International Journal of Operations & Production Management

Agile manufacturing practices in the specialty chemical industry: An overview of the

trends and results of a specific case study
A. Guisinger B. Ghorashi
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International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 24 Iss 6 pp. 625 - 635
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Specialty
Agile manufacturing practices in chemical
the specialty chemical industry industry
An overview of the trends and results of a
specific case study 625
A. Guisinger
Saint-Gobain Crystals, Newbury, Ohio, USA, and
B. Ghorashi
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Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Keywords Agile production, Virtual organizations, Customers, Chemical industries,
Small enterprises
Abstract The objective of this study was to examine the trends in the specialty chemical industry
that have led to the rising number of agile practices and “virtual” organizations. The current state
of the industry is also presented. An agile company can be defined as an enterprise that is capable
of operating profitably in a competitive environment of continually, and unpredictably, changing
customer opportunities. The five most prevalent agile practices in the specialty chemical industry
can be summarized as, entering niche markets through custom chemicals manufacturing,
improving relationships with suppliers (also, a lean manufacturing practice), formation of
strategic partnerships, adaptation of advanced technology/research, and the emergence of
“virtual” firms. Examples and case studies from other authors are cited and commented upon with
respect to these five agile practices. In addition, actual results from the study of a small specialty
chemical firm have been used to ascertain the level of agility that this firm utilizes. A comparison of
this manufacturing company’s practices with the case studies from the literature reveals how a
small-intermediate size manufacturer can properly implement many agile manufacturing practices
and position itself for growth and competitiveness in its category and class.

Introduction to the specialty chemicals industry

The specialty chemicals industry can be described in one word, transition. D’Amico
(1996) notes that traditionally, investors ran to specialty chemicals companies when
poor pricing or mediocre demand growth plagued the industrial commodities sector.
Today, many specialty firms have enhanced their strengths to become more desirable
to investors. In this transition, to stay competitive, Stinson (1997a) of Prudential
Securities stated that internal development and more stringent cost-cutting measures
are needed by companies to bring up the bottom line. Global competition and better
development of innovation and technology are also a part of the transition. In addition,
custom chemical production has become prevalent in the specialties market with the
increased formation of partnerships and “virtual” companies (Stinson, 1997a; Peaff,
1996). In short, companies in the specialty chemicals industry are turning to agility and
agile practices in order to stay competitive and thrive in the global market.
Specialty chemicals can be subdivided into two other classes, namely: fine and International Journal of Operations &
performance chemicals. Stinson (1996) defines fine chemicals as “very pure substances Production Management
Vol. 24 No. 6, 2004
produced in relatively small amounts” where as performance chemicals are defined as pp. 625-635
blends of compounds added to enhance processing or end-properties of products. Fine q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0144-3577
and performance chemicals have unique characteristics when compared with DOI 10.1108/01443570410538140
 IJOPM commodity chemicals as cited by Stinson (1996). For instance, he notes that fine
24,6 chemicals have moderate product life cycles (10 to 20 years) and are high value-added,
with a very broad product slate. Fine chemicals are often very expensive when
compared with commodities. Performance chemicals, on the other hand, have shorter
product life cycles (, 10 years) and are moderate to highly value added, with a very
broad product slate.
626 Who buys and uses fine chemicals and who produces fine chemicals? Most of the
fine chemicals, 56 percent, are used by the pharmaceutical industry. Other industries
such as the agricultural, food additive, flavors and fragrances, dye, biocide, and
reprographic chemical industries also buy fine chemicals worldwide (Stinson, 1997a).
Fine chemicals are instrumental in our everyday life and are instrumental in producing
many of the foods we eat, medicines we take, and the clothes we wear. These chemicals
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can be found in motor oil, transmission fluid, and even gasoline to facilitate better
performance and increased lifetime to our automobiles. Europe leads the world in fine
chemical production with a 39 percent share in the market. Stinson (1997a) states that
the strength in European companies is “based on” or “due to” their abilities in
specialized chemistry. North America is second in the production of fine chemicals
market with a 28 percent share of the market. Parekh notes the USA’s strengths in the
availability of raw materials and technology in addition to US excellence in quality
control, quality assurance and basic infrastructure (Stinson, 1997a).
Peaff (1997) cites that with the help of steady economic growth and the reputation of
resilience, competitiveness and creativity, the US chemical industry posted 230.5
billion dollars in sales in 1996. Out of the top 100 US chemical firms, 28 companies
operate under the classification “specialty chemicals”. W.R. Grace was the top specialty
chemical producer in the USA (Peaff, 1997), and 21st overall with chemical sales of
approximately 3.5 billion dollars. The next four US specialty chemical companies, all
with over 1.5 billion dollars in chemical sales, are Dow Corning, National Starch,
Rhone-Poulenc, and Great Lakes Chemical. All of these companies rank within the top
34 chemical firms in the USA.

