provided an overview of how Croda interacts with universities. On a more technical note, Roman Honeker of Ineos Styrolution outlined the company’s plans to recycle polystyrene using thermal decomposition or by washing and remelting waste.

The discussion on ‘how SMEs interact with corporates’ provided another of the event highlights, with contributions from Clariant, BASF, Chemstars, and SCI’s David Bott. Delegates discussed how SMEs sometimes oversell the potential of their products (without necessarily having much real-world experience) and the allegedly slow-moving, risk-averse nature of some corporates.

Cross-border innovation

Throughout the event, attendees examined what we can do better, how this can be achieved, and the resources needed to make this happen. After all, we must be nimble and flexible in these times of political and social uncertainty.

We can cross borders together – physically and virtually – via close collaboration. And we can cross the borders of what’s possible innovation-wise, removing barriers and journeying into new territory for us all.

You can find the recorded presentation on our CIEX blog. It also contains more than 100 case studies and images captured from past CIEX conferences. Your next chances to join a CIEX related event are during our Virtual – CIEX Data Summit (May 10, 2022) and live CIEX (Frankfurt, October 5 & 6), 2022.

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The road towards circularity and carbon neutrality at Braskem

The road towards circularity and carbon neutrality at Braskem

We are less than two weeks away from kicking off the Chemical Innovation Exchange – CIEX Europe 2021 conference. CXOs from the largest chemical corporations are meeting face-to-face on 6-7 October in Frankfurt. So, join them to discuss the latest chemical innovation and upcoming trends in the industry. As all our speakers are finalizing their upcoming presentations, we are talking to them to find out their core topic. This week, we had the chance to interview Walmir Soller, VP Olefins/Polyolefins Europe and Asia at BRASKEM. Walmir will be presenting on the different paths towards circularity and carbon neutrality. Additionally, he will also be highlighting two key challenges in this area; climate change and plastic waste.

CIEX: Firstly, without giving too much away –what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?

Walmir: Climate Change and Plastic Waste are two key challenges for the world that need to be prioritized on every agenda. Therefore, it requires commitment, drive and urgency from all stakeholders to revert the current trend.

 

CIEX: Secondly, why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Walmir: Climate Change and Plastic Waste in circularity and carbon neutrality are on top of my priorities list. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to share how Braskem sees and addresses both subjects. Besides all the initiatives we are doing, participating in this event is an opportunity to promote the importance of innovation to get to carbon neutrality by 2050. In addition, it will also engage more companies and entrepreneurs in this endeavor.

 

CIEX: Thirdly, what motivates you to join CIEX 2020 and what are your expectations?

Walmir: My previous experience in participating in CIEX has been very positive, with high-quality participants, discussions and ideas.

 

CIEX: The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry. How would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Walmir: The chemical industry has always been very innovative over the years. Producing solutions from garment fibers to packaging for food safety, passing by house insulation and mobility efficiency, which contributed to improving people’s lives. Nevertheless, times have changed. Society demands a faster pace of innovation and transformation to adapt to the new boundary conditions. Thus, innovation efforts will have to be multiplied to meet the expectations of all stakeholders.

 

CIEX: Lastly, what must (chemical) industry leaders do to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Walmir: The chemical industry must be committed to innovating in order to tackle the new and growing challenges of society, governments and the planet. On top of that, climate change and plastic waste are two gigantic challenges ahead of us to get to circularity and carbon neutrality. As such, the chemical industry has an important role to contribute with solutions to both subjects on a global scale.

 

CIEX: Thank you, Walmir. We look forward to your presentation at CIEX 2021!

(more…)

Gaining competitive advantage with the circular economy

Gaining competitive advantage with the circular economy

Sustainability is the language of the future

Sustainability is the language of the future. So, if your business wants to gain a competitive advantage, it must enrol in the school of the circular economy. This was the key message of Richard Haldaimann’s presentation at CIEX 2020.

The circular economy stands on three principles: reduce, reuse, and recycle. The goal is to recreate the natural ‘circle of life’ in the industrial process.

Typically, what we have is a linear trajectory. From raw materials straight to final product, with humungous waste to show for it. This waste which is triggering scientific panic attacks whenever any discourse related to the environment comes up. So, the industrial process needs to change.

However, circularity is only one dimension of sustainability. It has to interact with others so that its purpose isn’t defeated.

Incorporating circularity implies a need to strive for climate neutrality by lowering the overall carbon footprint in a product’s lifecycle. After all, what’s the point of an easily recyclable product if you have to burn more carbon to get it? Reduce.

Dimensions of Sustainability | Entering the Circular Economy
Figure 1: Dimensions of Sustainability

Circularity equally underscores the goal of zero pollution. This means working towards recovering components involved in production, allowing you to Reuse.

You also need to integrate safer chemicals into the production process. Fully biodegradable chemicals, and if not, at least make it easier to Recycle.

Keeping this picture in mind will help you smoothly implement Richard Haldaimann’s 3 steps to securing your competitive advantage. Richard is the Head of Sustainability Transformation at Clariant, an industry leader that provides over 9,000 speciality chemicals to a broad industry.

