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Tuesday, 27 December 2016

Industry 4.0 and the chemical industry

Catalysing transformation through operations improvement and business growth

By Stefan Van Thienen, Andrew Clinton, Monika Mahto & Brenna Sniderman

With more than 20 million people employed and annual sales of $5 trillion, the global chemicals industry serves as the backbone of many end-market industries such as agriculture, automotive, construction, and pharmaceuticals. Changes in the chemicals industry — such as the rise of the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0 —are thus likely to have a ripple effect on a number of other industries.

Industry 4.0 brings together a number of digital and physical advanced technologies to form a greater physical-to-digital to- physical connection—and it can potentially transform the chemicals industry by promoting strategic growth and streamlining operations.

The time is ripe for such a transformation: Advanced technologies relevant to the chemicals industry—such as the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced materials, additive manufacturing, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and robotics—together have reached a level of cost and performance that enables widespread applications. For example, BASF is using Industry 4.0 applications in its deployment of connected systems and advanced analytics models for predictive asset management, process management and control, and virtual plant commissioning. Beyond these traditional applications, the company completely automated the production of liquid soaps at its smart pilot plant in Kaiserslautern.

Once a user places an order for a customised soap, the radio-frequency identification tags attached to the soap containers inform the equipment on the production line via wireless network connections about the desired composition of the soap and packaging—thus enabling mass customization without human involvement.

More importantly, these technologies are now advanced enough that they can integrate with chemicals companies’ core conversion and marketing processes to digitally transform operations and enable “smart” supply chains and factories as well as new business models.

What can Industry 4.0 do for chemicals?

Organisations focused on business operations can use Industry 4.0 technologies primarily to improve productivity and reduce risk, while those focused on growth can apply Industry 4.0 to build incremental revenue or generate wholly new income streams.

Improving business operations: Productivity and risk

Improving business operations manifests in two ways: improving productivity and reducing risk.

While the productivity of chemicals plants can be improved by various smart manufacturing techniques, reducing risk involves managing supply chains and in-house operations to respond to changing customer needs and to improve safety and quality.

Smart manufacturing: Marrying IT and OT to improve productivity

Also known as “smart factory,” smart manufacturing combines information technology (IT), such as the IoT, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics, with operations technology (OT), such as additive manufacturing, advanced materials, and robotics. This process can benefit chemicals companies in several ways:

• Predictive asset management: By combining the continuous feed of data collected from sensors with smart equipment, plant operators are able to evolve from reactive repairs to predictive maintenance.

• Process management and control: Industry 4.0 technologies such as real-time analytics and automated control actions bring together the digital and physical realms, thereby enabling greater control over the batch consistency and quality.

• Energy management: Industry 4.0 technologies such as soft or virtual software sensors can help improve energy efficiency.

• Safety management: Connected technologies can help companies in continuously monitoring products, byproducts, as well as any waste generated, thereby reducing production risks.

• Production simulation: By using technologies such as 3D visualisation and virtual reality, plant operators can train staff, be prepared before plant operations start, and benefit from prognostics.

Supply chain planning: Predicting changes to reduce operational risk

Industry 4.0 helps chemicals companies plan their supply chains in two ways:

• Supply chain visibility: By monitoring chemicals in transit, chemicals companies are able to better manage their supply chain planning. Further, several players in the supply chain — ranging from transport operators to technology providers —can work toward a common business objective.

• Demand forecasting: Chemicals companies can achieve capacity optimisation through demand forecasting and responsive scheduling. By doing so, they can identify demand indicators, and expand or contract their production capacities accordingly.

• Growing the business: Incremental and new revenue.

The transformational plays Industry 4.0 offers related to business growth lie on two ends of the value chain.

Research and development: Developing new products to expand revenue

R&D is perhaps the most critical stage in the value chain: It shapes not only how the products will be manufactured but also informs subsequent improvements. Because R&D demands heavy investment, chemicals companies are looking at big data and other tools to predict the outcome of an investment. In the field of material genomics, for example, advanced analytics helps researchers use the available data to understand the chemical properties of available materials, and consider possible combinations in order to develop new materials with desired properties for specific customers.

