Insights
Our insights for your business
The broad variety of our experts allows us to take position on several topics. Sometimes summarizing state-of-the-art discussions, sometimes expressing controversial positions - but always fact and experience based.
Strategic view
Companies have to permanently adapt to changing environments. In a world becoming ever faster they risk losing the long-term perspective. But it is important to put short term actions in perspective from time to time. This helps to recognize bigger trends as well as detecting short-lived ones.
Digitalization
Today's massive technological changes offer new opportunities which should be wisely used and exploited. However, watching the industry we see a lot of impulsive digitalization action. Our approach: understand the technology and its impact first, then think about the right way to use it.
Transformation
The need for transformation seems to be obvious for every company. But what is transformation? We at Expacon see transformation as multidimensional, e.g. technology-driven or in a human way. We develop each transformation roadmap customer-specific!
Difficulty to understand blockchain
More than ten years ago the first bitcoin block was mined. Today there are thousands of crypto-currencies around. Beyond-currency discussions started several years ago. However, blockchain solutions in business – apart from finance – have still to be searched for with the magnifying glass. Why is that?
The search for blockchain business cases
Today, "use cases" are omnipresent and part of any discussion in the wider context of digitization and, in particular, blockchain. In these discussions, "use case" is often understood as a preliminary stage to a comprehensive change of the present. "Works technically" leads to "is about to be implemented", "proves that there is a great future for the technology", or so.
Blockchain & Küchenmaschine I
Die Blockchain-Community boomt, immer neue Anwendungsmöglichkeiten werden propagiert, die
tollsten Zukunftsszenarien entworfen. Allein der Durchbruch im (prozess)industriellen Kontext lässt
auf sich warten. Warum bekommen die Blockchain-Evangelisten ihre Begeisterung nicht in die
Unternehmen transportiert? Vielleicht hilft uns die Perspektive eines privaten „Maschinennutzers“
dies besser zu verstehen.
tollsten Zukunftsszenarien entworfen. Allein der Durchbruch im (prozess)industriellen Kontext lässt
auf sich warten. Warum bekommen die Blockchain-Evangelisten ihre Begeisterung nicht in die
Unternehmen transportiert? Vielleicht hilft uns die Perspektive eines privaten „Maschinennutzers“
dies besser zu verstehen.
Blockchain & Küchenmaschine II
Die Anschaffung einer komfortabel ausgestatteten Küchenmaschine ist für den ambitionierten Hobbykoch vielleicht keine fürs Leben, aber doch eine für einen langen Zeitraum. Mit derselben Grundhaltung beurteilen Unternehmen prozessuale und IT-Veränderungen, die erprobte und erfolgreiche Abläufe in Frage stellen. Wenn nun smartphoneflinke und App-im Dutzend-wechselnde Blockchain-Enthusiasten auf krisengestählte und zykluserfahrene Altunternehmen treffen, funkt’s oft nicht. Oder so gewaltig, dass auch wieder nix mehr geht. Gibt es einen Ausweg?
Keeping amazon & Alibaba at bay
Digitalization is all about information (flows). Consequently disruption of the value chain is likely to start with marketplaces (ie information about price/volume offerings) at the customer interface. However, given the logistics and data processing capacities of amazon, Alibaba et al., it won't stop there and affect producers, distributors and logistics companies alike. And finally, even customers would be hurt. But there is a way to keep the value chain unscathed.
Dominance and marketplaces
Looking back at the past couple of years, we’ve seen many new companies entering the competition on marketplaces for the chemical industry. On the one side webshops, which basically offer a digital channel for selling their mother company’s products, sometimes enlarged by a complementary product portfolio. On the other side we find independent “middle men”. And there is a third category – search engines. But who is going to survive the race for dominance?
A frustrated recap
However brilliant the idea of a collectively owned marketplace, it still is nothing but an idea. Instead of jointly building a platform with separate webshops for all interested producers/distributors, we see many players working on their own. Marketplaces should be seen as INFRASTRUCTURE, that is required to do business. Nothing to be owned by individual players of that market – similar to roads, phone lines or internet connections.
Is 2003 repeating?
