The Chemical Show: Executive Interviews on Leadership, Sustainability, Supply Chain, Digitization, Customer Centricity and more and key trends

Explore the dynamic landscape of digital transformation in the chemical industry with Pam Walker, the Director and General Manager of Data Intelligence, and Insights at UL Solutions, as she shares insights and strategies with host Victoria Meyer on The Chemical Show. In this episode, Pam discusses the evolution of digital solutions in the chemical industry, drawing from her 20 years of experience and leadership in the field. From the challenges of digitization to the pivotal role of data quality and trusted partners in driving successful digital strategies, Pam offers valuable insights to help companies navigate the complexities of embracing digital technologies.

Victoria and Pam discuss the importance of strategic alignment and adoption in the industry and the challenges that hold companies back from realizing their digital potential. 

Join the conversation to gain perspectives on the unmet needs in digitization, the critical role of change management, and the exciting prospects for the chemical industry's digital future.


Join Victoria and Pam as they discuss: 

  • Identifying unmet needs in the digitization space
  • What's holding companies back from going digital?
  • How digital helps companies outpace their competitors
  • Understanding risk in digital
  • Engaging employees in digital strategies and change management
  • What's on the horizon for digital and chemicals

Killer Quote: "Dig the well before you're thirsty.” - Pam Walker

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Creators & Guests

Host
Victoria Meyer
Host of The Chemical Show; founder and President of Progressio Global

What is The Chemical Show: Executive Interviews on Leadership, Sustainability, Supply Chain, Digitization, Customer Centricity and more and key trends?

Welcome to The Chemical Show™, where chemicals mean business. Featuring interviews with industry executives, you’ll hear about the key trends impacting chemicals and plastics today: growth, sustainability, innovation, business transformation, digitalization, supply chain, talent, strategic marketing, customer experience and much more.

Episodes are published every Tuesday.

Hosted by industry veteran Victoria Meyer, The Chemical Show brings you the latest insights into the industry. You will hear from leading industry executives as they discuss their companies, business, markets, and leadership. You’ll learn how chemical, specialty chemical, petrochemical, material science and plastics companies are making an impact, responding to the changing business environment, and discussing best practices and approaches you can apply in your business.

Pam: When we talk about digitization
I don't think that people really

understand is it a tactic for me?

Is it a strategy for me?

And at the end of the day, one of
the biggest is really being able

for a chemical company to associate
a KPI to their digitization strategy

.

It sounds elementary, but
we have to start there.

And most people start with wanting to
check the box of a digital strategy.

But if we start with the end in
mind of the problem that we're

trying to solve and get the KPI.

Then that digitization
strategy is going to get legs.

A key component of the modern
world economy, the chemical

industry delivers products and
innovations to enhance everyday life.

It is also an industry in transformation
where chemical executives and

workers are delivering growth in
industry changing advancements while

responding to pressures from investors,
regulators and public opinion.

Discover how leading companies
are approaching these challenges

here on The Chemical Show.

Join Victoria Meyer, president
of Progressio Global and

host of The Chemical Show.

As she speaks with executives across the
industry and learns how they are leading

their companies to grow, transform, and
push industry boundaries on all frontiers.

Here's your host, Victoria Meyer.

Victoria: Hi, this is Victoria Meyer.

Welcome back to The Chemical Show
where Chemicals means Business.

Today, I am speaking with Pam
Walker, who is the Director and

General Manager of Data Intelligence,
and Insights at UL Solutions.

Pam is an experienced business leader with
over 20 years in the chemical industry.

She's led digital transformation at
leading companies, including Univar and

Brentag before she joined UL Solutions.

Pam and I have some parallel experiences
in our careers, which we may explore

really about bringing customers,
commercial and digital together.

And Pam was one of our panelists
at the 2023 The Chemical Summit.

So she got an opportunity to talk a little
bit about digital then, and we are going

to be diving deeper into that today.

So Pam, welcome to The Chemical Show.

Pam: Thank you and thank
you so much for having me.

I'm excited to talk with you today.

