WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.390 Victoria: Business transformation is an ongoing theme. 00:00:02.390 --> 00:00:04.880 I think there's no stability in my career 00:00:04.930 --> 00:00:08.050 in the chemical industry, business transformation has 00:00:08.050 --> 00:00:09.160 always been taking place. 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:13.090 It seems to be on a cycle, much like the cyclicality of the chemical industry. 00:00:13.630 --> 00:00:16.840 In this case, what I think is really interesting, and I've had several 00:00:16.840 --> 00:00:21.960 great conversations with leaders about this, is that it's really 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:27.419 market-centric and about really setting up for the next decade of success. 00:00:34.975 --> 00:00:37.775 A key component of the modern world economy, the chemical 00:00:37.775 --> 00:00:41.315 industry delivers products and innovations to enhance everyday life. 00:00:41.835 --> 00:00:45.825 It is also an industry in transformation where chemical executives and 00:00:45.825 --> 00:00:49.455 workers are delivering growth in industry changing advancements while 00:00:49.455 --> 00:00:53.195 responding to pressures from investors, regulators and public opinion. 00:00:53.745 --> 00:00:56.685 Discover how leading companies are approaching these challenges 00:00:56.695 --> 00:00:58.295 here on The Chemical Show. 00:00:58.765 --> 00:01:02.105 Join Victoria Meyer, president of Progressio Global and 00:01:02.115 --> 00:01:03.535 host of The Chemical Show. 00:01:03.810 --> 00:01:08.010 As she speaks with executives across the industry and learns how they are leading 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:13.590 their companies to grow, transform, and push industry boundaries on all frontiers. 00:01:13.930 --> 00:01:16.180 Here's your host, Victoria Meyer. 00:01:19.026 --> 00:01:20.645 Victoria: Hi, this is Victoria Meyer. 00:01:20.825 --> 00:01:24.935 Welcome back to the Chemical Show Where Chemicals means Business. 00:01:25.485 --> 00:01:31.665 In today's episode, I am sharing key themes from the 2024 American 00:01:31.670 --> 00:01:33.735 Cleaning Institute annual meeting. 00:01:33.735 --> 00:01:35.195 Otherwise known as ACI. 00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:40.890 Over 1300 people from across the cleaning industry, representing 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:45.630 surfactants and other ingredient manufacturers, formulators, brand 00:01:45.630 --> 00:01:49.320 owners, and consumer products companies, and industrial products companies 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:51.870 attended this year's event in Orlando. 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:56.910 The conference theme Advancing Cleaning Innovation was apparent 00:01:56.970 --> 00:01:58.170 throughout the conference 00:01:58.400 --> 00:01:59.990 and the conversations. 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:04.490 So I'm here today to share some of the themes that I picked up from 00:02:04.490 --> 00:02:09.380 the event, and if you and your team are wondering how you're going 00:02:09.380 --> 00:02:11.540 to deliver your goals in 2024. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.860 If you've got some of these themes on your target and need some support, 00:02:16.250 --> 00:02:17.990 send me a message on LinkedIn. 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:21.410 You can find me there at Victoria King Meyer, and let's have a 00:02:21.410 --> 00:02:23.300 call to discuss how we can help. 00:02:24.050 --> 00:02:28.800 So on to the conference I'm sharing today six themes that I picked 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:30.060 up throughout the conference. 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:34.530 First of all innovation was key and it was clear in the theme and in 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:36.300 the theme title of the conference. 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:41.050 The topic of several panels and showcase sessions that ACI produced 00:02:41.140 --> 00:02:43.750 and the topic of a lot of conversation 00:02:44.510 --> 00:02:47.810 innovation is here across several facets. 00:02:48.410 --> 00:02:52.970 Product innovation, process innovation, and even business 00:02:52.970 --> 00:02:55.820 and business approach innovation. 00:02:56.070 --> 00:02:59.445 And from a product perspective, what we're seeing and this is a theme 00:02:59.445 --> 00:03:03.615 that's continuing on for a couple years, is a lot of green products 00:03:03.615 --> 00:03:07.545 and bio-based products that were showcased throughout the conference. 