Agility in specialty chemical firms

The chemical industry has seen a rise in the number of agile principles used by
companies in order to stay competitive in the global market. Nowhere has this been
more evident than in the specialty chemicals sector. In fact, many of the small specialty
firms already run lean operations with little or no middle management since many do
not have the same cost-cutting opportunities that large conglomerates have (D’Amico,
1996). In other words, small firms do not posses the economies of scale and scope that
large conglomerates enjoy. The five most prevalent agile measures or characteristics
employed by specialty chemical firms have been identified as follows:
(1) Entering niche markets through custom chemicals manufacturing.
(2) Improving relationships with suppliers.
(3) Forming strategic partnerships.
(4) Adaptating advanced technology and research.
(5) Emergence of “virtual” firms.
 Each of these characteristics will be analyzed in this paper with appropriate examples Specialty
cited where applicable. It is important to note that some of these points such as forming chemical
strategic partnerships apply more to commodity chemical producers than specialty
chemical producers. In fact, all of the points are seen in all sectors of the chemical industry
industry with varying degrees of applicability. Of course not all chemical firms choose
to apply, or are able to apply all of the agile principles to their operations, nor is it
practical to apply them all blindly without regards to special needs and circumstances 627
surrounding a particular firm. However, in order to stay competitive in the global
market, agile practices will continue to flourish in the chemical industry.

Entering niche markets through custom chemicals manufacturing

Tom Reilly, chairman and CEO of Reilly industries stated that growth comes from
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having some kind of a lock on the market, perhaps patented know-how or integration
back to raw materials (D’Amico, 1996). He is actually referring to a market niche which
must be entered into confidently, easily, and without huge outlays of investments in
order to attain a competitive edge. Many specialty chemical companies are using
custom manufacturing to enter these market niches. Custom chemicals, a $6
billion-per-year business, is assuming greater importance than ever in the sourcing
strategies of user firms. As with fine chemicals, the drug industry uses approximately
half of all custom chemicals produced. Enrico T. Polastro of Arther D. Little
International states that custom chemicals are growing at 8-10 percent annually
(Goldman et al., 1995). As a result, the fertile custom chemicals market has become
highly competitive with many custom chemical producers struggling to find capacity
to meet customer demand. For example, Dixie Chemical is adding reactor capacity in
order to meet their contracts (Chemical Week, 1996).
Since commodity producers do not have a diversified number of markets, specialty
chemical producers can retain a competitive edge through their ability to enter new
markets more easily. A main advantage of being diversified is that risk of economic
cycles can be spread around. For instance, a large commodity chemical producer must
make huge investments in order to enter another market. Consequently, they might
easily miss market opportunities. On the other hand, the diversification of specialty
chemical firms allows for rapid response to customer demand for products that
commodity chemical companies cannot easily produce.
Given all the competition in the custom chemicals sector and the growing number of
participants, the question lies in how are these companies differentiating themselves
from one another? Process capabilities are important to any firm, however, a more
important factor for differentiating oneself from another is in response time (Chemical
Week, 1996). In other words, the customer must be dealt with not only as a trusted
partner, but must be treated on a real time basis. These trends have forced the fine and
custom chemical firms into an agile mode of operation.

Improving relationships with suppliers

To the credit of many specialty chemical firms, customer-vender relationships in the
specialty chemicals industry has evolved from several suppliers to
partner-relationships with few suppliers. Stinson (1997a) notes that in 1990 and
prior years, chemical firms dealt with many suppliers, perhaps greater than 100. In
1997, customer-vender relationships shifted to three to four primary strategic suppliers
 IJOPM with 10-15 second tier suppliers. These relationships are predicted to further evolve
24,6 from few strategic suppliers to very few suppliers (two to three) that take over
relationships with the customer’s second and third-tier suppliers. Ideally, agile
manufacturers should deal with single source suppliers to reduce raw material
variability and build trusting partnerships. Single source supplier status is not a new
concept. It is a critical element in Just-in-time systems, a lean manufacturing practice
628 that became prevalent in the USA during the early 1980s. Even though specialty
chemical firms do not operate on a sole supplier status, the fact that the trend is leading
to fewer primary suppliers is an indication of increased agility for these firms. In fact,
sole supplier status in the specialty chemicals industry may not be practical. Backup or
second tier suppliers give security to firms who depend on consistent high quality raw
materials. As relationships with primary suppliers have time to mature, dependence on
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second tier supplier may begin to cease.

