Huntsman Group is a world-famous manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals. Its Huntsman Textile Dyeing Chemicals Division creates, produces and sells various dyes and auxiliary products. Its business is evenly distributed around the world, serving more than 10,000 customers in 110 countries and regions, and is a first-class global supplier of comprehensive solutions to the textile industry. Currently, Huntsman Textile Effects, headquartered in Singapore, employs approximately 3,000 people and has nine major production facilities in seven countries around the world, including Switzerland, Germany, the United States, Mexico, China, Thailand and India.
At the "2011 Global Textile and Apparel Supply Chain Conference" held in Shaoxing, Zhejiang from July 22 to 23, Huntsman Textile Dyeing and Chemicals, one of the supporting units of the conference, sent a speech by Global President Paul G Mr. Hulme led a high-profile delegation including Mr. Rohit Aggarwal, Global Vice President of the Garment and Home Textiles Division, and Mr. Kent Kvaal, Vice President of the Specialty Textiles Division, to participate in the conference, which shows that it attaches great importance to the Chinese market. During the conference, our reporter interviewed Mr. Paul G. Hulme on issues such as innovation and supply chain sustainable development.
Reporter: Innovation has been one of the hot words in various industries, including the textile industry, in recent years. However, some companies have fallen into misunderstandings, causing innovation to be divorced from the development needs of the industry and market and become "pseudo-innovation." As a company at the forefront of innovation, how does Huntsman Textile Effects understand the word "innovation" and maintain sustained and efficient innovation?
Mr. Paul G. Hulme: As a supplier that provides customers with comprehensive solutions, Huntsman Textile Dyeing is committed to environmental protection, differentiation of fabrics and clothing, and how to improve the speed and flexibility of finished products. Confident in every field. We currently have 1,100 patents, and according to our R&D plan, about 30 products are expected to be successfully developed. In the past two years, we have also developed nearly 60 new products focusing on environmental protection and sustainable development.
To achieve innovation, we must devote ourselves wholeheartedly and carry out rigorous research and development work. Research and development is the lifeline for any business to remain competitive. Huntsman Textile Chemicals currently spends 5% of its revenue on research and development. We have world-class production and R&D facilities, a global supply chain and experienced employees. In the past two and a half years, R&D efforts have mostly focused on greener chemical products that are more environmentally and economically beneficial. These products are designed to help users reduce water and energy consumption by approximately 30 to 40% during textile processing. It can also help terminal clothing product sellers meet their consumers’ expectations in terms of energy saving, water saving and product performance.
Reporter: Chinese textile companies are paying more and more attention to the balance of environmental protection, efficiency and economy. What solutions does Huntsman Textile Dyeing bring to this change?
Mr. Paul G. Hulme: The textile industry is affected by many factors on a global scale, including the economic situation and the price and supply of raw materials such as cotton. In addition, reducing energy and water consumption during the production process The pressure is also increasing. The governments of both India and China have passed legislation to tighten regulatory controls on manufacturing companies and have shut down many companies that did not comply with regulations. Brands and retailers have also set sustainability goals. Therefore, pressure will still come from the cost side.
At Huntsman, we have set three main goals: to provide sustainability, support local environmental protection causes, and have cost-effective technology and solutions; on the premise of fulfilling our product stewardship commitments Provide innovative high-quality products; strengthen its own strength and respond to and serve the needs of the local market quickly and flexibly.
While we cannot control the price of raw materials, we can curb price spikes through innovative solutions.
One method is to set up Formulation and Distribution Centers in areas close to large customers to meet customer needs as quickly and efficiently as possible in a flexible manner, which will help reduce costs and shorten delivery times. This also allows us to maximize the use of local raw materials, thereby saving on transportation costs and liability. For example, in order to maximize output and better serve the North China market, we opened a compounding center in Qingdao at the beginning of this year.
Reporter: Please introduce the PIP project. Are there any cases of successful cooperation around the world?