00:03:07.815 --> 00:03:09.465 We're gonna talk more about that later. 00:03:10.710 --> 00:03:14.220 The other innovation theme is really around formulation. 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:20.920 As a leading distributor shared with me, formulation innovation is back after the 00:03:20.920 --> 00:03:25.505 tumultuous 2020 to 2022 timeframe, right? 00:03:25.510 --> 00:03:32.045 With COVID and destocking and supply chain challenges, companies were stretched thin. 00:03:32.075 --> 00:03:35.040 They were more focused on getting the right product for their 00:03:35.160 --> 00:03:40.650 current formulations than really innovating on new formulations. 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:44.640 And then with the destocking and cost controls that we saw in 23, 00:03:45.270 --> 00:03:49.950 some of that formulation specific innovation dried up a little bit. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.280 What we're hearing today is it is back companies. 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:55.740 Companies are more willing to invest. 00:03:55.770 --> 00:04:00.330 They're pivoting in some cases and focusing on the future with innovative 00:04:00.330 --> 00:04:02.460 product and business opportunities. 00:04:02.730 --> 00:04:03.180 Now. 00:04:04.145 --> 00:04:06.365 Back to that green product innovation. 00:04:06.645 --> 00:04:12.225 As one leading bio surfactant producer said, you may actually have to reformulate 00:04:12.255 --> 00:04:17.115 the entire formula in order to accommodate some of the differences that you're 00:04:17.115 --> 00:04:18.645 seeing with some of these new products. 00:04:18.650 --> 00:04:22.035 So that's an interesting twist on formulation innovation. 00:04:22.455 --> 00:04:25.485 But what I think we're seeing in what I was hearing is. 00:04:25.875 --> 00:04:29.655 Across the entire value chain from a cleaning products perspective, 00:04:29.655 --> 00:04:33.075 surfactants, fragrances, all the different additives. 00:04:33.435 --> 00:04:39.235 Companies are really considering what their next formulation is and 00:04:39.235 --> 00:04:42.235 getting more innovative with those products and those innovations. 00:04:42.325 --> 00:04:42.985 So that's one. 00:04:44.245 --> 00:04:47.485 The second key thing that came through was restocking. 00:04:47.575 --> 00:04:50.635 Now, I gotta be honest, that was a bit of a surprise when people 00:04:50.635 --> 00:04:55.135 said, oh yeah, we're having a great January, and we are seeing companies 00:04:55.225 --> 00:04:56.815 and our customers restocking. 00:04:58.270 --> 00:05:02.270 I think that's a bit application and market specific, and that's certainly what 00:05:02.270 --> 00:05:04.530 I heard from several of the companies. 00:05:04.535 --> 00:05:07.870 So they're not necessarily seeing restocking and but they're seeing 00:05:07.960 --> 00:05:12.250 better buying behaviors than perhaps we saw at the end of 2023. 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:12.810 But. 00:05:13.275 --> 00:05:15.075 This is something that's coming through. 00:05:15.405 --> 00:05:16.905 Cost control is still here. 00:05:17.375 --> 00:05:21.305 But it appears really that some companies and some sectors have 00:05:21.310 --> 00:05:25.445 exhausted their destocking and are starting to refill their stores. 00:05:25.715 --> 00:05:28.745 Now, there is still a lot of just in time inventory. 00:05:28.745 --> 00:05:33.935 So nobody is planning that far ahead because there's some uncertainty around 00:05:33.935 --> 00:05:36.845 what is really going to transpire in 2024. 00:05:36.875 --> 00:05:39.785 And overall, people were. 00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:42.890 Moderate about the market. 00:05:42.890 --> 00:05:46.880 So I would not say that there was a strong confidence in terms of what the market 00:05:46.880 --> 00:05:52.490 is going to be in 2024, but certainly there was a sense that we may be in 00:05:52.490 --> 00:05:55.100 stable times and notice my word choice. 00:05:55.100 --> 00:05:58.510 I'm still hedging my bets a little bit here as are others, but I think we're 00:05:58.510 --> 00:06:04.070 starting to see some stability across the industry and potentially some restocking. 00:06:04.070 --> 00:06:04.790 So stay tuned. 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:06.020 If you're seeing that, let me know. 00:06:06.350 --> 00:06:08.870 The third thing that came through is AI. 00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:10.820 AI was everywhere. 