Forming strategic partnerships

Forming strategic partnerships, strategic alliances, or joint ventures with other
companies including direct competitors has increased dramatically in all sectors of the
chemical industry. Peaff (1996) cites that these partnerships have given chemical firms
(including specialty chemical firms) access to broader, more global markets. Times to
market are shortened by taking advantages of these market opportunities. For
example, D’Amico (1996) notes that Great Lakes Chemical has formed partnerships
with several companies overseas. Michael Nicholds of Zeneca LifeScience Molecules of
Blackley, England states in that regard “there is a close interfacing of manufacturing,
R&D, administration, operations, and finance functions, coordinated on each side by a
partnership manager” (Stinson, 1997a). In other words, horizontal integration over
departments by each firm is key to successful partnerships under the guise of a
partnership manager.
Each firm in the partnership must be compatible in order to match strengths and
weaknesses with sharing of construction and production costs and an equitable
sharing of risk and reward. Peaff (1996) cites that some firms venture into partnerships
in order to exit a non-core business or shrink the size of their operations. For example,
Union Carbide (now a part of Dow Chemicals) exited their worldwide carbon and
graphite business by selling a 50 percent interest to Mitsubishi, 25 percent to
Blackstone and the remaining 25 percent in August of 1995.
Joining into partnerships can also be a double-edged sword. If weaknesses of one
company are not compensated by the other, the partnership runs the risk of failing.
When both companies have weaknesses that are not compensated for, failure is
inevitable. “One of the clichés of joint ventures used to be that ‘Putting two weak
medium-sized companies together makes one weak big company’“ (Peaff, 1996). As the
need for customer service, optimization of technological advantage, and entrance into
various markets increase, the chemical industry will continue turning to partnerships
and joint ventures to fill these needs and stay competitive in the global market.

Adaptation of advanced technology and research

Many chemical firms are reducing emphasis on manufacturing and concentrating on
research, development and marketing (Stinson, 1997a). Specialty chemical firms differ
only in that they have limited to no interest in marketing. Fine chemical producers are
 “deepening the product and technology portfolios that differentiate them from Specialty
competitors” by two ways: establishing and growing “chemical trees”; and developing chemical
new reaction technologies that complement their “core reaction technologies” (Stinson,
1996). industry
Stinson (1997b) defines chemical trees as successions of fine chemicals in which
each product of one step can serve as starting material for the next and in which
branches grow out of multiple conversions of one intermediate. Chemical trees are 629
comparable to economies of scope since one basic process is used to yield many
different products. Building new plants to increase capacity is not necessary since
there are no single dedicated product lines. An example of a chemical tree can be seen
by Bayer’s process for producing substituted pyrimidines (Stinson, 1997b). By using
various innovative chlorinating techniques, many different substitutions can be
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facilitated using one intermediate. Each substituted pyrimidine is viewed as a separate

product. Therefore, the customer has more choices with responses to demand
measured in real time. Production lines can be reconfigured easily since switching from
one product to another requires stopping at a certain reaction or substituting one
reaction with another.
Mike DeRuosi, general manager/specialty chemicals at Albright & Wilson states
that while new product development is important in any industry, it is “the life blood”
of the specialties producer (D’Amico, 1996). Customers are constantly looking for better
products in order to serve their customers, hence they are turning to the expertise of
specialty chemical producers. Many times, fine chemical producers know how to
produce products that no one else knows how to make. New and innovative products
such as these gives specialty producers advantages in entering markets that are
fragmenting more and more each year.