Mr. Paul G. Hulme: Before answering this question, I would like to ask the readers the following question.
What will be the market response if Huntsman can achieve the following goals? Reduce water consumption by up to 50%; Reduce energy consumption by 30% or more; Save time and increase production by 30% or more; Improve your first-time uptime rate by 95% or more; without making additional capital investment , increase production by 30.
The Productivity Improvement Program mentioned earlier works with customers to help them achieve operational excellence in terms of economic and technological sustainability.
Customers who need this service will first discuss their actual needs with us, then we will fully evaluate their production process, and finally, we will propose to the customer how to save time, energy and money. water to increase productivity and profitability, these solutions also have the added benefit of helping to reduce the environmental impact of textile production.
Another great example is a recent project we worked on with Marks and Spencer (M&S), a well-known British retailer. As part of its “Plan A” project, M&S hopes to work with Huntsman to find ways to reduce the environmental impact of one of its branded textile suppliers in China. After thorough evaluation, we put forward a series of suggestions with significant improvement results. Especially for dyeing plants, after adjustments, their total energy consumption and total water consumption dropped by 34% and 39% respectively. In terms of chemical usage, the amount of dye used to obtain dark shades was also reduced by 30%. Compared with the existing process in the workshop, the amount of chemicals used per kilogram of textiles in the dark-toned T/C cloth dyeing process was reduced by 50 to 80 g. .
Reporter: With the rapid economic development and increasingly fierce market competition, some Chinese textile companies have begun to realize that they need to actively participate in the construction of the entire supply chain and improve the competitiveness of the entire supply chain. Does Huntsman Textile Effects have any suggestions or experiences to share?
Mr. Paul G. Hulme: As the world's largest textile chemicals market, Asia has become the world's largest buyer of dyeing products over the years. Therefore, the dyeing market is also steadily moving from Western countries to Asia. Transfers to Emerging Markets. At the same time, major mainstream brands have also begun production in China. China has always been Huntsman's top priority for textile dyeing. This was fully confirmed a few years ago when we established a technical service center in Panyu, which at that time functioned as a regional headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. The Panyu factory can produce various types of textile chemicals, including pre-treatment, finishing and printing and dyeing auxiliaries.
Huntsman has also set up a compounding center in Qingdao to improve our flexibility and serve key customers more quickly. For our marketing and sales teams, the compounding center has become a key tool in our ability to successfully serve the North China chemicals market.
We recognized that we had to do more to drive development in our key markets, so we moved our corporate headquarters to Singapore. Huntsman Textile Effects has shifted its strategic center to the Asian market, hoping to get closer to users through this move and thus provide them with services in a timely and efficient manner.
In other words, the company is able to respond more quickly to market demands.
Reporter: How do you view the development of China's textile consumer market in the future, and what impact will its development pattern have on the formulation of Huntsman's future development strategy?
Mr. Paul G. Hulme: This issue is closely related to the current situation. If we are to continue to lead the market, we must anticipate where demand will develop. In the next few years, we believe consumers will be very interested in maximizing the performance of textiles, whether in fashion, home or technical textiles. While the demand for textiles with fine textures and a wide range of long-lasting colors will not diminish, there will also be greater focus on sustainability guidelines for textile production and end-use. Like other industries today, we must continue to innovate and invent new technologies to meet market demands.
This is especially true for China, a country once seen as having lower production costs, but that is already changing. The cost of raw materials, labor, land and energy has doubled in recent years. With the growth of income, ordinary products can no longer meet the needs of consumers, and they are turning more attention to luxury goods. Specific to the market we are in, fashion, quality and brand will become mainstream trends. According to our estimates, manufacturers will begin to redistribute in western and northern China to meet the above needs. China is also likely to start producing low-end goods in developing countries and regions such as North Korea, Africa, and Mongolia, thereby achieving the purpose of lowering prices. In addition, there will be competition between domestic brands and international brands. As I said before, if you want to survive in the competition, you must continue to innovate.