THREE STEPS TOWARDS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

1) Make circularity and sustainability a strategic imperative

2) Provide your organization with the manpower and connections to access circular business opportunities

3) Foster value chain co-creation and easy-to-understand marketing communication.

ESTABLISH A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE FOR CIRCULARITY

Naturally, nothing works till you decide it matters enough to work. Even from a utilitarian perspective, you can’t lose with the circular economy. By opting for a production cycle rather than a production line, you’ll be effectively:

– Reducing the cost of production due to increased recycling

– Abating consumer anxiety about pollution. Less anxiety improves brand love, thus, pushing competitive advantage.

– Cultivating positive relationships with environmentalist organizations as well as industry stakeholders.

As soon as you decide you have to, the foundation is already solid.

EMPOWER YOUR ORGANIZATION TO ACCESS CIRCULAR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Now for the pillars. Obviously, how to do the deed is unique for each organization, but the principles remain the same.

1) Hardwire sustainability into your production process

At every step of the way you have to investigate how to bring in the dimensions of circularity.

Like this, you’re not trying to find a way to ‘fit’ your product into the circular economy, rather you’re ENGINEERING a product for the circular economy. Beginning at ideation, conduct market research that highlights the sustainability needs and concerns of your customers.

This ensures the development of a product that wasn’t just sustainable on your end but improves the sustainability of other products it interacts with along the value chain.

Regarding Clariant, this approach involves conducting a customer survey on the toxicology and recyclability of their chemicals; including their effect on the customer’s manufacturing process.

2) Create a Team

You need a team of dedicated professionals that combine strategic leadership with excellent capabilities to yield sustainability transformation. Here’s the organizational structure Clariant implements.

– Advocacy and Public affairs: This department is all about cooperating with legal stakeholders, and providing insights on policy developments.

– Sustainability affairs: Your opportunity trackers. They are responsible for bringing all stakeholders to the table and engaging them to discover what issues need to be addressed. An efficient research and dialogue team.

– Sustainable portfolio: Your innovation experts. They mastermind solutions. Providing answers which adapt research findings.

– Sustainable Operations: Finally, your engineers for turning those ideas into reality.

Strategic Leadership for the circular economy | Clariant
Figure 2: Leadership and Responsibility

3. Cross Business Unit Platform

Richard says “collaboration manages complexity and achieves circular economy solutions”. Accordingly, you have to create some kind of platform that encourages cooperation towards sustainable innovation among members of a value chain.

For the plastic industry they cater to, Clariant developed Ecocycle. An entity that unites business units such as recyclers, polymer producers, etc to collectively achieve the goal of reducing plastic waste.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION AND VALUE CHAIN CO-CREATION

What good is all that hard work if it isn’t adopted? For Richard and his team, the first way to eliminate this hurdle is through value chain co-creation and designing for marketing communication. Here’s a good example of how this worked in Clariant.

Value Chain Co-Creation

In the body care industry they cater to, there’s a widespread use of black plastic packaging to create a sense of product exclusivity. Sadly, the dye for these plastics isn’t compatible with the sorting process involved in recycling (sustainability affairs).

So, Clariant involved a key manufacturer in the body care industry-Unilever, and the manufacturers of these sorting machines-Tomra, in generating a solution.

The task was to solve this problem while satisfying the marketing strategy of the black aesthetic (sustainable portfolio). In the end, they created a black (sustainable operations) Near-Infrared (NIR) detectable colourant that met this need.

The market adoption was fantastic. It created a new circular value chain and gave Clariant a competitive advantage.

Marketing Communication

Marketing gives your product wings. To sell a product that provides circularity, you have to help marketing communication by creating a designator that points to that circularity. Hence, Clariant created AddWorks. Manufacturing guidelines that enable circularity. Addworks has a circle designator, printed on products that meet these criteria–a clear and easily understood distinction.

For example, Clariant created a polymer stabilizer which when used in the production of BOPP film, increases its ability to be recycled without compromising quality (more benefits below). The final product bears the designator. Thus, effectively communicating its circular value and encouraging adoption.

Improving marketing & sales communication | Circular Economy
Figure 3: Benefits

Consider now the time to optimise your business for the reality of today. Innovate for the common good and earn your competitive advantage.

 

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Your next chances to join CIEX live are during our CIEX Data Summit (Virtual conference, May 10, 2022)and CIEX Chemical Innovation Exchange (Frankfurt, October 5&6, 2022). Book your ticket at https://ciex-eu.org/.

In addition, you can find past presentations in our video archive at https://ciex-eu.org/presentations-from-ciex-2020/#

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Smart manufacturing – Leveraging on data-driven innovation

Smart manufacturing – Leveraging on data-driven innovation

At the upcoming CIEX Europe 2019 conference on 9th – 10th October in Frankfurt, Germany, Jane Arnold, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Process Control Technology at Covestro will discuss data-driven innovation in her presentation “Smart manufacturing – Leveraging on data-driven innovation”. We have spoken to Jane about her topic of choice and her motivation for joining CIEX 2019.