The emergence of “virtual” firms

Some specialty chemical producers are turning to virtual organizational modes in order
to bring products to market quickly with an increased frequency of product
improvements. In fact, all mechanisms of virtual organizations, partnership, joint
venture, strategic alliance, new corporation, supplier-subcontractor, cooperative
agreement, royalty or license and outsourcing contract are being used by custom
chemicals producers. These companies are truly unique in the fact that they introduce
and develop new chemical entities without owning a manufacturing facility by
outsourcing many organizational functions. Therefore, each firm involved
concentrates on its core area of competencies.
Stinson (1997a) identified Agouron Pharmaceuticals of La Jolla, California as an
example of a firm that uses virtual organizations. They design small organic
compounds for use as drugs including anticancer agents and drugs used to fight AIDS.
Agouron uses its own lab for 1-100 gram scale while using its own or another firm’s
“kilo lab” for 100g to several kilograms. Another supplier’s pilot plant is used for tens
to hundreds of kilograms while yet another supplier is used for commercial scale. One
advantage to developing processes in this way is by simultaneously engineering first-,
second-, and possibly third-generation chemistry through the process scale. For
instance, “by the time the 1st generation chemistry has reached commercial
production, the second generation is in the pilot plant, and the third generation is
developing in the kilo lab” (Stinson, 1997a). The frequent introduction of new and
 IJOPM improved products through this “concurrent engineering” gives Agouron many
24,6 advantages over their competitors.

The case of a small specialty chemical producer, company (A)

To better understand some of the intricacies of agility as it relates to the specialty
chemical industry, an agility gap assessment was performed on a typical small
630 specialty producer henceforth referred to as company (A). It should be noted that
company (A) had an intrinsic agility advantage due to its size since arguments are
made that being small and agile is more advantageous than being big with complete
control (Budhwani, n.d.). The survey questions were constructed to encompass the
widest range of topics possible and were the result of an in-depth literature search.
Answers were provided by one-on-one interviews with appropriate personnel from
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company (A). The observations made and the final analysis were based on a
comparative analysis against an ideal agile manufacturer. The survey questions were
divided into three sectors: production, engineering, and management.