Technologies relevant to this transformation include:

• Additive manufacturing for testing or developing new products

• Advanced analytics for selecting materials

• 4D printing for developing advanced materials

Smart products and services: Making products intelligent and creating new data services

Advanced technologies such as the IoT could allow chemicals companies to add intelligence to their existing products and deliver better customer service. In addition, chemicals companies could complement their traditional pay-by-the-ton revenue model by offering value-added data services. By forward-integrating into their customers’ operations, chemicals companies can deliver value propositions and even build new business models.

Products and services in this transformation include:

• Product recommendations for chemicals applications

• Data services to augment existing revenues

• New revenue models by forward integrating into customers’ operations

The solutions layer architecture: Enabling Industry 4.0 technologies and capabilities

In Industry 4.0, data play a key role in connecting IT and OT. However, it is difficult for organisations to know where to focus and what to prioritise, or even what capabilities should be put in place, to achieve their specific objectives.

A structured series of capabilities, or a solutions layer architecture, can help executives plan and implement Industry 4.0 technologies. The goal of this architecture is to enable the company to build a digital DNA—the underlying sequence that brings together capabilities in different domains—required for a digital transformation. The layers in this structure begin with technology integration, data management, and advanced analytics, which in the physical realm are manifested in the form of digital interfaces that are used to drive digital capabilities and, finally, the strategic imperatives of the business.

Climbing the pyramid: Where to start

As chemicals organisations seek to build an Industry 4.0 solutions architecture, the following actions might help them:

• Start with what you know or do best: Use the organisational ability to absorb changes in mature chemicals processes, traditional products, and supply chain operations where there is good visibility, then move onto relatively newer, more complex applications.

• Enable a cross-functional Industry 4.0 team: The competencies required in the architecture sit in different business functions, and hence it is important that chemicals executives create a cross-functional team to focus on Industry 4.0 opportunities.

• Build and be a part of a pervasive ecosystem: Companies need to build diverse capabilities in big data infrastructure, management, integration, validation, and analytics to be able to deploy Industry 4.0 applications. This requires chemicals companies to partner with technology vendors, analytics providers, and universities, among others, to manage operations at each layer.

• Manage your cyber risk: With greater interaction with ecosystem partners, chemicals manufacturers should focus on a risk management policy and technologies.

Industry 4.0 will likely impact the way chemicals companies operate and grow their businesses, as they shift away from the pay-by-the-ton revenue model to provide value-added products and services to their customers. How fast and well companies perform will depend on the decisions they take today and the initiatives they commit to for the coming years. As changes in chemicals affect related industries, time is of the essence: Industry 4.0 is no longer a topic of the future.

Authors: Stefan Van Thienen is a partner and leader of the Chemicals and Specialty Materials sector at Deloitte Belgium.

Andrew Clinton is a senior manager in the Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations practice at Deloitte Consulting NA.

Monika Mahto is an assistant manager with Deloitte Services India Pvt Ltd, affiliated with Deloitte’s Center for Integrated Research.

Brenna Sniderman is a senior manager with Deloitte Services LP, affiliated with Deloitte’s Center for Integrated Research.

Solvay completes sale of Solvay Indupa stake to Unipar

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM: Solvay SA has completed the sale of its 70.59 percent stake in Solvay Indupa to Brazilian chemical group Unipar Carbocloro. Following the approval earlier this month of the Brazilian antitrust authority CADE.

“The sale of Solvay Indupa, producers of PVC and caustic soda in Brazil and Argentina, marks another important step in Solvay's transformation,” said Vincent De Cuyper, member of Solvay’s executive committee.

Monday, 26 December 2016

US Appeals court affirms arbitration award to TerraVia by Roquette

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, US: TerraVia Holdings Inc declared that the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (federal court) issued a decision in the appeal by Roquette Freres SA of an arbitration award connected with the Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals LLC joint venture.

The appeals court affirmed, without modification, the original arbitration award, which ordered the assignment to TerraVia of:

All SRN patent applications.
All SRN “know-how” related to high lipid algae flour and high protein algae powder.
All Roquette patent applications filed since November 2010 relating to microalgal food and food ingredients, as well as methods for making and using them.

In addition, the original arbitration award ordered Roquette to pay $2.3 million to TerraVia in legal costs and fees.

“The court’s decision confirms that the valuable intellectual property and know-how associated with our whole algal flour and whole algal protein ingredients belong to TerraVia,” said Apu Mody, CEO of TerraVia.