Without giving too much away – what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?

Jane Arnold: Digitalization is a hot topic in the industry these days. Historically, we have been digital since the first transmitter sent the first signal to the first digital recorder. Over the years we have amassed an incomprehensible amount of data. All of that data tells a story. When you view it with the right lens, then you can leverage the power behind it to make monumental improvements. At Covestro we are strongly focused on how to utilize the data in order to make improvements across the entire value chain from R&D and Project engineering through production to our commercial operations.

Why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Jane Arnold: My first priority for many years has been to optimize production and to make work as easy as possible for the field level workforce – those with their hands closest to production. Full automation means less unplanned outages and less operator exposure to abnormal situations. I am very passionate about the opportunities that go along with the technical advancements over the past few years and want to leverage them to continuously improve operations at Covestro. In turn, the advances that we make also improve energy efficiency, reduce rework, and improve throughput for long-term sustainable advances.

What motivates you to join CIEX 2019 and what are your expectations?

Jane Arnold: CIEX offers a unique opportunity to collaborate and exchange ideas with other leaders in the industry and also offers a platform for connecting with innovative start-ups that are relevant in the industry. I look forward to hearing the advances in the other companies and see what Covestro can learn from their experiences.

The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry – how would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Jane Arnold: When I started this position 2 years ago, I spent a lot of time learning where other companies stood in the area of Smart Manufacturing. I think that Covestro, as well as the other companies represented here are ahead of the curve. Innovation in this industry is very important because the global demand for high-quality chemicals and production levels are ever-growing, while chemical companies strive to significantly reduce or even eliminate their carbon footprint. In our case, the UN Sustainable Development Goals are a part of our company policy and a real driver for innovation.

What must (chemical) industry leaders do to prepare to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Jane Arnold: Leaders of the chemical industry must embrace new technologies and utilize them to their fullest potential in order to remain competitive. In many cases, this needs to go hand-in-hand with a cultural change and establishing new ways of thinking and working in their organization. This is no small feat, but personally I feel energized by this challenge. I couldn’t imagine more exciting times to work in process control technologies than today.

Hear more about innovation, digitalisation and sustainability strategies of the world’s leading chemical producers at CIEX Europe 2019. Register today to meet and listen to speakers from BASF, Dow Chemical, DSM, Henkel, Clariant, Mitsubishi Chemical, Ashland, Covestro, Braskem, Sabic and many more.  Register at ciex-eu.org.

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BASF Aims To Contribute To The Circular Economy Through Efficiency, Smart Waste Management

BASF Aims To Contribute To The Circular Economy Through Efficiency, Smart Waste Management

The director of the Applied Sustainability group of chemical manufacturer BASF, Talke Schaffrannek, recently presented the corporation’s plan, policies and direction of sustainability efforts to BASF employees and associates.  In her address at the recent CIEX conference, she explained BASF’s commitment to contributing to a more sustainable model of general economic activity.

Specifically, the economic model that BASF aims to aide is called the “circular economy”.  The concept it relatively simple, and Schaffrannek boiled it down to two central concepts: keep it simple and close the loops.  Keeping it simple involves maximizing the efficiency of both product and process, while closing the loops refers to the process of turning waste back into useful resources.

Schaffrannek explained that the Applied Sustainability group at BASF has spent several years categorizing the corporation’s 60,000 products into four different sustainability levels: accelerator, performer, transition, challenged.

The evaluation process says that an accelerator is a leading contributor to the circular economy value chain, a performer follows market standards, a transition product is performing below the market standard, yet actively being resolved, and a challenged product is one whose sustainability concern has been identified, but is not being actively addressed.  She says more than 97% of BASF’s products are accelerators or performers.

Evaluation is only half the battle, of course, and Schaffrannek goes on to explain the other half of the battle: implementing new and more sustainable processes and products.  In terms of a single product, she explains that the “keep it smart” process is as simple as identifying the challenge, researching and creating an action plan, and launching the superior product.

The “close the loops” process is a little more difficult, she says, because it requires behavioral change for the firm as a whole rather than for a single product.  It’s all about streamlining production and eliminating waste.  A model which BASF has worked under and continues to follow is called verbund, which requires connecting separate plants to maximize resources.

But that’s not all BASF can and will do to close the loops.  Another new business model which BASF now has their eye on is biomass balance.  This three-step process calls for adding a renewable feedstock to chemical production, using verbund during the production process, and allocating the original renewable feedstock to certain products at the end of product life.  It’s a little harder to envision, but she says it essentially requires monitoring of the renewable feedstock throughout the product’s lifespan.

Schaffrannek admits that changing business processes is an arduous task, and implementation could be far off.  However, she emphasizes the importance of continuously taking steps forward to develop the circular and sustainable economy within the firm.

The full BASF presentation on “Circular economy: Keep it smart, close the loops” is available to view below:

Editor’s note: The next CIEX conference will be held on Sep 19-20, 2017 in Frankfurt, Germany. Visit: http://www.ciex.-eu.org to reserve your seats!

 

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