Sample production questions

For the following sub-sections: Q ¼ question; A ¼ company (A)’s answer;
Ob ¼ authors‘ observations:
Q. How is “customer satisfaction” defined and evaluated and how well are your
customer’s input communicated throughout the company?
A. Customer input is communicated mainly at the quote stage. The amount of
input depends on the customer. Customers’ complaints are rare. External
audits are conducted by customers and corrective actions are documented. A
national sales manager exists and attendance at shows is one way for
ascertaining customer satisfaction.
Ob. In an agile manufacturing approach, the customer is placed at the center of the
operation. All activities are therefore oriented around the customer’s needs.
Customer input should be vigorously sought and valued in every aspect of the
operation. If the customer is not aware of the technical aspects, then the
product should be offered with information and services. Company (A) should
compete on value provided to the customer and quality should be measured in
terms of customer satisfaction over product life.
Q. Is there a systematic procedure for evaluating and responding to customer
complaints and/or concerns?
A. Yes, there is a customer complaint/corrective action procedure written to
evaluate and respond to customer complaints.
Ob. Evaluating and responding to customer complaints and/or concerns by
incorporating a set of systematic procedures is crucial in developing strong
relationships with customers as well as contributing to the “customer focus”
concept. For the agile organization, responding to the customer’s
concerns/complaints is a priority. Additionally, more informal dialog
among the customer/company (A) employees would result in a true
understanding of the customer’s sources of concern.
 Q. Is there a plan for forecasting product demand to meet each customer’s needs? Specialty
A. On an individual level which depends on the customer. Reserve stock orders chemical
are often times used and requested by the customer. Written procedures and a industry
computer program are in the works for performing these tasks.
Ob. Good; however, it is important to note that a firm plan for forecasting product
demand must be made for all customers. On the other hand, many agile 631
organizations operate on a just-in-time (JIT) concept where product is
produced only when the customer places an order. Inventory can be reduced
or even eliminated saving valuable space and warehouse expenditures.
Q. Are information services provided to all customers regardless of whether they
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request it or not?
A. Only required information and information as requested by the customer is
provided since much of the information is proprietary.
Ob. All customers, whether they request it or not, should be provided with all
pertinent information and services related to product provided. As opposed to
just selling product to the customer, customers should be given solutions to
their problems as they perceive them through information, services, and
customer input. Customer input should be vigorously sought and valued in
every aspect of the operation.
Q. How is quality performance measured for products and services?
A. Performance is measured using analytic analysis with customer
specifications, performance reports, and management review of customer
complaints.
Ob. For the agile manufacturer, quality is measured in customer delight over the
lifetime of the product. This can be measured by rating (over time) the product
in how the product meets the needs of the customer.
Q. What measures do you take to eliminate fear among employees, i.e.
convincing the employees to voice their opinions and/or concerns without fear
of management?
A. Employees are dealt with individually and are evaluated every six months.
There is an open door policy. There is no reward system in place.
Ob. The primary role of management should be to motivate the employees.
Employees should be routinely encouraged by the highest level of the
management team to come forward with their views and comments and
should be rewarded for suggestions that have merit and would improve the
existing operations. These suggestions could be seemingly as insignificant to
the overall operations as saving a few dollars here and there. Yet as a whole
would invite a culture of employees searching for new and innovative ideas
and expressing them without fear. A system to reward employees should then
be established. This is to be distinguished from significant logistic
interventions that could be categorized as “putting out fires”.
 IJOPM Q. Do you have reliable single source suppliers for raw material?
24,6 A. [There are] one to two single source suppliers.
Ob. Ideally, one should adhere to one reliable supplier for raw materials. However,
given the nature of the specialty chemical industry and current trends, relying
on single sources for raw materials may not be practical for company (A).
632 Q. Is there a system of cross-training for operating the process equipment and is
technical assistance available regarding the operation of the equipment?
A. Company (A) trains their operators internally using a training procedure
involving a supervisor or senior production person. When the operator shows
that he/she can properly operate the equipment as determined by the
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supervisor or senior production person, the operator signs off on the training
procedure form.
Ob. Do not rely on peer learning, i.e. one floor shop operator training the other. In
this way, procedural mistakes may be passed from one operator to another.
Company (A) may want to investigate the feasibility of using an outside
professional training service for training operators.
Q. Are operators encouraged to make unilateral decisions when necessary in
order to enhance product quality and/or production requirements?
A. Operators only have the authority to stop the process. They should adhere to
the job instructions.
Ob. It is understood that many of the operators may not have the technical
background to make unilateral decisions regarding changes in process
procedures (recipe changes, etc.). The operators should be sufficiently trained
regarding the chemical processes they are utilizing.
Q. What procedures have been taken for identifying and eliminating non-value
adding activities?
A. Efforts in this area are just beginning. Current efforts are ambiguous.
Ob. There should be a mind-set to continuously search for and identify ways to
eliminate non-value added activities. This should be articulated by the top
management on a continuous basis and should be fostered through a reward
program to recognize the efforts of those who participate and contribute.

Sample engineering questions

Q. Are process units dedicated to product families or individual products and
how quickly can they be converted for a change in the process to meet the
customers demand?
A. Some are dedicated and some are multi-usable. Company (A) has easily
configurable chemical trees that can use same dedicated equipment.
Q. Are processes designed to meet current good manufacturing practices (cGMP)
[current good manufacturing practices]?
 A. No, eventually will meet cGMP. Most large customers meet cGMP. Specialty
Ob. Industry standards such as cGMP and ISO are invaluable when competing in chemical
the global market, a necessity for any agile organization. Often times, meeting industry
these standards are what differentiates a world-class organization who can
compete anywhere in the world from an organization who struggles to
compete in this environment. Therefore, it is suggested that company (A)
aggressively seek to become ISO 9000 certified and meet cGMP. 633
Q. To what extent are marketing and sales groups involved to ensure that your
product can be easily and economically marketed to potential customers?
A. Marketing and sales play a very strong role.
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Ob. In fact, a team of scientists, manufacturing, sales and marketing could come
up with far better ideas than one or two individuals. Past customer
experiences would surface in discussions among team members that could
benefit everyone. Employee compensation and the reward system should also
be based on team performance and its effect on the company’s bottom line.
Q. Are individual computer systems (process control, modeling, SPC, process
information, etc.) integrated into a plant-wide/company-wide information network?
A. There are 43 computers on 1 network mini-mainframe. Company (A) is working
towards SPC.

