Chemical Processing - January 2008 - (Page 27) that their companies don’t have a solid grasp of the profitability of sales to individual customers. That lack of understanding typically leads to problems such as providing too high a level of service to too many customers, which in turn translates into schedule variations, excessive changeovers and special services being provided without an appropriate premium being charged. SKU management. Only about half the respondents said that their companies balance the production efficiency objectives of manufacturing with commercial needs to determine the SKU portfolio. Fifteen percent said that commercial needs drive the portfolio, while 30% noted that efficiency goals do so. Participants who said that they used a balanced approach to SKU management reported that, on average, 96% of their portfolio was profitable, compared to the 91% average profitability among respondents who said they didn’t balance manufacturing efficiency with commercial needs. The numbers are similar for the degree of customization that companies will tolerate, as one might expect. That is, 15% of respondents indicated significant levels of customization — essentially the same 15% who said that commercial needs drive SKU decisions. On the other end of the spectrum, 19% said they had little or no customization. Although some level of customization occurs among more than 80% of respondents, less than half charged a premium to recover the associated costs. Ample opportunities remain The results of the Accenture’s “2007 Global Chemical Industry Supply Chain Best Practices Study” highlight several strengths of chemical companies in terms of the supply chain. More importantly, they also highlight several areas where significant progress still can be made. In particular, key opportunities lie in addressing the commercial functions and the way they relate to the rest of the supply chain. For example, chemical companies can take steps to more thoroughly document commercial policies and can establish mechanisms for enforcing and monitoring those policies. Doing so is likely to have positive ramifications far up the supply chain. Companies also can focus on giving manufacturing and supply chain operations a seat at the table in commercial decision-making. That way, those operations will have a clearer view of the commercial requirements that they’ll need to support. At the same time, they’ll be in position to inform the commercial processes so that sales and marketing can factor manufacturing and supply chain realities into commercial decisions — and everyone can work together to address potential issues early on. The chemical industry’s efforts to improve the supply chain are ongoing and so too is the 2007 study. www.chemicalprocessing.com Out Of Order Issue Order lead time Order minimum Order changes Policy not documented, % of respondents 30 30 52 Policy not enforced, % of respondents 37 44 67 Table 1. Too many chemical companies lack documented and enforced polices for order handling. Rather than a one-time snapshot, it’s designed to be a continuing exploration; companies interesting in participating should contact Accenture. The goal, ultimately, is to draw on the broad experience of numerous chemical companies to develop knowledge and insights that can help the industry strengthen its ability to use the supply chain as key driver of high levels of business performance. CP Christopher F. Lange is a Chicago-based senior executive in the chemicals industry group of Accenture. E-mail him at christopher.f.lange@ accenture.com. Tri-Mer-CCS-Whirl-Wet-Ad-08 12/21/07 6:15 PM Page 1 CLOUD CHAMBER SCRUBBER ® “Best Available Technology” for Submicron Particulate • CCS simultaneously treats PM10, PM2.5, and submicron particulate, including stationary diesel emissions. • Treats all soluble gases. • Performance is superior to high-energy venturis, diffusion candles, & ESPs. • Removes particulate down to 0.1 micron with very high efficiency, while also treating ultrafine particulate and condensables below 0.1 microns. • Low total energy consumption; no packing or filters WHIRL/WET Dust Collector for Large Particulate Most Important: Low Water Use, Low Maintenance • 99.5%+ efficient in a wide range of micron sizes • “24/7” zero-shutdown operation • Low cost, proven technology ® ® www.tri-mer.com CORPORATION FAX (989) 723-7844 E-mail: salesdpt@tri-mer.com © 2008 Tri-Mer Corp. USA Tri-Mer ® SINCE 1960 PH (989) 723-7838 January 2008 • 27 http://www.tri-mer.com http://www.chemicalprocessing.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.