You are a registered buyer on CheMondis or an interested buyer of chemicals and would like to learn more about how to use the marketplace in the best possible way? So that you benefit from it most? You are on the right way.
Due to the international crisis around COVID-19 almost all events, fairs and congresses had to be postponed or even canceled. As a fully digital player in the chemical industry, we are ready to go the complete digital way, that’s why we decided to offer webinars. In today’s blog article we would like to give you all the relevant information you need on the webinars we are planning.
If you are more interested in selling chemicals online, there is no reason to be disappointed. We are planning more Webinars in the next couple of weeks!
Your advantages in joining our webinar.
During our webinars, we would like to offer you an additional opportunity that helps you to get a better understanding of a digital sales solution for chemical buyers and the features we are offering.
Why we have chosen the channel of webinars? Because there is no better way to provide you with information in a maximum flexible and non-binding way. You have no effort to join the session, just register via the provided link and you are in.
What to expect from a session?
You will learn about all the “must-knows” when using CheMondis.
During a live demo, you will see how to use our most relevant features with just a few clicks.
You can send us your questions via chat and we will answer immediately through our speaker.
You will be able to see and hear us, but not the other way round.
How to register?
We’ve planned three sessions on “How to buy chemicals online -quick & easy”, one in German and two in English for May. To register for a session click here.
In a nutshell
In times like these, digital opportunities like Webinars are a perfect solution to discuss a topic short and crisp. Therefore we offer three Webinars on “How to buy chemicals online – quick & easy” to all interested buyers within the chemical industry end of May.
Now it is up to you
What are your experiences with participating or hosting webinars? Do you have any tips you would like to share with our community? Do you have more questions? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Thanks for taking the time to read the CheMondis Blog.
During the past months, many of our users have asked for the opportunity to send out multiple requests to different suppliers at the same time, with only a couple of clicks. We have worked continuously on this wish during the recent weeks and are happy to provide you, our customers, with a new feature on our marketplace: the Multiple-Quote-Request (MQR).
Within this article, we’d like to give you a short overview of the new functionality and provide you a 6-step-quick-guide on how to send multiple quote requests.
Multiple Quote Request – what’s that?
If you’re a buyer of chemical products, as of now you have the chance to request multiple offers from different suppliers (or also all from the same supplier) in one single step!
We know that when you are looking for a new supplier, you want to be able to compare. Therefore, you are always going to request several offers. Instead of sending out individual requests to each supplier, re-stating what you are looking for in terms of price, volume, etc., you send out one request to multiple suppliers.
Our Multiple-Quote-Request-Feature automatically applies the same terms to all of your quote requests. For the follow-ups CheMondis offers you a clear and structured dashboard which allows you to see the current status of your requests at a glance.
You’re concerned about various restrictions on the supplied products? We solved this issue by implementing standard quote units (kg, l, t) and standard currencies (€ and $) that are set to all products.
When you request products on CheMondis you can request with these units and currencies consistently across the platform. No more dealing with supplier-specific requirements on request details. On negotiating an offer, you can still request a broad variety of different currencies and units in which you negotiate your deal.
Is this feature interesting for my company?
We have designed this Multiple-Quote-Request-Feature especially for all buyers who want to compare offers from different suppliers, but who do not want to double, triple or even tenfold the time, which they need to invest for this. If you feel the same, this feature will definitely help you out!
What does it look like? A 6-Step-Quick-Guide
To give you an idea of how the multiple quote request works, we prepared the following guide for you. As you will see, it works quick and easy and it will be a real time-saver for you! For a more detailed description, we also prepared a tutorial for you, which you’ll find in the help center of our marketplace.
Step 1: Go to www.chemondis.com/marketplace, login into your account, and enter the product you’re looking for in the search bar.
Step 2: Add the products by clicking on the ‘Add to requests’ button from the suppliers of your choice to the request by using the checkbox.
Step 3: Decide whether you’d like to send a quote or an agreement request. A short explanation: A quote request is a request for a single order. An agreement request leads to multiple orders over a defined period of time (e.g. 6 months) at a negotiated price.
Step 4: Fill in the form by entering the parameters you’d like to request for the selected products and suppliers.
Step 5: You’re receiving only one confirmation e-mail summing all of your requests. Furthermore, you can see an overview of your requests on your personal dashboard.