Total strengthens strategic alliance with Petrobras

PARIS, FRANCE: Total SA and Petrobras has signed an assets package agreement in the framework of their strategic alliance. This agreement reinforces the joint partnership and cooperation between the two companies, in the upstream and downstream sectors, covering operations, research and technology.

In the upstream, the technical cooperation will be strongly reinforced by the two companies including joint assessment of the exploration potential in key prospective areas in Brazil and the development of new technologies.

Total will also become a partner to Petrobras in two high-quality pre-salt licenses of the prolific Santos basin: the BMS-11 with the “Iara” fields currently under development where Total will acquire a 22.5 percent interest from Petrobras. And in the BMS-9 with the Lapa field which just entered into production and where Total will become the Operator of the license with the acquisition of a 35 percent interest from Petrobras.

The two companies will combine their internationally recognised expertise in deep-water to jointly develop solutions for long subsea tie-backs, reservoirs with high CO2 content and digital geosciences data management. Total will also offer to Petrobras the option of taking a 20 percent stake in the Perdido Belt deepwater exploration Block 2 recently awarded in Mexico.

In the downstream, Total will bring to Petrobras its worldwide experience by entering the integrated gas and power market in Brazil. Total will acquire from Petrobras some regasification capacity in the Bahia LNG terminal and a 50 percent interest in two co-generation plants located in the Bahia area as well as pipeline transport capacity, enabling Total to supply gas to the two co-generation plants.

Under the terms of this assets package deal, the acquisition of the upstream and downstream interests in Brazil from Petrobras will represent a global value of around 2.2 billion dollars, made of cash, carry and contingent payments.

“These agreements will reinforce Total’s position in Brazil through access to outstanding pre-salt resources while entering the promising gas value chain. I’m confident that both companies will be able to create significant value by sharing their technical expertise, leveraging operational excellence and further reducing costs,” said Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and CEO, Total.

Colours: hues & shades take a shiny turn

All around us we see cars with glossier metallic finish; wall paints which are also weather durable; and regular plastic chairs which dorn a regal look and feel.

Colours are no longer just hues or shades but there is more to it. High performance pigments, stand true to its name and is delivering the extra ‘performance’ for the industry with every brush stroke.

By Debarati Das

Colours are an integral part of life and have indisputably become an important factor in every industry to appeal to its buyers. Not just the hues, but today colours also need to qualify various other criteria such as texture, longevity, resistance to heat and light etc to be in sync with the changing market demand. While the pigments industry is catching up to these requirements, high performance pigments (HPP) is garnering special attention from various industries due to its striking characteristics.

The hunt for newer, trendier shades and textures on walls, automobiles and clothes has made the pigments industry shake up and scale new heights.

The global demand for pigments amounts to almost 9.7 million tonnes, as analyzed by Ceresana, the market research company. The global pigments market is anticipated to reach $31.98 billion by 2023, expanding at a CAGR of 3.8 percent between 2015 and 2023, as per a recent report by Transparency Market Research.

The global pigments market is dominated by Asia Pacific, which alone accounted for more than 40 percent volume share in 2014. Rising demand from major end-user segments especially the automotive industry along with increasing construction activities in countries such as China, India, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia has further fueled the demand for pigments. As per reports, China will be the major consumer of pigments by 2023 while Middle East & Africa and Latin America are the anticipated potential markets for pigments in the near future.

Pigments have become an important part of various industries including paints and varnishes, plastics, construction material, glass and ceramics, printing inks, paper, textiles, cosmetics and various others. While inorganic pigments, like titanium dioxide, iron oxide, carbon black and chromium, compounds dominate the industry; the demand for safe and environment friendly colours are raising the popularity of organic pigments as well.

Speciality pigments like classic organic, metallic, fluorescent, phosphorescent and luminescent, with its improved performance and visual effects have also shown a steady growth. This segment is also projected to be the fastest-growing product segment due to increasing consumer preference for high-performance pigments with attractive aesthetic features. Increased consumption of metallic pigments in decorative paints and coatings is likely to fuel demand for speciality pigments in the next few years. The rising awareness and use of nanoparticles are also expected to create lucrative opportunities in the global pigments market.

