Chemical Industry
Complex and Diverse
The chemical industry is one of the most diverse and complex industries in the world. With growing global competition, increased demands for high product quality and intensifying cost pressures, a variety of business improvement opportunities exist for chemical companies today.
SBTI clients in the chemical industry find great value in applying process improvement tools such as Six Sigma statistical multi-vari analysis and designed experiments (DOE) to achieve optimum yields while reducing production costs and maximizing profitability. Optimization goals typically involve competing business objectives and require identification and solution of multiple response models. Development of these models requires evaluation of linear, quadratic and interaction effects between key process control factors. Many of these chemical processes involve the evaluation of mixtures effects and thus require the application of mixture designed experiments.
While Six Sigma tools are of great value to chemical industry clients, many opportunities also exist in the application of lean techniques. Cash flow improvement and working capital reduction are addressed through optimizing inventory levels and reducing cycle times. Cycle time reduction in various areas such as batch chemical processing, maintenance turnarounds and loading operations result in significant financial benefits.
What’s the Response?
Process improvement activities for chemical clients are not restricted to manufacturing operations. With complex global supply chains, chemical companies face ever growing challenges to optimize purchasing processes, logistics and supplier quality. Application of the entire Lean Six Sigma toolkit allows chemical clients to reduce defects, lower working capital and improve supplier responsiveness.
Process improvement of transactional business processes also applies to internal processes such as quarterly closing of books, human resource hiring procedures, price quoting and computer helpdesk requests. While the list of internal business processes is quite extensive, these processes have generally not been analyzed with the same rigor as manufacturing operations. Companies in the chemical industry typically find major financial returns when applying Lean Six Sigma techniques to these processes.
Keys To Market Growth
Finally, innovation and new product commercialization are key to market growth and increased profitability in the chemical industry. Companies that lag behind in these areas tend to find themselves competing on a commodity, cost driven basis against an ever-growing number of global competitors. SBTI’s approach to market-based product design and development using Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) brings state of the art tools and methods that facilitate the integration of business, sales, marketing, technology and manufacturing processes for effective and efficient development of new products. Using this methodology companies develop and launch products focused on market needs with maximum profitability. The use of DFSS allows the client company to create win-win relationships with customers that set the stage for market expansion and income growth.
How Can We Help?
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