SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT presenters or vendors, represented 75 % of SOCMA member firms.
There was palpable energy at the event. Sessions were well attended, and exhibit halls pulled a consistent crowd. Several first-time attendees commented on the energy and buzz.
Tariffs & capital
Since the new Trump administration took control, there have been considerable oscillations in federal policies and practices from tariffs to staffing. Robert D. McArver, vice president of government and regulatory affairs at Nouryon offered some perspective on how speciality chemical companies might navigate those changes. The tariff situation is particularly challenging.“ The president himself does not know what he wants to do. It’ s more bark than bite. He wants to see the reactions.”
On the domestic front,“ the biggest opportunity is for improving the Toxic Substances Control Act( TSCA),” McArver said.“ The pre-manufacturing approval is supposed to be 90 days, but has been stretching to two years in many cases. The way that happens is that on the 89th day you’ d get a request for more information. We are going to be seeing big changes to both TSCA and the Integrated Risk Information System( IRIS). We need to have a functional TSCA programme so we can introduce new chemicals.”
Much has been made of the administration’ s advocacy for conventional hydrocarbon energy, especially more drilling for oil and gas. At the same time subsidies and other programmes to foster renewable energy are being reviewed with the intention of scaling them back or cutting them entirely. Even so, many chemical companies are well along in their plans for reducing carbon emissions and increasing use of renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing processes.
“ The administration is focused on fossil fuels at the expense of cleaner options,” said McArver,“ but that does not mean you can’ t continue to pursue cleaner options. Wind and solar power do not have to be federally subsidised to be a more economical option.”
More broadly across the industry the need for capital is being reconsidered. While not a formal theme of the event, capital formation was a common topic of conversation. The last few years have seen a great deal of M & A activity notably by private equity( PE) buying non-core businesses from large public corporations and augmenting those by adding familyowned businesses.
Often, however, the founders and management prefer to keep their hands in, so the call is starting for innovative financing that provides capital to operators, and returns to investors, while allowing experienced managers to keep control. The other long-standing capital challenge is that investors often need to invest large sums to move the needle on their returns, but speciality and toll operators often only need more modest amounts.
Networking supply
“ We have great chemical minds in this industry,” said Jessie Walters, global procurement director for external manufacturing at Evonik.“ We want those minds developing new molecules and filing new patents, not searching records for existing patents.”
In her presentation on driving innovation through AI, Walters stressed the advantage of using AI particularly for retrosynthesis, finding potential sources of supply, and screening existing patents. She discussed several available platforms and observed that the ability to support the make-versusbuy decision using technology“ is fascinating and a little terrifying.”
Reiterating that these are early days for AI, Walters detailed several areas where it can free chemists to focus on the more productive and creative aspects of their work. One would be to facilitate shifting manufacturing especially from offshore to on.“ Remember the goal is not the process, it’ s the finished materials,” she said.
“ AI can save time and effort, cut costs, boost sustainability and optimise operations,” Walters added.“ It can also help prepare data for technical packages.” That said, it could also provide the basis for ending a project.“ Killing a bad project quickly is just as important as executing a promising project quickly.”
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