The first wave of chemical marketplaces spectacularly failed in 2003. Is the (current) second wave again doomed to fail? In June, Mapudo, the celebrated competitor of klöckner.i
in metals trading had to give in. One of the managing directors named several reasons: low margins, little willingness to change processes, established customer relations. Does this provide lessons for the chemical industry/ chemical distribution?
Customer focus on platforms
Platforms have to both create value and focus on customer needs to become successful. While those statements are easily made, it’s much harder to find the value creating part and the genuine customer needs. So, how do the existing digital offerings fare against these criteria?
Shopping
≠
procuring chemicals
Presenting their chemical marketplaces or platforms, startups often begin with google searches for certain products - usually leading to devastating results. But are google searches the right yardstick? Search for chemicals is much more complicated than for hairdryers or lawn-mowers.
Limited "new oil" (data)
“Data is the new oil.” So often heard, so often echoed without reflection. Besides the fact, that especially the chemical industry does well with old oil (or more accurately, fractions of it), a lot of the predicted “new oil” has been around for quite a while or will never appear. At least if we focus on the core of chemical market places.
Blockchain - the next big threat?
The moment we became familiar with digitalization, Industry 4.0, marketplaces etc., a new concept became hyped. Blockchain. Starting with cryptocurrencies the augurs predicted a watershed. No longer central cloud solutions but decentral blockchain ones. Peer networks instead of internet giants. What exactly is the blockchain concept and can it deliver to all the promises?
Digital annual review
Digitalization is kind of threatening whole industries. No one knows what is to come. Both startups and incumbents develop a lot of frantic activism. They build new platforms, travel to the Bay area, rent fancy cowork spaces and wear trainers and t-shirts. But is the money spent wisely? Doubts remain.
Lessons from "The Icecreamists"
Selling books on amazon resembles acting on a perfectly transparent market from economists' textbooks. Supply and demand drive prices - with predictable consequences. Looking at "The Icecreamsists", a recipe book, teaches some lessons on how perfectly transparent markets will behave. Managers of chemical companies should at least make informed decisions when selling on an open marketplace. There are other solutions imaginable...
Ownership and marketplaces
Large established, often publicly listed companies tend to underrate dangers coming from disruptive competitors. This has to do with its long (successful) past, management dominating (vs. entreprenuership) or corporate rigidity. Small, mostly privately owned ones overlook those dangers, since they lack resources for a continuous screening of the competitive landscape. What are the resulting consequences for the chemical industry regarding marketplaces?
Marketplaces and distributors
Chemical producers like to see distributors as necessary evil, since they do nothing more than keeping contact to small customers. Marketplaces promise to allow for direct contact between producers and those small customers, eliminating chemical distributors. But beware! Distributors do a lot of useful things within the value chain of the chemical industry.
B2B is not B2C. Full stop.
Nowadays, whenever you ask a digital consultant or agency about platforms, they shower you with examples of successful marketplaces. Unfortunately, most of them come from a typical B2C environment or have at least a similar setup. However, the higher up the value chain you move, the less likely those characteristics will hold true. Why is that?
Digital courage required
A collective marketplace approach looks like THE answer to disruptive threats from digital giants. However, the incumbents of the chemical value chain voice various concerns and reasons why NOT to join such an initiative. We look at the reasons and suggest a completely different mindset regarding competition and threats.
The Growth Curse
Listed companies are – simply by being traded at a stock exchange with its focus on future gains – cursed to grow. With innovations getting scarcer and new entrants threatening organic growth paths, the incumbents more and more rely on acquisitions. Their search is often driven by margin demands instead of a thorough understanding of where to create most value. A respective analysis along dedicated business models generates a clear view on the right search area, new growth options and – if done honestly – when best to leave the growth race.
Digitalization and distribution
Do you still remember ChemConnect, CheMatch, cc-chemplorer and the like? More than 15 years after these companies set out to disrupt the chemical value chain, the topic is back. While most of the then startups have failed (Elemica being the notable exception), today’s efforts might fare differently. In our series we focus on distributors who link producers and (usually) small customers. However, some of our thoughts affect the complete value chain. http://www.businesschemistry.org