Victoria: I'm really
happy to have you here.

Pam, what's your origin story?

How did you even get
interested in chemicals?

And really you were an early
adopter of digital solutions.

So how did that come about?

Pam: Yeah, it's you trip
into the chemicals, right?

Sometimes, but, I was talking
to you about at the Summit,

which, by the way, was awesome.

I cannot wait for next year.

It was thoroughly, thoroughly
worth the time, so thank you.

I started my journey and believe it
or not, 1994 and chemical distribution

and like we were talking about at the
Summit, it was about 1999 when I went

to a startup in 1999 was like the first
chemical digital boom, if you will,

Victoria: Yes.

Pam: right?

Do you remember?

Victoria: I started working on
digital in chemicals in 2000.

. It's hard to believe that's
over 20 years ago and it feels

like not a lot has changed.

Pam: Here's what's funny.

No, it's not because in 99, you had
all these companies pop up and I went

to work for what was an e-commerce
company , and obviously that was too

early for that and it went belly up
with the hundreds of other companies.

, promising digitization
of the chemical industry.

But the funny thing is I then went back
into chemical distribution and implemented

digital solutions for the chemical
distributor I worked for at the time.

And the funny thing was going to
each of these plants and telling

people, Hey, I don't want you to
go in your paper filing cabinet.

I want you to go to your
computer to do that.

It was like, it was right.

So then I fast forward in 2005.

I went to another startup focused
on material selection and discovery

and then UL Solutions bought them.

So boom, here I am.

Victoria: Okay.

That's awesome.

And it's really cool that you've been able
to blend big companies and startups as

well, because that's a unique experience.

Pam: Yes.

Yeah.

It's definitely unique and different.

And, the really challenge and
opportunity is bringing the startup

vibe into the big company, which, which
thankfully at UL solutions we have.

Victoria: Great.

So tell us a little bit about UL
solutions, because I think people might

be familiar at least with part of the
company, but not all of the company.

I know you've got quite a legacy.

Pam: Yes, it is quite large.

Most people know us from the
little circle UL on your appliances

in your kitchen and everywhere.

And while, that's still true,
but the definition of safety

involves since our inception.

130 years ago and, you have solutions to
global leader and applied safety science

and working for the safer world is the
mission and we do it through testing

inspection certification services.

But that's now coupled with software
and advisory offerings and supporting

the customers innovation, helping
them launch new products and services

sustainably, and responsibly.

And those are the really the key
things when you navigate these global

markets and complex supply chains.

Victoria: Yeah.

How does that connect to chemicals?

Because again, I think of UL, as you
say, as the little stamp on the back of

electronics, your toaster, other items.

Where does the chemical
connection come in?

Pam: As chemicals are in everything.

We're a walking chemical in our bodies.

You would the way that safety has evolved
is when you have all the regulations

and retailer requirements and everything
and how we get our products to market

and the more that society itself cares
about what we're ingesting and how we're

throwing away, our global footprint of
safety, sustainability and responsibility

really encompasses the chemical industry.

Very nicely, very complimentary with
the appliances and the way you had

thought about UL solutions before.

Victoria: Makes sense.

You're right.

Chemicals are all around us.

Most people don't know.

Most people working in the chemical
industry realize it, but there's still a

a journey of discovery that we're all on.

So speaking about the journey of
discovery, we're in the decade

of digitization and AI, right?

With tremendous growth and
investment, you cannot turn on the

news, look at your phones, turn
on your computer without hearing

something about digitization and AI.

And yet we really still have a very long
way to go, particularly when we think

about chemicals and materials companies.

So what's the biggest unmet
need that you see currently

in this space of digitization?

Pam: Wow.

That's.

That's a big question, and when I
think about it myself, I'm going to

chunk it out into three really big
things when we talk about digitization

I don't think that people really
understand is it a tactic for me?

Is it a strategy for me?

And at the end of the day, one of
the three biggest is really being able

for a chemical company to associate
a KPI to their digitization strategy

.
Because I know it's shocking

Victoria: wouldn't think
about that, but okay.

