German chemical companies go digital

"The leadership of German chemical companies is in danger," Martin Bruderm ü ller, BASF's chief executive, said in the German business newspaper jahristagung Chemie in early April. "We need to be more innovative in Europe." One of the main elements of innovation Bruderm ü ller is "digital transformation", which is a slow-moving area in Germany. Every third of the German chief digital Officer (CDO) does not have a clear digital strategy. So in the chemical industry. According to Ernst & Young's digichem survey, digichem ranked digichem as the first in the German chemical company: 63% of respondents planned and 29% of respondents had achieved 20% of digital conversion activity management, value chain process and efficiency. The number of other segments is lower.

As a result, digital transformation is a theme for the C-level conference, and the first digital initiative has been launched. However, the daily life of chemical enterprises is still determined by paper, electronic forms and manual processes, leading to compliance and quality risks, cumbersome audit preparation, missed registration deadline, high error rate, high workload, employee frustration and low innovation rate. The question is: Why are German chemical companies hesitant in digitization? The complex journey to industry 4.0, predictive maintenance and robotics and artificial intelligence takes time. However, they all have a key first step: successful digitization.

Step 1: Digitizing basic knowledge

Start with simple things: modernize your system, minimize the use of spreadsheets and e-mail, unify the information silos, prepare for the next audit, and quickly bring your products to the market, becoming a leading example of file quality and integrity.

In the highly regulated industries such as chemical industry, many processes are ideal for digital transformation. Modern technologies, such as quality management and regulatory affairs, safely connect previously dispersed and isolated content, processes and data beyond departmental and corporate boundaries. It accelerates the process of product development to listing, and helps to solve problems related to circular economy and sustainability. Last but not least, it can reduce the lives of employees, help attract and retain excellent talents and collect learning and knowledge for the next generation. Based on veeva's past experience in chemical companies, we know that the journey to digital transformation begins with a correct grasp of basic knowledge.

Towards digital transformation

In German speaking, some leading chemical enterprises have successfully started the digital transformation journey through cooperation with veeva and its cloud based quality and regulatory management solutions. BASF is an example.

"Veeva will help us address BASF's regulatory requirements for crop protection," said Rainer Becht mattern, head of is business architecture research and development at BASF crop protection. "Veeva QualityOne will lay the foundation for our digital transformation."

Look at our Swiss neighbor, DSM and veeva managing all departments and regions' submissions. The latest version is always accessible and can be shared with internal and external stakeholders.

"The veeva vault platform helps us transform and speed up the regulatory process," said Dr. Landry Le chevanton, DSM raqm/ operations director "It simplifies product submission and creates a single source of truth between all stakeholders. It provides the visibility we need and helps us improve productivity. "

Digitalization is the key to maintaining competitiveness

Digital content and process is the first step to realize digital transformation. Digital transformation will bring unpredictable innovation and further subvert the global chemical industry. If German chemical enterprises want to maintain their market leading position, digital transformation is no way out.