A few weeks ago we hosted the 2nd SAP Best Practices for Chemicals Event in Houston/TX with overwhelming success. An amazing crowd of experts came together uniting business, functional and technology professionals with the purpose to embrace innovative solutions, fresh ideas and best-in-class strategies to improve on overall business performance.3 key innovations were launched at this event which highly inspired our customers:
1. The F1 relationship with Accenture was announced with the purpose of accelerating S/4HANA adoption, taking the chemical industry to the cloud and enhancing the Chemical Company in a Box concept. Watch the Video!
2. For the first time the chemical version of the Digital Boardroom of the Future was demoed. It greatly resonated with customers and first candidates were recruited to enhance the use case.
3. A panel discussion run by Peter Maier, SVP of Energy and Natural Resources at SAP, revealed the unprecedented opportunities Digital Transformation provides to the chemical industry and SAP’s Digital Framework as foundation for re-imagining business models, processes and the way people work was presented to a bigger audience for the first time. Watch the Video!
A quote from Mark Sen Gupta, ARC Advisory Group, supports the tremendous impact Digital Transformation could have on the Chemical Industry:
“Technology provides tremendous opportunity to make us better, but it may take us changing to fully leverage the possibilities. I like using the term “transformation” as a way to communicate this dynamic. When we consider the impact of technology on our enterprises and the speed at which it changes, we need to be cognizant of the speed of potential competition as business processes become more tightly coupled to technology.”
For more information read Mark's blogs here:
“Digitization” – SAP Best Practices for Chemicals 2016
OT/IT Convergence is Inevitable – Develop a Plan
In general the conference had a strong focus on “The Reality of Digital Transformation”. The themes of connectivity, granularity and speed as the "new blood" running through digital technology and the need to "expect it" or be disrupted by digital transformation were discussed as core principles. It became obvious that in the area of business model innovation, segments like agrochemicals and consumer-oriented businesses (e.g. Paints and Coatings) are taking the lead. In other segments where outcome-based models are less clear, starting the process by making better use of customers' use of chemical products via IoT in order to gain insights, benchmark and new value-added devices is a smart way to begin the journey.
Here are some additional event highlights:
- Cal Dooley (President and CEO of American Chemistry Council) highlighted the importance of innovation in the chemical industry as a foundation for a sustainable future
- Various tracks
- The Business Women's Network dinner event was sold out with 40+ participants and had a great speaker in Laura Tibodeau, CIO from Americas Styrenics. The feedback was tremendous, with many wanting to carry on with the group in the future. Several C-Level executives offered to be involved in future events. It was a great way to develop relationships and foster thought leadership in the chemical industry.
The replay of all keynote sessions is available on YouTube.
Learn more about how to digitally transform your business and visit us at #SapphireNow to hear about how your peers in the chemical industry are getting ready for their digital journey.