Growing demand

The industry’s interest on HPP has risen due to its superior properties when compared to its conventional counterparts. These pigments have high resistance to heat, light & weather, enhanced fastness, chemical resistance and longer operational life giving them an edge over other pigments and broadening their usage and applications across multiple industries. Coatings, plastics, cosmetics and inks are some of the key applications where HPP market has seen significant growth.

While coatings accounted for over half of the global demand in 2014, automotive coating dominated in this segment. HPP is widely being preferred for automotive coatings, which has further witnessed a boost due to the exponential growth in automotive sales that has increased the demand for superior and high-quality automotive coatings. The increasing customer needs and demands for high-end automobiles are playing a key role in positively shaping HPP’s market growth.

Plastic is anticipated to witness a strong growth in the near future while the global personal care industry also holdsopportunities for the HPP market to grow. However, applications such as inks will witness a sluggish growth due to rapid digitisation across the globe but developments in the ink jet printing technology are expected to strengthen the HPP demand in the ink industry. Rising stringency in food regulations has hampered the market growth in food pigments segment. However, high-performance pigments are emerging as the safer alternatives to conventional pigments in food packaging.

According to Grand View Research, the global HPP market, which was worth $4.17 billion in 2014 is expected to reach $6.32billion by 2022. Growing automotive coatings demand is presumed to play a key role in positively shaping the market growthover the forecast period. Even though developing regions of Asia Pacific are showing signs of becoming potential markets, the high-performance pigment production is still dominated by European, US and Japanese companies.

The global HPP market was dominated by Europe with demand share exceeding 30 percent in 2014 due to a varied demand from multiple industries in the region. The European automotive industry has also shown signs of recovery, which will further strengthen the regional HPP demand. In North America, the HPP market is primarily driven by the automotive coatings and the recovering automotive industry is expected to strengthen the HPP market again. Developing regions are more price sensitive than developed regions. However, emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Latin America will witness rapid demand growth. Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth of 6 percent from 2015 to 2022.

The growing automotive industry in China, India, Thailand and Indonesia is expected to boost the demand for HPP in this region. Inorganic high-performance pigments dominated the product segment with demand share exceeding 60 percent of the global market in 2014. However, organic high-performance pigments are expected to witness a faster growth due to the fast changing customer buying patterns and favourable regulatory scenario.

Challenges Faced

Due to its superior characteristics over traditional pigments high-performance products are priced much higher when compared to their conventional counterparts. This price disparity is likely to be a key challenge for a price sensitive market. Further, volatile raw material prices also pose threats to the industry’s growth. Due to the rising preference for HPP by the end user industry, the competition among the industry participants has gone up which has resulted in companies taking strong measures to reduce manufacturing costs and yet provide superior quality products. Small and niche players are focusing on increased usage of specialised pigments, such as thermochromic pigments and daylight fluorescent pigments which are also impacting the use of high-performance pigments.

Growing concerns over environmental issues is also a major challenge for pigment suppliers as stricter environmental regulation, especially related to water and industrial waste treatment, is also hampering the growth of this industry However, rapid technological innovation for superior products with enhanced properties will offer abundant opportunities to lower the cost of HPP positively impacting the market’s growth and development. Among many characteristics, the most important attribute of high-performance pigments is its eco-friendliness. The growing concern about environment safety and the overall health security of consumers, the industry to so slowly shifting away from harmful pigments and embracing vibrant yet safe pigments giving high-performance pigment a wider arena to spread its hues.

Saudi Aramco, Pertamina to upgrade Cilacap Refinery

DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Aramco and PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state oil and gas company have signed a joint venture development agreement (JVDA), marking a key milestone to enable further progress to jointly own, upgrade and operate the Cilacap Refinery in central Java, Indonesia.

Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser and Pertamina president director and CEO Dwi Soetjipto signed the agreement.

In November 2015, both companies signed heads of agreement (HoA) and this JVDA will allow for the next development phase of the project to move forward.

The Cilacap refinery is part of Pertamina’s Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) and its capacity is planned for an expansion to 400,000 barrels per day and it is designed to process Arabian crude supplied by Saudi Aramco. It will also produce refined products that meet Euro V specifications, basic petrochemicals, and Group II base oil for lubricants.

In addition to meeting rising fuel demand, the partnership between Pertamina and Saudi Aramco will enhance the competitiveness of Indonesia’s refineries and contribute to improved energy security.

