Killer Quote: "Companies are really considering what their next formulation is and getting more innovative with those products and those innovations." - Victoria Meyer
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.
Victoria: Business transformation
is an ongoing theme.
I think there's no stability in my career
in the chemical industry,
business transformation has
always been taking place.
It seems to be on a cycle, much like the
cyclicality of the chemical industry.
In this case, what I think is really
interesting, and I've had several
great conversations with leaders
about this, is that it's really
market-centric and about really setting
up for the next decade of success.
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.
In today's episode, I am sharing
key themes from the 2024 American
Cleaning Institute annual meeting.
Otherwise known as ACI.
Over 1300 people from across the
cleaning industry, representing
surfactants and other ingredient
manufacturers, formulators, brand
owners, and consumer products companies,
and industrial products companies
attended this year's event in Orlando.
The conference theme Advancing
Cleaning Innovation was apparent
throughout the conference
and the conversations.
So I'm here today to share some of
the themes that I picked up from
the event, and if you and your
team are wondering how you're going
to deliver your goals in 2024.
If you've got some of these themes
on your target and need some support,
send me a message on LinkedIn.
You can find me there at Victoria
King Meyer, and let's have a
call to discuss how we can help.
So on to the conference I'm sharing
today six themes that I picked
up throughout the conference.
First of all innovation was key and
it was clear in the theme and in
the theme title of the conference.
The topic of several panels and
showcase sessions that ACI produced
and the topic of a lot of conversation
innovation is here across several facets.
Product innovation, process
innovation, and even business
and business approach innovation.
And from a product perspective, what
we're seeing and this is a theme
that's continuing on for a couple
years, is a lot of green products
and bio-based products that were
showcased throughout the conference.
We're gonna talk more about that later.
The other innovation theme
is really around formulation.
As a leading distributor shared with me,
formulation innovation is back after the
tumultuous 2020 to 2022 timeframe, right?
With COVID and destocking and supply chain
challenges, companies were stretched thin.
They were more focused on getting
the right product for their
current formulations than really
innovating on new formulations.
And then with the destocking and
cost controls that we saw in 23,
some of that formulation specific
innovation dried up a little bit.
What we're hearing today
is it is back companies.
Companies are more willing to invest.
They're pivoting in some cases and
focusing on the future with innovative
product and business opportunities.
Now.
Back to that green product innovation.
As one leading bio surfactant producer
said, you may actually have to reformulate
the entire formula in order to accommodate
some of the differences that you're
seeing with some of these new products.
So that's an interesting twist
on formulation innovation.
But what I think we're seeing
in what I was hearing is.
Across the entire value chain from
a cleaning products perspective,
surfactants, fragrances,
all the different additives.
Companies are really considering
what their next formulation is and
getting more innovative with those
products and those innovations.
So that's one.
The second key thing that
came through was restocking.
Now, I gotta be honest, that was
a bit of a surprise when people
said, oh yeah, we're having a great
January, and we are seeing companies
and our customers restocking.
I think that's a bit application and
market specific, and that's certainly what
I heard from several of the companies.
So they're not necessarily seeing
restocking and but they're seeing
better buying behaviors than
perhaps we saw at the end of 2023.
But.
This is something that's coming through.
Cost control is still here.
But it appears really that some
companies and some sectors have
exhausted their destocking and are
starting to refill their stores.
Now, there is still a lot
of just in time inventory.
So nobody is planning that far ahead
because there's some uncertainty around
what is really going to transpire in 2024.
And overall, people were.
Moderate about the market.
So I would not say that there was a strong
confidence in terms of what the market
is going to be in 2024, but certainly
there was a sense that we may be in
stable times and notice my word choice.
I'm still hedging my bets a little bit
here as are others, but I think we're
starting to see some stability across the
industry and potentially some restocking.
So stay tuned.
If you're seeing that, let me know.
The third thing that came through is AI.
AI was everywhere.
It was definitely a central topic
throughout the event, just like
it's a central topic elsewhere.
And it featured in several sessions
hosted by a CI with panelists ranging from
consumer products companies like p and g
and Clorox to AI companies like Noble ai.
In fact, you may recall, Ethan Murky of
Noble AI was featured on episode 99 of The
Chemical Show, talking about science-based
AI and how it can be used to accelerate
product and formula innovations.
So go check it out, episode 99.
And while AI was really featured quite
strongly in the programming, it also
was part of the conversation and the
conversations that I had, it became
apparent, many companies and many
leaders just aren't sure where to start.
So while the biggest companies.
Companies like p and g and Clorox
that I've already referenced have
been investing in utilizing AI for
a long time within their businesses.
At the same time, there are many companies
that are just now starting to figure
out where they wanna go with this.
And there's a lot of uncertainty.
One of the things I heard even from
someone is that chemical companies
are still just reluctant to trust, not
just AI, but even to trust the cloud.
If you think about where we are
in the world today, cloud-based
computing is everywhere, but perhaps
not so much in the chemical industry.
Companies and leaders are really
trying to figure out where to
start and how to safely start,
how to utilize it effectively.
So I've got a download for you guys.
So head over to the show notes.
If you're listening in the podcast
app, either Apple or Spotify
or whatever app you're using.
Or go to the episode page for
the ChemicalShow.com and you can
get a download on a downloaded.
You can download a document on
best practices in using AI in your
business, and I've got some tips for
how to use it effectively as well
as some of my favorite tools that I
think you will enjoy using yourself.
So go check it out, head on over
to TheChemicalShow.com, and again,
get that download on best practices
in using AI in your business.
