Chemical Logistics Circle: Redefining Collective Responsibility of the Middle East

Abdul Rahman Al Mutaiwee, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Board Member of Emirates Petroleum Corporation stated in the keynote address, " More investments in petrochemical industries was located in the Middle East and supported by a huge demand for some specialty chemicals in last five years and the demand pattern will continue in the next decade too". This positive mood in the buoyancy of the chemical industry was endorsed by an ebullient presentation by Shashi Shekar, President of Supply Chain Logistics Group who shared the nuggets of new thinking and trends in Global Supply Chain.

Chemical Producers in Middle East - the primary part of the global supply chain joined other stakeholders to support the initiative of TransLogisgtique Canada (TLC) to form a Chemical Logistics Circle (CLC) as quality approach in responsible care for the environment, health and safety (EHS). The idea for the CLC (Chemical Logistics Circle) will be to address the unique needs of chemical companies for collective responsibility and essential collaboration in a value chain model -gradually evolving in the Middle East and Asian Region.

In the penultimate panel of Chemical Logistics Conference, a live debate was centred on the forces shaping the Middle East within the framework of PICO (Process, Information, Culture and Organization) so unique to the Middle East region. "The process of building bridges in a global supply chain among companies from one region to another depends on how information is shared among stakeholders, from one trading bloc (NAFTA, EU, ASEAN and GCC) to another both as proactive policies of the government to facilitate global trade, having regard for cultural diversity in the region and within companies that have multiple supply chains triggered by needs of strategic business units in the conglomerate located in a specific country" said Prof Philbert Suresh, "calls for a careful approach to the design of the chemical supply chain. And when it is added to outsourcing, then this dimension is even more challenging to find right partners on a level playing field."

There will be no room for average performers in the next decade. Companies will have to be low-cost, high-quality providers of products and services. They will be forced to recognize, develop and focus on core competencies and give serious consideration to outsourcing the other competencies. The customer measures the performance of the total supply chain. TLC will inform members of CLC on the methodology to develop the core competencies and understand the different phases of outsourcing in this business process. A workshop of 4 days is being launched on Outsourcing Supply Chain Activities.

Yves Letange, Managing Director, BDP International Europe punctuated the session on collaboration with responsible care - that demands a "voluntary programme akin to CLC that will help member companies in Oil & Gas sector to raise its standards and win greater trust from the public."

Prof Rudger Ludger Bruell, Head of the Supply Chain & Logistics, Bayer Technologiy Services, Germany commented "Sharing knowledge in the value chain - is type of lead taken by organizations that form collaborative relationships and strategic partnerships and successfully share knowledge with suppliers, service providers, business partners, customers, competitors, government/regulatory agencies, and academia."

Paul Cherry, Monomer and Logistics Manager, Basell Asia Pacific,China stated that "some organizations resist collaborative relationships because they fear the risk is too great. In addition to fears of information leaks to competitors, loss of bargaining power is an issue for some companies. However, close partner relationships lead to success for many organizations.

One of the Indian conglomerates, Reliance Group, participating through its team of senior management led by Niraj Ambani stated "the process innovation in supply chain management has enabled it to form new identity in logistics whereby collaboration in vertical markets was easier to achieve than in the horizontal one because of diversification of dissimilar businesses."

Under Responsible Care, the worldwide chemical industry is committed to continual improvement in all aspects of health, safety and environmental performance and to open communication about its activities and achievements.

Prof Philbert Suresh referred to the pre-conference workshop. "On collective responsibility for redefining chemical logistics under global trade will have a focus on Responsible Care that was more than a set of principles and declarations initiated in Canada three decades ago. Through the sharing of information and a rigorous system of checklists, performance indicators and verification procedures, it enables the industry to demonstrate how it has improved over the years and to develop policies for further improvement. In these ways, collective responsibility of players in Middle East through CLC will also help the industry to gain the trust of the public and to operate safely, profitably and with due care for future generations."