Saudi Aramco and Pertamina agreed on the ownership structure of the upgraded Cilacap refinery, where Pertamina will hold a 55 percent stake and Saudi Aramco will own the balance 45 percent.

To date, the upgraded refinery configuration has been completed and the process to select technology licensors will start soon with the Basic Engineering Design work targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2017.

Signing this agreement paves the way for the upgraded project to move to the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase in the second quarter 2017 while project startup is targeted in 2021.

“Through an outlay of significant capital investments and the reliable supply of competitive feedstock, this agreement with Pertamina enables Saudi Aramco to potentially play a bigger role in meeting the rising energy needs of one of the world’s fastest developing economies,” said Nasser.

“The agreement is representing both company’s strong commitment to developing and strengthening the energy infrastructure throughout the country, especially in refinery projects, that align Pertamina’s five strategic pillars. Upgrading and expansion of Cilacap Refinery will help Pertamina to enhance its downstream competitiveness with higher valuable and environmentally friendly products,” said Dwi Soetjipto.

Digitalization of supply chains

Digital supply chains in chemical logistics

Modern IT systems help to master the complexity of supply chains in the chemical industry. They manage the flow of information, which accompanies the physical flows of goods. And they deliver the infrastructure for the digitalization of processes in the new world of Logistics 4.0.

But in order for processes to be able to be automated continuously from delivery call-off at the supplier up to delivery to the customer, it takes one basic requirement: Full integration of the logistics partners involved. Integration is the prerequisite for collaboration in complex supply chains. It creates networks in which information flows and can be shared. The cost saving potential in global supply chains is massive due to such networked logistics.

“Integration is the prerequisite for collaboration in complex supply chains”

In the age of digitalization cloud technology delivers an essential contribution to the more efficient organisation of logistical processes. Especially sensitive distribution logistics in the chemical industry can benefit from the advantages of IT-based supply chains as

a) It is about integrating many different parties with the logistical process. While on the procurement side there are often complete transports for large volumes delivered by a rather small number of suppliers, distribution is characterised by smaller volumes and a large number of different consignees.

b) The supply chains in distribution are often global. Long transport routes across country borders require a high degree of transparency.

c) In distribution, it is often that different carriers and significantly more forwarders are employed than in procurement. While in procurement logistics rail freight transport plays a big role, distribution is done in multimodal transports via road, sea and partly by airfreight.

“Through AX4 we can present our processes in an even more transparent way and deliver important information in a timely manner so that if necessary our customer can adapt his production in time and without downtimes,” said Harald Gort, CIO, Lexzau Scharbau.

The goal is to be able to quickly, easily and flexibly manage cross-company logistical processes in a global network of a large number of forwarders and locations and to ensure smooth cooperation between the various participants along the transport chain. This kind of interaction between shipper and forwarder requires a high degree of transparency and a continuous supply of required information.

In order to improve communication between the involved parties and to optimise delivery processes, it is required to standardise the processes. Modern cloud-based IT solutions can support here as they allow for central access to transport-relevant data for all participants and thus create a consistent level of information. By mapping, a cross-company process in the cloud, which is valid for everyone, individual and local isolated solutions can be avoided or removed. In addition cloud solutions ensure that logistical processes run in automated ways: They are documented in detail and the system alarms when processes or pre-alerted delivery times run out of hand.

“We wanted to standardise communication with our forwarders instead of using multiple communication forms,” said Holger Eiffert, Head of SCM & Sales Services, Kuraray Europe.

Requirements to IT-based supply chain management in the chemical industry.

The typical logistical distribution process in the chemical industry mostly looks as follows: The chemical producer distributes goods from various locations to a large number of customers. Depending on the company’s diverse transport requirements different forwarders are being used. Shipments consist of general cargo, partial or full loads or - in a case of samples - of small parcel shipments. In addition, there are dangerous goods for which special service providers are being used. At the same time - especially in international distribution - various ways of transport are used such as air, sea, rail and road. The processes for cooperation and for the exchange of information can be organised in different ways depending on location and forwarded. Many departments in the company are affected by logistical processes; therefore the requirements for an IT system are comprehensive:

The company’s central logistics needs central overviews, continuous transparency of all locations and clear measurability of performance as well as meaningful reports. In addition, processes which are standardised across locations are desirable instead of many individual solutions, also integration with the own data warehouse system. In addition to that, central availability of validated shipment count would be helpful, e.g. for tenders.