Pam: it sounds elementary,
but we have to start there.

And most people start with wanting to
check the box of a digital strategy.

But if we start with the end in
mind of the problem that we're

trying to solve and get the KPI.

Then that digitization
strategy is going to get legs.

But the second thing that we're facing is
the unmet need for the right kind of data.

We talked to both.

All sides, right?

We talked to the product manufacturers
the suppliers of raw materials,

the distributors, no matter who you
talk to the need for sustainability

and certification data has been
absent from many digital solutions.

And you got to have this to, develop
products faster to avoid reformulation

and those things affect your bottom
line, which take me up to my first

thing is you need a KPI right?

So that is all goes and then,
the third unmet need is really

being able to take the formulation
and certification and regulatory

info and really put it into your

workflow.

And there's a whole lot of data points
and like, where we sit with UL solutions,

we see it all because we have data that's
like the prospector search engine for

material data, then the regulatory data,
then the certification data the carbon

footprint data, corporate level, ESG data.

We have a ton of robust information
and all these things married together.

Really helps to meet the unmet
needs for companies to develop

those safety, safe or sustainable
products and associate that ROI.

So it's an interesting, I don't
want to say interesting, but it's

a different perspective on it.

And it sounds so elementary, but, when
we're running so fast in the chemical

industry to chase a shiny coin, if we
just hang on a minute and really say

what problem we're trying to solve, it's
amazing how much things can get done.

Victoria: And so I think that ties
into this whole aspect of what's really

holding companies and leaders back from
embracing digital from making those

investments, because certainly when
I talk to companies, a lot of them

are not making digital investments.

Certainly the biggest ones are, or they're
making components of investments, but a

lot of leaders are having a really hard
time embracing digital for their business.

So we've all embraced it
in our personal lives.

Maybe there's a few holdouts but
most of us embrace it in our personal

lives, but what's really holding
companies back from going digital?

Pam: I think that sometimes it's a deer
in headlight syndrome, is that what is

going to be the best bet for my company?

Am I going to get true or lie?

Do I need to do this for table stakes?

Do I need to do it for marketing?

And so really identifying and I'll
go back to what I said before.

How does this help me
achieve my revenue goals?

How does it tie into my strategy?

And how does it tie into better
servicing my It's in the end that's

all that matters is, the customer
experience, which is going to lead to

everything else being taken care of.

So I think once companies start there
and then understand how the digital

tactics, if you will, can help to
make their strategy a reality, then

they could deliberately move and
identify the best bet for them.

Victoria: Makes sense.

Do you have data on this?

I guess my question is, we think
about KPI, I think really about

ROI, the return on investment in
improving customer experience.

Do you guys have any data points or
have you seen anything out in the,

maybe public press, public reports
around what the benefits of the

companies that are, embracing and
taking digital to the next step, how

they're outpacing their competitors
or the results that they're achieving.

Do you see anything around that?

Pam: Just off the cuff, I have, what I
would call proof points and how we've

helped customers do it and I will
say at a high level, if you think

about someone developing a product.

And when you develop a product,
I always say this, I'm amazed

anything gets on our shelf.

You've got to understand the composition.

You've got to understand if you
can sell it and X, Y, Z market.

You've got to understand if you can put
it on the shelf at your major retailer.

If I'm going and I'm doing material
discovery, who am I going to select?

Am I going to select the person
or the company that I can extract

that information from easily?

Or am I going to select the
one that I have to takes me

more time to get all that?

So it becomes a differentiation for sure.

And that differentiation can
be associated to to a KPI.

Absolutely.

When we talk about what our customers
need, and I'll get specific is that.

When you can relate it to a KPI and not a
checkbox, most companies want to do what?

Get products to market faster.

That is a huge KPI.

And so some customers have their own data.

I got my data, right?

Because I loaded it in their
filing cabinet 25 years ago.

I know they got data.

But they have to marry that with.

Data we have a UL Solutions to
really streamline that process.