00:06:10.850 --> 00:06:14.330 It was definitely a central topic throughout the event, just like 00:06:14.330 --> 00:06:15.890 it's a central topic elsewhere. 00:06:16.140 --> 00:06:21.900 And it featured in several sessions hosted by a CI with panelists ranging from 00:06:21.900 --> 00:06:28.200 consumer products companies like p and g and Clorox to AI companies like Noble ai. 00:06:28.365 --> 00:06:34.875 In fact, you may recall, Ethan Murky of Noble AI was featured on episode 99 of The 00:06:34.875 --> 00:06:40.755 Chemical Show, talking about science-based AI and how it can be used to accelerate 00:06:41.325 --> 00:06:43.365 product and formula innovations. 00:06:43.365 --> 00:06:46.005 So go check it out, episode 99. 00:06:47.415 --> 00:06:53.235 And while AI was really featured quite strongly in the programming, it also 00:06:53.235 --> 00:06:57.465 was part of the conversation and the conversations that I had, it became 00:06:57.465 --> 00:07:03.555 apparent, many companies and many leaders just aren't sure where to start. 00:07:04.035 --> 00:07:05.685 So while the biggest companies. 00:07:05.745 --> 00:07:09.255 Companies like p and g and Clorox that I've already referenced have 00:07:09.255 --> 00:07:13.995 been investing in utilizing AI for a long time within their businesses. 00:07:14.535 --> 00:07:20.685 At the same time, there are many companies that are just now starting to figure 00:07:20.685 --> 00:07:22.155 out where they wanna go with this. 00:07:22.435 --> 00:07:23.905 And there's a lot of uncertainty. 00:07:24.650 --> 00:07:27.950 One of the things I heard even from someone is that chemical companies 00:07:27.950 --> 00:07:32.540 are still just reluctant to trust, not just AI, but even to trust the cloud. 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:35.270 If you think about where we are in the world today, cloud-based 00:07:35.270 --> 00:07:40.040 computing is everywhere, but perhaps not so much in the chemical industry. 00:07:41.260 --> 00:07:43.510 Companies and leaders are really trying to figure out where to 00:07:43.510 --> 00:07:47.100 start and how to safely start, how to utilize it effectively. 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:49.410 So I've got a download for you guys. 00:07:49.410 --> 00:07:51.300 So head over to the show notes. 00:07:51.305 --> 00:07:55.350 If you're listening in the podcast app, either Apple or Spotify 00:07:55.350 --> 00:07:56.670 or whatever app you're using. 00:07:56.760 --> 00:08:01.830 Or go to the episode page for the ChemicalShow.com and you can 00:08:01.830 --> 00:08:04.310 get a download on a downloaded. 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:12.080 You can download a document on best practices in using AI in your 00:08:12.080 --> 00:08:16.730 business, and I've got some tips for how to use it effectively as well 00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:21.710 as some of my favorite tools that I think you will enjoy using yourself. 00:08:21.950 --> 00:08:25.640 So go check it out, head on over to TheChemicalShow.com, and again, 00:08:25.640 --> 00:08:30.050 get that download on best practices in using AI in your business. 00:08:31.355 --> 00:08:33.265 So , AI is everywhere, right? 00:08:33.475 --> 00:08:39.475 So my fourth theme on this is market-centric business transformation. 00:08:39.835 --> 00:08:42.765 So business transformation is an ongoing theme. 00:08:42.765 --> 00:08:45.645 I think there's no stability in my career throughout 00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:48.820 in the chemical industry, business transformation has 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:49.930 always been taking place. 00:08:49.930 --> 00:08:53.860 It seems to be on a cycle, much like the cyclicality of the chemical industry. 00:08:54.400 --> 00:08:57.610 In this case, what I think is really interesting, and I've had several 00:08:57.610 --> 00:09:02.730 great conversations with leaders about this, is that it's really 00:09:02.730 --> 00:09:08.190 market-centric and about really setting up for the next decade of success. 00:09:08.190 --> 00:09:09.810 And so a couple examples I had. 00:09:09.810 --> 00:09:14.340 One was really around realigning the business and shifting from 00:09:14.400 --> 00:09:16.530 a product centric business. 00:09:16.760 --> 00:09:22.340 Organization and orientation to a market-centric orientation for 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:27.920 their businesses fundamentally to drive better customer experience 00:09:28.370 --> 00:09:30.140 and to meet market requirements. 00:09:30.190 --> 00:09:35.680 And so it's a opportunity to be more effective, to be more collaborative. 