Digital pulse of the chemical industry 2023

A few of the key findings from the interviews include:

• There is a big difference between the global chemical companies and the smaller specialty chemical or plastics companies when it comes to where they are in their digitalization process. Some of the specialty companies are just starting to digitalize their data and move away from excel, whereas the big chemical companies are already using digital twins and simulations.

• KPIs also vary between the different sizes of companies. Those starting their process are more concerned about getting the digitalization right than KPIs, but companies with more established digitalization also had more established and structured KPIs.

• Regardless of size, all companies are looking forward to new technologies in the future like machine learning and AI. The more automation that could be done with the processes and calculations, the less chance there would be for human error – which results in more efficiency, less waste and increased safety.

• Being able to see data that was not possible before is something that is a benefit to them - but with more data and more technology, it also means they need different types of employees - ones who can make use of that data. This is a challenge as finding this new talent is not easy.

• A common challenge was the lack of resources. People are needed to implement digitalization. The bigger- companies could set up entire departments or dedicated steering committees that were focused on the project, but the smaller chemical or plastics companies often did not have this option and digitalization meant someone had to do it in addition to their full-time job.

• In the majority of cases, digitalization is put in place to boost efficiency, conduct automated simulations, reduce human error and connect data. Sustainability and increased safety were side benefits of going digital but were not the main objective.