And and I'll just be anecdotal here,
but it's actually not anecdotal.

It's I'm not going to give the company's
name a specialty materials company.

They had a manual process, and so
they collected all these different

kinds of data, product data,
certification data, sustainability data.

Manually, manually aggregated it.

Now, this is true story.

They manually uploaded it to their system.

Hours and hours spent on this.

And then data integrity by the time
they did all this was questionable.

So what we did is we leveraged like
Prospector Data, Product IQ data, or

regulatory data from Chem Advisor,
all this, and we got an API and now we

magically put it into their workflows

for product research and development.

This manual work saved the company
$100,000 dollars, you know, in a

year for just the main work for us..

So, Time savings, you can
calculate and those are examples.

Hardcore both from an external, you're
going to be selected more favorably and an

internal, you're going to get to product
the market faster and reduce manual work.

Victoria: Yeah, and I think that work
efficiency becomes really critical.

And a lot of this as well as,
one of the things you touched on

earlier was around sustainability
and the sustainability data.

And, I've had so many conversations
in the past week about a sustainability

reporting that companies are going through
and the sustainability data that's needed

as companies start to reformulate
or just, reformulate sounds like

a big word, but just to evaluate
their formulations and figuring out,

hey, what are their alternatives?

Having the data that can be in the same
format, easily understood and frankly,

compared pretty quickly is critical.

Pam: And it's getting more and more
important with the increased focus on

it, the increased, carbon footprint
initiatives that are are out.

Victoria: So we definitely see some
business cases and certainly return on

investment when we think about digital.

There's a lot of options and
it's certainly an investment.

I think one of the big things and
one of maybe the big challenges is

the change business processes and
behaviors that are required because

we could put the best system in place.

We all know this.

It's been done over and over and over
again, probably in the chemical industry,

whether it be, starting with Lotus Notes
and then well, Lotus Notes doesn't work

and we're moving on to something else.

And maybe it didn't work, but also
maybe it's just that the people

weren't using it very effectively.

So you can put any system you want
in place, but if, if the people.

And, whether it be employees, customers,
other business partners aren't

embracing and changing their ways of
working um, utilizing these digital

processes then the investment feels
like you're not getting that return.

So how do you guys typically address that
when you see and talk to people, how would

you respond to that concern about the
required, just human behavior changes?

Pam: Change management is real, right?

And the human behaviors are
both internal and from your

suppliers and your customers.

And the 1st thing where we start is.

This is a lot of investment in dollars
and an effort sometime to resources

to implement digital strategies.

So you 1st need to make sure
you pick the right partner.

And there's so many as we said
before, it's like 1999 all over again.

There's a lot of startups popping up and.

And new technology promising
all these solutions.

And so the 1st thing that
companies want to look at is

to work with a trusted partner.

And that is 1st and foremost, how
does that align to human behaviors?

Well, a partner is going to have longevity
and be with you along that journey

and and know that they're going to be
there 10 years from now, and not maybe.

A flash in the pan, if you will.

And when you look at human behaviors, to
me, the most impactful thing is getting

a solution that fits your business.

And your business problem and not
fitting that business into a solution.

You don't want to go buy something and
say, okay, we have it and we're going

to shove it in there and hope it works
because people are going to be going,

oh my goodness, this is horrible, right?

This is worse than I, I had
before I'm going back to zoom

or whatever, you had with that.

So as long as it fits in with
your business, then we find

the human behaviors opening up.

My job is so much easier.

I can do so much more.

I can make decisions faster and smarter.

And so that really leads to adoption.

And then that trusted partner along the
way to ensure that they have your back.

But one thing is.

When you invest digitization,
it is an inherent risk, right?

But the risk of not doing it is bigger.

And one of my favorite sayings is
"Dig the well before you're thirsty."

Because don't want to play and you want
to be playing catch up in this at all.

Victoria: Yeah.

So that's great.

So let's talk maybe a little bit
about risk, which I know is our

an off the books question here.

What are the risks that people should
be considering when you think about

digital implementations of any variety?