00:09:35.865 --> 00:09:40.255 Internally and externally with customers to create that 00:09:40.435 --> 00:09:42.775 market-centric business transformation. 00:09:43.015 --> 00:09:46.795 The second piece is really around looking for new market opportunities, right? 00:09:46.795 --> 00:09:51.775 And rethinking traditional end uses and traditional markets, and going 00:09:51.775 --> 00:09:54.865 beyond what is currently seen. 00:09:55.205 --> 00:09:57.005 For companies in the industry. 00:09:57.425 --> 00:10:01.295 So market-centric business transformation is here. 00:10:01.325 --> 00:10:04.415 We're starting to see it across many companies, and I think it's 00:10:04.415 --> 00:10:07.025 gonna be a real focus in 2024. 00:10:08.585 --> 00:10:10.715 My fifth theme is about. 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:12.860 Continuing the green. 00:10:12.860 --> 00:10:16.280 So if you remember last year we talked a little bit about being green and 00:10:16.280 --> 00:10:20.390 buggy, and that was one of the key themes that came out of the conference. 00:10:20.780 --> 00:10:26.640 Bio-based ingredients and green innovation continues on and in fact, a 00:10:26.645 --> 00:10:32.580 CI hosted a couple of innovation panels with speakers from leading companies, 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:38.250 including Eastman, Hollifirm, Pilot, Sasol, and others, talking about their 00:10:38.525 --> 00:10:43.415 bio surfactant innovations, and really they're bio-based ingredient innovations. 00:10:43.715 --> 00:10:47.825 What's interesting, I think is number one, there's a lot of evolution in this 00:10:47.825 --> 00:10:49.685 space and definitely a lot of focus. 00:10:49.685 --> 00:10:53.815 It's innovation, it's market-centric, it's sustainability-centric. 00:10:54.515 --> 00:10:57.575 There's also a lot of collaboration and partnership coming through. 00:10:57.575 --> 00:11:02.425 So certainly we see companies like Holli Firm and integrity biochemical. 00:11:02.675 --> 00:11:08.525 Partnering up with other companies that are able to maybe more effectively take 00:11:08.525 --> 00:11:12.945 it to market, have a different market reach and really help expand the impact. 00:11:12.945 --> 00:11:16.545 So I think this is what we're gonna continue to see from a bio-based 00:11:16.545 --> 00:11:21.375 ingredient perspective, a continuing partnering perspective, and just frankly 00:11:21.525 --> 00:11:26.175 continuing for this industry to continue being on a green and sustainable path. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.760 The sixth theme that came through. 00:11:29.810 --> 00:11:34.280 I look at maybe the first five is a bit more opportunistic and positive. 00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:39.365 The sixth theme was a little bit worrisome and it's around tightening regulations. 00:11:39.705 --> 00:11:41.500 So a lot of this is European driven. 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:45.055 The eus tend to be the leader in some cases, and I'm not sure if it's 00:11:45.055 --> 00:11:47.755 a good or bad leader, you guys have heard me talk about this before. 00:11:48.065 --> 00:11:51.725 But the EO EU is a leader in driving some tighter regulations. 00:11:51.725 --> 00:11:53.315 One topic that has been. 00:11:53.630 --> 00:11:59.030 It was a hot topic throughout the conference is EUDR, so the European 00:11:59.330 --> 00:12:05.330 Deforestation Regulation which applies stringent and risk-based guidelines to 00:12:05.330 --> 00:12:08.000 specific products coming into the EU. 00:12:08.330 --> 00:12:11.480 As you can imagine, the word deforestation is the key theme in 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:16.280 there, the things that are tied to the forest in the surfactant space. 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:20.360 Products derived from palm oil are in the spotlight. 00:12:20.390 --> 00:12:24.850 And one of the things I heard more than anything is, there's been a lot 00:12:24.855 --> 00:12:29.000 of regulation and there's been some practices already put in place across 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:34.130 the industry to recognize the risks and the potential harm that comes 00:12:34.130 --> 00:12:36.770 in some of the farming of palm oil. 00:12:37.410 --> 00:12:40.950 So there's already been a lot of work going on to ensure, 00:12:41.030 --> 00:12:44.910 effective regulations and protocols and requirements are in place. 00:12:45.270 --> 00:12:49.440 This goes a step or two or three further and there seems to be some 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.160 concern about how are companies really going to meet this. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:57.484 And so I think watch this space, stay tuned to the news and how 00:12:57.484 --> 00:13:01.174 this progresses on as companies are trying to figure out how they're 00:13:01.174 --> 00:13:04.679 managing this new deforestation regulation coming out of the EU. 00:13:05.779 --> 00:13:09.009 The second one that came out was really around dioxane. 00:13:09.249 --> 00:13:12.999 So one four Dioxane has been in the spotlight for the past several years, 00:13:12.999 --> 00:13:16.989 certainly in the US as well as globally, and companies have really figured 00:13:16.989 --> 00:13:18.549 out how to navigate around that. 00:13:18.789 --> 00:13:22.629 The current regulations are formulation base. 00:13:22.634 --> 00:13:26.019 They're setting a target amount of one four dioxane in the 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:28.089 formulation in the applications 00:13:28.569 --> 00:13:32.979 . In the industry, companies across the industry have really teamed up to 00:13:33.339 --> 00:13:38.409 understand how to adjust to that, how to adapt, and how to meet those requirements. 00:13:38.949 --> 00:13:39.189 Huh. 00:13:39.249 --> 00:13:43.604 Now there's a new regulation coming outta Germany that focuses on one 00:13:43.604 --> 00:13:48.764 four dioxane in the raw materials at a pretty low level that quite 00:13:48.764 --> 00:13:50.444 honestly, I think companies are still 00:13:50.894 --> 00:13:53.414 figuring out how are they going to tackle this. 00:13:53.624 --> 00:13:57.614 So I think, I would say regulations is maybe one of the key themes. 00:13:57.614 --> 00:14:02.714 And frankly, this is an area that a CI and other industry groups really 00:14:02.719 --> 00:14:08.424 help pave the way and lead the way for other constituents to provide both 00:14:08.424 --> 00:14:13.164 consensus, to provide that feedback to the governing bodies and more so stay 00:14:13.164 --> 00:14:15.264 tuned in terms of where that's gonna go. 00:14:15.534 --> 00:14:16.584 But that is. 00:14:16.624 --> 00:14:21.004 Theme number six, coming out of the a CI 2024 annual conference. 00:14:22.324 --> 00:14:27.114 In general, the mood I would say was upbeat, but measured, so 00:14:27.114 --> 00:14:32.104 ACI has said this was a record attendance over 1300 registrants 00:14:32.134 --> 00:14:33.739 from across the global industry. 00:14:33.744 --> 00:14:35.479 And I think that's important to recognize. 00:14:35.789 --> 00:14:42.019 And I would say overall people were positive, looking forward 00:14:42.019 --> 00:14:45.559 to the year, uncertain about how it was going to progress. 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.769 And certainly what we've seen and what we've heard on The Chemical Show and 00:14:48.769 --> 00:14:52.699 what you guys have heard elsewhere in the markets is that there's some concerns 00:14:52.699 --> 00:14:54.409 about how the year is going to progress. 00:14:54.414 --> 00:14:55.399 It's a little foggy. 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:59.029 It's perhaps a little flat until we get to the second half of the year. 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:04.234 But certainly what we're hearing is positive forward progress 00:15:04.234 --> 00:15:05.794 across a number of fronts. 00:15:06.094 --> 00:15:07.834 An upbeat mood. 00:15:09.294 --> 00:15:13.864 Tempered by some very pragmatic views on and concerns. 00:15:13.864 --> 00:15:17.914 And frankly, just watch this space on how the industry is gonna progress. 00:15:18.424 --> 00:15:24.964 So that is it for this year's update from the 2024 ACI annual meeting. 00:15:25.214 --> 00:15:26.949 I'd love to hear what you had to say. 00:15:26.949 --> 00:15:28.359 If you were at the conference. 00:15:28.434 --> 00:15:29.574 What did you hear? 00:15:29.874 --> 00:15:31.404 Does this align with you? 00:15:31.554 --> 00:15:34.734 Reach out, send me an email, shoot me a DM on LinkedIn. 00:15:34.984 --> 00:15:36.904 Would love to hear from you and love to respond. 00:15:37.624 --> 00:15:39.724 Thanks again for listening to The Chemical Show. 00:15:39.754 --> 00:15:42.514 Keep listening, keep following, keep sharing, and we will 00:15:42.514 --> 00:15:44.494 talk with you again soon. 00:15:46.448 --> 00:15:48.228 We've come to the end of today's podcast. 00:15:48.638 --> 00:15:51.188 We hope you enjoyed your time with us and want to learn more. 00:15:51.597 --> 00:15:53.857 Simply visit TheChemicalShow. 00:15:53.867 --> 00:15:56.617 com for additional information and helpful resources. 00:15:57.307 --> 00:16:01.357 Join us again next time here on The Chemical Show with Victoria Meyer.