So , AI is everywhere, right?
So my fourth theme on this is
market-centric business transformation.
So business transformation
is an ongoing theme.
I think there's no stability
in my career throughout
in the chemical industry,
business transformation has
always been taking place.
It seems to be on a cycle, much like the
cyclicality of the chemical industry.
In this case, what I think is really
interesting, and I've had several
great conversations with leaders
about this, is that it's really
market-centric and about really setting
up for the next decade of success.
And so a couple examples I had.
One was really around realigning
the business and shifting from
a product centric business.
Organization and orientation to
a market-centric orientation for
their businesses fundamentally to
drive better customer experience
and to meet market requirements.
And so it's a opportunity to be more
effective, to be more collaborative.
Internally and externally
with customers to create that
market-centric business transformation.
The second piece is really around looking
for new market opportunities, right?
And rethinking traditional end uses
and traditional markets, and going
beyond what is currently seen.
For companies in the industry.
So market-centric business
transformation is here.
We're starting to see it across
many companies, and I think it's
gonna be a real focus in 2024.
My fifth theme is about.
Continuing the green.
So if you remember last year we talked
a little bit about being green and
buggy, and that was one of the key
themes that came out of the conference.
Bio-based ingredients and green
innovation continues on and in fact, a
CI hosted a couple of innovation panels
with speakers from leading companies,
including Eastman, Hollifirm, Pilot,
Sasol, and others, talking about their
bio surfactant innovations, and really
they're bio-based ingredient innovations.
What's interesting, I think is number
one, there's a lot of evolution in this
space and definitely a lot of focus.
It's innovation, it's market-centric,
it's sustainability-centric.
There's also a lot of collaboration
and partnership coming through.
So certainly we see companies like
Holli Firm and integrity biochemical.
Partnering up with other companies that
are able to maybe more effectively take
it to market, have a different market
reach and really help expand the impact.
So I think this is what we're gonna
continue to see from a bio-based
ingredient perspective, a continuing
partnering perspective, and just frankly
continuing for this industry to continue
being on a green and sustainable path.
The sixth theme that came through.
I look at maybe the first five is a
bit more opportunistic and positive.
The sixth theme was a little bit worrisome
and it's around tightening regulations.
So a lot of this is European driven.
The eus tend to be the leader in
some cases, and I'm not sure if it's
a good or bad leader, you guys have
heard me talk about this before.
But the EO EU is a leader in
driving some tighter regulations.
One topic that has been.
It was a hot topic throughout the
conference is EUDR, so the European
Deforestation Regulation which applies
stringent and risk-based guidelines to
specific products coming into the EU.
As you can imagine, the word
deforestation is the key theme in
there, the things that are tied to
the forest in the surfactant space.
Products derived from palm
oil are in the spotlight.
And one of the things I heard more
than anything is, there's been a lot
of regulation and there's been some
practices already put in place across
the industry to recognize the risks
and the potential harm that comes
in some of the farming of palm oil.
So there's already been a lot
of work going on to ensure,
effective regulations and protocols
and requirements are in place.
This goes a step or two or three
further and there seems to be some
concern about how are companies
really going to meet this.
And so I think watch this space,
stay tuned to the news and how
this progresses on as companies are
trying to figure out how they're
managing this new deforestation
regulation coming out of the EU.
The second one that came out
was really around dioxane.
So one four Dioxane has been in the
spotlight for the past several years,
certainly in the US as well as globally,
and companies have really figured
out how to navigate around that.
The current regulations
are formulation base.
They're setting a target amount
of one four dioxane in the
formulation in the applications
.
In the industry, companies across
the industry have really teamed up to
understand how to adjust to that, how to
adapt, and how to meet those requirements.
Huh.
Now there's a new regulation coming
outta Germany that focuses on one
four dioxane in the raw materials
at a pretty low level that quite
honestly, I think companies are still
figuring out how are they
going to tackle this.
So I think, I would say regulations
is maybe one of the key themes.
And frankly, this is an area that a
CI and other industry groups really
help pave the way and lead the way
for other constituents to provide both
consensus, to provide that feedback to
the governing bodies and more so stay
tuned in terms of where that's gonna go.
But that is.
Theme number six, coming out of
the a CI 2024 annual conference.
In general, the mood I would say
was upbeat, but measured, so
ACI has said this was a record
attendance over 1300 registrants
from across the global industry.
And I think that's important to recognize.
And I would say overall people
were positive, looking forward
to the year, uncertain about
how it was going to progress.
And certainly what we've seen and what
we've heard on The Chemical Show and
what you guys have heard elsewhere in
the markets is that there's some concerns
about how the year is going to progress.
It's a little foggy.
It's perhaps a little flat until we
get to the second half of the year.
But certainly what we're hearing
is positive forward progress
across a number of fronts.
An upbeat mood.
Tempered by some very pragmatic
views on and concerns.
And frankly, just watch this space on
how the industry is gonna progress.
So that is it for this year's update
from the 2024 ACI annual meeting.
I'd love to hear what you had to say.
If you were at the conference.
What did you hear?
Does this align with you?
Reach out, send me an email,
shoot me a DM on LinkedIn.
Would love to hear from
you and love to respond.
Thanks again for listening
to The Chemical Show.
Keep listening, keep following,
keep sharing, and we will
talk with you again soon.
We've come to the end of today's podcast.
We hope you enjoyed your time
with us and want to learn more.
Simply visit TheChemicalShow.
com for additional information
and helpful resources.
Join us again next time here on The
Chemical Show with Victoria Meyer.