What risks come into play?

Pam: I would say that first of
all, as I said before, the risk

of whatever solution not being
supported over a long period of time.

That's something that you
have to consider for real.

I think it's the risk of adoption and
we talked about that, how to mitigate

that a bit to make sure that it is
solving a, a human problem that is

going to help people do their business
or do their job better or help your

customers in doing business with you.

And I think that the risk is
in also the kind of information

that you're bringing in.

The risk is getting the right data.

And making that data, turning it into
action for you is truly important.

Victoria: I think that, your point
back to making sure that it's connected

to the users having people involved.

And I think it's so critical.

So I do, a lot of work helping
companies implement strategies and their

marketing strategies and other things.

And one of the things I always come
back to is strategy is really personal

and it can't be done in isolation.

A digital

transformation decision can't
be done only by the IT team,

only by the executive team.

You actually have to get
into the organization.

The people that are using it to understand
their problems, to build advocates for

like, "Hey, this is the right answer
because it's going to solve problems.

A, B, and C."

And I think it's just really critical that
people start diving in and embracing more

of the organizations in these decisions.

Pam: I really like that.

It's starting when I always
say, Hey, let's start with a

problem you're trying to solve.

You're really starting with a human.

. You're starting at the people level
and, of course, digitization is a

board level initiative with no doubt.

But, the board that C-suite and all
the way down really wants to ensure

that the customers are taken care
of and the revenue is not behind it.

Victoria: So we started out talking a
little bit about digital strategies and

the factors that companies needed to
consider in their digital strategy.

A recent study by Deloitte, I just
saw this from them recently said that

investments in digital were down in 2023.

And yet we know that frankly, 2024
and beyond, we need to be investing.

There is no doubt that.

across the industry, we need
a solid digital platform or

set of platforms and tools.

But back to this idea of strategy from
in your experience, what percentage

of chemical companies actually do
have a digital strategy that's

tied to ROI and tied to KPIs and
that they're able to execute upon.

Pam: Some companies are undertaking quite
robust data harmonization projects, right?

And building cross functional
use that we work with today.

And this is definitely a digital strategy.

However, some businesses are
now building the business case

of, hey, we have all this data.

What are we going to do with it?

So they're not out there and others clear
strategy of just single business use case.

And we see this in our chemical
performance and certification

management products.

So I just want to get my data out there.

I want single place to put my product
data and I want it across all digital

real estates and that's all I want to do.

So that's digital strategy.

So a lot of companies, I think the
majority are exploring it, maybe smaller

percent are in execution mode and it.

Is I think that same article
though Victoria, I think it said.

If I'm thinking about the same line,
it said 94 percent of executives

said that AI will be critical in the
next 5 years and really around R&D

and gaining insights and tracking.

And one of the interesting things that
they inferred, or they may be said

absolute in that article is that the
challenge is the quality of the data,

because if quality of the data is bad,
then it just breaks the whole thing.

And that's where we, the trusted
partner is imperative because

you don't have data quality

you're up a creek.

Victoria: It goes back to the original
garbage in garbage out, right?

If you're, you've got to have
clean, good, solid data to use.

And then back to your point, I think
I've heard a lot of these stories,

but certainly came up when we were
at The Chemical Summit together that.

The amount of data that's in maybe
unusable formats is the wrong way to

say, but there it's sitting in lab books.

So there's all kinds of data sitting
in lab books, sitting in somebody's

computer in a file that's not easily
accessible and usable, et cetera.

And so there is a huge, frankly,
a huge opportunity to figure

out how to digitize that data.

And also a gap, right?

And I think about how powerful
we will be when we can actually

harness all the data we've got.

That.

Oh yeah.

There were insights that
we had 10 years ago.

We just didn't know they were there
because they, because somebody was

holding onto them just because there
was no way to share it effectively.

Pam: In bringing products to
market, this data is crucial, right?

And when we do our chemical
data management projects in

our sustainability dashboard.

We have to go into companies and get
that aggregated and then the light.

Start going off.