Sample management questions

Q. Is the mission statement of the firm specific and is it sufficiently articulated to
the employees? (i.e. if one asked an employee of your company to recite the
company’s mission statement, can he/she state the mission correctly?)
A. Company (A) is in the process of writing a mission statement.
Q. Do you encourage team work and reconfigurable team formations which
would include members from management, engineering, production, and
marketing?
A. Yes, these team formations are encouraged.
Q. What are the barriers (if any) between staff areas?
A. There are not many levels with the CEO generally accessible to the
employees. The level of education of employees may be one barrier.
Ob. All barriers must be broken in order to become an agile company. Perhaps
instituting a rigorous system of continuous training/retraining and education
can help overcome this barrier. Continuous training and education fosters
employee motivation and encourages employee-suggested improvements. A
well-trained work-force who can perform many tasks can only enrich the
company’s customer base, the ultimate goal of any agile organization.
Q. How do you ensure that your firm meets the required level of technological
diversification?
 IJOPM A. Company (A) diversifies its product line while offering services in chemicals
24,6 testing, packaging, drying, and recertification. Company (A) is currently in a
transitional phase with new software handling materials planning. Upper
management attends professional society meetings.
Ob. To ensure technological diversification, the company should stay abreast of
the latest finding in its core areas of competencies. This can be done through
634 attendance at professional meetings, use of consultants and experts in the
field, and innovation from within the company as well as partnerships,
collaborative efforts and formation of virtual organizations.

Gap assessment
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Company (A) seems to be a very efficient and well-managed company. The company is
on the right track with respect to many of the agile manufacturing criteria that are
described earlier in this paper. Some of these practices include:
.
systematic procedures for evaluating and responding to customer complaints/or
concerns;
.
handling and transporting finished product to customer specification;
.
the existence of a quality team to periodically review and make
recommendations on quality improvement efforts;
.
requiring quality certificates for all raw materials that are lot specific;
.
utilizing flexible process equipment that are multi-usable;
.
forming collaborative industry-wide research teams;
.
the constant search for innovations within the industry through attendance at
professional society meetings and scientific correspondence; and
.
team work and the formation of reconfigurable teams including members from
management, quality, production, and marketing.
Due to the relatively small size of the company, it has been easier so far for company
(A) to remain more agile than its large commodity producers. Few managerial levels
exist giving every employee direct access with upper management and fewer barriers
to communication. Moreover, by the nature of the specialty chemical industry,
company (A) is forced into continuous pursuit of new innovative processes and
products dedicated to custom production.
Company (A) does have some areas of concern with respect to agility. A
company-wide dedication to providing solutions to customer’s problems needs to be
articulated and integrated within all organizational functions. This “customer focus”
philosophy must be instituted within company (A)’s mission statement. Customer
participation and input needs to be vigorously sought in order to accomplish this task.
Also a reward system for employee suggested improvements has to be established
with a system of continuous training/retraining and education available to every
employee.

Conclusions
The emergence of custom chemical firms have been facilitated by the ever expanding
area of global competition and the need for these firms to enter niche markets without
 very significant capital investments. Customer supplier relationships in the specialty Specialty
chemicals industry are becoming more agile through trusted partnerships and the
decreasing number of first and second tier suppliers. Additionally strategic
chemical
partnerships are being sought by many specialty chemical firms to provide better industry
customer service, optimize technological advantages, and enter new markets.
Fine chemical producers can deepen their product and technology portfolios by
either establishing “chemical trees” or by developing new reaction technologies that 635
complement their core reaction technologies. Finally, virtual practices are becoming
widespread in the specialty chemical industry with some chemical companies selling
diverse multi-generational products without owning a production facility.

References
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Budhwani, K. (n.d.), “Jack be nimble: agile manufacturing”, CMA Management Magazine,

available at: www.cma-canada.org/ (accessed September 18, 2001).
Chemical Week (1996), “Increased investments in custom manufacturing”, Chemical Week,
Vol. 158 No. 7, p. 28.
D’Amico, E. (1996), “Grappling with transition”, Chemical Week, Vol. 158, May 1, pp. 42-6.
Goldman, S., Nagel, R. and Preiss, K. (1995), Agile Competitors and Virtual Organizations,
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, NY.
Peaff, G. (1996), “Joint ventures take on greater importance in chemical industry”, Chemical &
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Further reading
Das, N., Ghorashi, B. and Ghorashi, A. (2001), “A case study of the application of agility
principles to adhesive and sealant manufacturing industries”, Proceedings of the 2001
Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology
(PICMET).
Hunter, D. (1996), “Views on custom manufacturing’s prospects”, Chemical Week, Vol. 158 No. 20,
p. 9.
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