Chemical companies are likely to leverage digital technologies to enable automated trend sensing and social media scanning (using text analytics) to identify broader market trends and customer requirements. This customer-centric innovation, which solicits real-time feedback through customer engagement tools, could help improve the scope, scale, and returns of R&D efforts.

In the past, chemical businesses have typically implemented advanced data analytics and digital initiatives in silos, resulting in slower processes, higher costs, and uncertain benefits. However, chemical firms are now increasingly realizing that digital transformation is about implementing more and better technologies and involves aligning culture, people, structure, and tasks.

The rising concerns about the harmful effects of conventional chemicals on the environment have led to an increase in the demand for user- and environment-friendly specialty chemicals. As a result, leading players are focusing on the development and marketing of specialty chemicals in these variants to expand their product portfolio and improve their overall sales. These players are also investing in research and development activities to provide innovative and custom-made specialty chemicals for target applications.

As the supply chain crisis has affected almost all industries across the globe including chemical manufacturers, 2023 will be a crucial year to revaluate current supply chain structures in order to be optimally positioned for the time ahead marked by challenges such as balancing costs, minimalizing the carbon footprint of business operations and resiliency against future disruptions.