Oh, my goodness.

I didn't realize and sometimes folks
didn't realize that their company in

another location was doing X, Y, and Z.

So you really get a light bulb on it.

But one thing that when you
talk, it triggered a thought for

me is that if you had to ask me

the number one roadblock

Pam: to digitization, it may be Excel.

And it's funny because Excel,

Victoria: Why?

I love Excel by the way, but

Pam: listen, I have a spreadsheet.

I have a spreadsheet for everything,
but Excel is still saved on, even

if it's in SharePoint, you can't
extract a decision from that data.

And my data is digital.

It's an Excel.

Excel is not going to.

Have a direct feed for regulatory
information or requirements or

any of the important things.

It's not going to tell
you your ESG profile.

You have to take that data
from Excel and good news.

It's already in your computer and you
have to integrate it into software stuff.

Victoria: You say that and it brings
up to me I, I use Microsoft, I

use Google and Microsoft wants me
to save everything in One drive.

And if I do, I can't freaking find it.

Like I'm searching everywhere.

And then I have to open word backup or
Excel backup again, like where exactly.

Did you save this?

Because I can't find it.

And yeah, I guess that's the good
news is that bigger companies usually

have better protocols around this.

When you're an entrepreneur with a small
business, you're fending for yourself.

Although the reality is many
chemical companies really have just,

a handful of employees, less than
20, less than a hundred employees.

And they don't necessarily have
the standardization of business

practices to harmonize that data.

Pam: Yes, and it will still that
means it's sometimes simpler.

Candidly, right?

It's less moving parts.

It's less human behavior and
it's a very clear cut what

they're going to get out of it.

So I think that.

If you had to look at maybe how to start.

Or which platform to pick or what factors.

If you had to look at that

through the lens, it's not a one size fits
all because you do have different size

of companies that have different needs.

And so what is your company situation,
your objectives and your strategies?

So that's what needs to be considered.

When our customers choose UL Solutions,

they choose you well, mainly from the
vendor with a proven track record, right?

We've been around 130 years, pretty long
time, chances of us going to 131 are huge.

So I yeah, I joke, but we're, a trusted
vendor and the ability to collect

and aggregate and analyze across from
employee to ESG to product to supplier

is hugely important for our customers.

And, access to those evolving regulations
and sustainability and matching that

with a raw material to actually design a
product, hugely important, but it may not

be important to all, but important most
and really to differentiate your company

based on your digitization strategy.

That's important, but you have to look
at what your company is trying to achieve

and then match, what you do from there.

Victoria: Makes sense.

Pam, this has been really good and I
know we could keep talking for a very

long time about all things digital.

We're still here at the beginning of 2024.

When you look ahead to the year,
what are you looking forward to?

What should we be looking forward to?

Maybe in the land of UL Solutions or
in the land of digital and chemicals,

which what's on the horizon.

Pam: What's on the horizon
is I think full speed ahead.

And what I mean by that is that
there are all kinds of technologies

popping up in the market and whether
you are doubling down on AI, and

I use it in quotes, because people
use AI for pretty much any sentence.

And whether you're using that, or
you're using data aggregation or

funneling it into your workflows.

I think 2024 is going to be extremely
exciting from an adoption standpoint.

And extremely exciting for us to really
come together in a way of the industry

to offer transparency needed in the
market today to bring these compliant

and sustainable products to the world.

And it's really crucial in the 1st step.

In doing that, and what I'm most excited
about is working with companies to

really take the problem that they're
trying to solve and strategically

tying it to that KPI and business case,
and then marrying it with a solution.

That's right for them.

Victoria: Love it.

Love it.

So full steam ahead and we'll
see how the year progresses.

Pam, Thank you so much for joining
us today on The Chemical Show.

Pam: Thank you, really enjoy it.

Victoria: I've enjoyed it as well
and thanks everyone for listening.

Keep listening, keep following, keep
sharing, and we'll talk again soon.

We've come to the end of today's podcast.

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with us and want to learn more.

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Chemical Show with Victoria Meyer.