Chemical Research

Chemicals touch every part of our lives. They are everywhere from salt on the table to the non-stick coating on pots and pans from fertilizer in the soil to the air we breath – we are surrounded by atoms and molecules. Chemical research and development is one of the main growth drivers in the industry, in innovative products that increase profits as well as drive growth. Chemical companies do not invest in R&D as heavily as drug companies. Indeed, worldwide R&D as a percentage of sales has either been static or in some cases declining over recent years. For an industry that thrives on innovation this is bad news, and needs to be turned around if the industry is to flourish.

Innovation is the lifeblood of the industry. Continuous investment in chemical research and development is needed to allow chemical companies to meet ever increasing consumer demands. The chemical industry is looking towards the Middle East and China with the majority of new chemical projects located in either of these regions. Research in ethylene and propylene (the starting blocks of the polymer chain) is taking place in both regions.

With the globalization of the industry chemical research and development is moving closer to major customers  Geographic diversification is causing many chemical research operations to be moved overseas, taking advantage of favourable conditions in foreign markets.

Technology and Chemical Research

Today technology helps gain, and sustain a competitive advantage over rivals. The technological drivers in the chemical industry include:

• Increasing globalization of markets

• Improved financial performance

• Changing customer expectations

• Changing workforce requirements

Technological innovation has the potential to provide new market opportunities. Success in capturing emerging markets will depend on the industry’s ability to compete in different environments. This is possible through the application of technology. Chemical companies are increasingly being judged by their ability to create products that generate revenue to satisfy shareholders’ expectations. Strategically driven investment in chemical research and development and new technologies will continue to drive the industry towards improved levels of productivity and return on capital. Similarly, in response to customer expectations, companies are continuously enhancing product quality and service quality through the application of innovative technology throughout all the phases of chemical research and development, production and distribution. In the workplace, the use of automation, computers and other technologies has taken place

The future of the industry will be shaped to some extent by advances in its enabling technologies that improve the application of its fundamental sciences. These include:

• Process-science and engineering technologies:- The foundation for scale-up and design of chemical manufacturing facilities

• Chemical measurements:- New knowledge and insights about existing and new systems, developed as a result of advances in chemical measurement over the last two decades, have greatly accelerated progress in chemical science, material science and process engineering.                                   

• Computational technologies:- Computational technologies have a broad range of applications from molecular biology to process simulation and control. These technologies are embodied in every aspect of chemical research, development, design, and manufacturing.

Critical Success Factors in Chemical Research

The chemical business is cyclical in nature; prosperity to depression and then back to prosperity. The industry is caught in an endless cycle of highs and lows. It is also a business where everything is huge. The plants are big and the distribution network is global. Big sums are spent on chemical research. It takes a special kind of company to succeed in this business.

Typically, the chemical industry is among the leading sectors in most countries. The prominence it enjoys today is largely due to the research carried out by corporations. Over the past century, chemical research has resulted in more than 70,000 new substances. Some of these innovative substances have revolutionized sectors such as plastics and polyester. During the eighties, the chemical industry spent as much money on R&D as other research-intensive industries such as the pharmaceutical industry. In the late nineties, the pharmaceutical industry pulled away from the chemical industry - spending enormous sums on research. This is again changing.

The R&D of corporations has played a key role in turning the chemical industry into a vibrant business running into billion of dollars. However, as globalization gains momentum and raises the intensity of competition, the current level of R&D spend may not be enough to generate a competitive advantage in innovation or productivity improvements. Strategic alliances with other chemical companies and partnerships with academe could help to some extent, but in the long run, there is no substitute for inhouse chemical research.

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