The purchasing department needs solutions which can quickly and easily be rolled out to new forwarders and an updated database which deliver all the required information on shipment structures for tenders at the push of a button.

The individual locations require easy and automated communication with forwarders, i.e. quick and cost-effective integration of new forwarders, automated exchange of all required data, quick ability to provide information in case of problems and on the shipment’s progress. They also need a system which can flexibly map the locations’ special requirements.

The customer service centre requires easily accessible and timely information on the shipment status and proactive notifications in case of problems. The IT needs a system which can be implemented at a reasonable cost, which can be easily integrated with the existing system landscape and is easy to maintain.

Besides that, also external partners make requirements to companies: The company’s customers expect transparency and an easy way to access their shipment information. They want a modern and innovative set of features. The forwarders require early information on planned transports and an easy way for the driver to report status information.

“We transmit all shipment data centrally from our SAP system to AX4, from where it is being forwarded to the various forwarders. These, in turn, report tracking data which is returned to SAP in a harmonised structure,” said Michael Kuschnerus, Logistics Manager, Brunsbuttel factory, Sasol.

Benefits of digitalization

The digitalization of management and information processes in logistics opens up groundbreaking opportunities for companies of the chemical industry. Even complex tasks in delivery networks can be flexibly realised. Cloud-based IT solutions make complex logistical processes easier to manage. They allow for the integration of all participants along the supply chain at the push of a button.

Processes are automated, availability of data increases and the quality of information grows. Due to a central availability of transport-relevant information for all participants, it is easier to make decisions, to avoid costly wrong decisions and to reduce a cost for research and information procurement.

In practice this leads to the following results:

Reduced logistics cost:

The early recognition of synergies, e.g. in a utilization of transport vehicles due to improved planning capability and transparency leads to reduced transport cost and even the number of special transports reduces significantly.

Savings in freight cost can also be achieved by way of tenders as detailed and reliable data on shipment structures and volumes is available for the tender documentation.

Administration cost is reduced as fewer research is required and duplicate entry of data is eliminated. In a central cloud solution, data which is gathered due to common processes and the use of a common IT is collected. Based on this new key figures or key figures with more valid values can be created.

Quicker and more reliable supply chain:

Smooth interacting processes replace breaking points between the companies and harmonise heterogeneous IT landscapes in a common process for the participants. A central logistics platform allows for more efficient planning of transports as well as of resources in the chemical park. Reliability in distribution increases due to more stable processes, transparency and meaningful KPIs, timely information in case of irregularities.

Complexity is reduced, which also reduces risks along the supply chain. Also, the error rate caused by in transparent processes or lack of access to information is significantly reduced. Due to the integration with the flow of information also satisfaction among the company’s customers increases.

Efficiency by collaboration:

Cloud solutions allow for close cross-company cooperation in the sense of collaboration – a key factor for increasing margins: More efficient management and the reduction of various cost factors lead to higher margins for all participants. Internally many companies are already highly optimised. However, the area of cross-company cooperation still leaves a lot of leeway for innovative ideas. Collaboration intensifies cooperation between companies.

The close and partner-like cooperation results in an innovation-friendly climate and new ideas can be looked at in a more holistic way. In addition, those new ideas have fewer obstacles to overcome as the various parties already cooperate closely. Thereby the conditions are perfect for driving and implementing innovations.

Savings through modern IT:

Connecting the cloud solution to the ERP system allows for reduced efforts of 50 per cent when integrating new forwarders that used to have a direct and dedicated connection to the ERP system. Compared to a locally implemented software time savings in rolling out a cloud solution to a new location amounts to 70 per cent since the solution can simply be copied. Internal maintenance efforts for the system are eliminated and the internal IT is further relieved by outsourcing forwarder integration.

The logistics platform AX4 also offers customers another advantage: By using the administration environment AX4 Open solutions can be adapted independently. This leaves companies with a high degree of agility and freedom of design. Like this innovative idea can be realised independently from the software manufacturer with the available tools. And that is probably the biggest benefit for many: Future reliability.

Source: AXIT GmbH