Step 6: As soon as the suppliers are sending you their offers, you can negotiate every quote or agreement individually as you are used to it already.
In a nutshell
Our new feature allows you, as a buyer, to request products from multiple suppliers at once. We are convinced that the Multiple-Quote- Request-Feature improves your experience when using CheMondis significantly.
Try it and convince yourself. In case of questions, you can always reach out to us via the chat function on the marketplace, your business development contact person or via our social media channels. Or check out the tutorial, we prepared for you here.
Now it is up to you
What are your first experiences with the Multiple Quote Request? Do you have any questions about the new functionality?
Besides the huge human impact of Covid-19, there is also a lot of discussion about its impact on the global economy. From bottlenecks in logistics and plant shutdowns to downturns in business investments and consumer spending.
With today’s blog article we are trying to evaluate the effect of Covid-19 on the chemical industry in these difficult times.
Not only the epicenters of the epidemic are economically affected.
China, EU and the US, the three regions affected most by Covid-19, are also the biggest chemical manufacturing regions. They account for more than 66% of the world’s chemical sales.[1]
The current crisis forces many factories to drastically reduce or even stop their production lines. And this is happening due to very different reasons: production may be reduced or closed due to a lack of workforce, employees are sick or in quarantine. It may be a company decision to protect the workforce, thus a protective measure. Or, it can happen because production capacities of suppliers have also been reduced and raw materials for production are becoming increasingly scarce in the market.
The reduced rates or stoppages in many facilities will continue to impact the global supply market, also in those countries which might (still) be less affected by the virus. Looking at the past experiences made in China, restrictions linked to the Covid-19 outbreak have caused China’s chemical industry to suffer a 15-25% slump in demand during February.[2]
Most probably, not only chemical production itself will be affected, but restrictions in transportation may aggravate the issue by hindering imports/exports and by limiting the servicing of domestic customers.
In response to this, the German Chemical Industry Association VCI (Verband der Chemischen Industrie) cutted the production forecast for 2020 on early March and stated that they are not expecting the situation to improve in the first half of 2020. [3]
How is the chemical industry coping with the crisis?
The chemical sector is of critical infrastructure, and currently also in the center of all efforts to combat Covid-19. Chemicals are used in countless products that will be needed to support good hygiene and treat those who are infected with Covid-19 in the upcoming weeks and months.
The global chemical industry is stepping up to battle Covid-19 outbreak with a massive focus on the production of key raw materials for hand sanitizers and other disinfectants, as well as for the Covid-19 Test kits.
This leads to the split effect that while in some industry segments the demand has dropped, others even had a boom in requests and sales, such as disinfectants and raw materials, materials to produce packaging, medical supplies, protective equipment, lab supplies and raw materials for the pharmaceutical companies.
How we evaluate the situation
In the graphic below we simplified our expectations for the development of chemical sectors that might be affected, based on a precise research. On the Y-Axis you find the profitability impact, clustered by low, medium and high impact.[4]
We are expecting low impact in essential industries like food, cleaning products (disinfectants), water treatment.
For the plastics and rubber industries we are expecting a mediate impact, since the demand due to masks and gloves and other protection materials increased, but this is unlikely to match the previous industrial demand.
In the category of high impact, you can find industries that have lower priority so they are most likely to stop the manufacturing processes.
On the rise: the demand for polymers, disinfectants, reagents and medical gases will increase
We expect the demand for Polymers, Disinfectants, Reagants and Medical Gases to increase throughout the crisis. The answer to ”why?” you will find in the following paragraphs.
Polymers
Polypropylene (PP) are used to produce for key personal protective equipment such as face masks, surgical gowns and antibacterial wipes
Polyethylene (PE) is extensively used for food and equipment packaging
Polycarbonate (PC) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) for clear protective screens
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), used in the medical sector to produce medical tubing, blood and intravenous bags, pipes and vinyl siding and sometimes also for medical glove production.
Latex/Nitrile Rubber for medical glove production
Disinfectants
Alcohol for disinfectants: IPA, Ethanol, n-propanol
Hydrogen peroxide disinfection of medical instruments
Hypochlorite solutions for disinfectants and surfactants for soaps and other cleaning products
Others
Raw materials, such as glycerin, gelling agents such as carbomer, preservatives, biocides and plasticizers
Reagents and chemicals used for COVID-19 testing
Chemicals for RNA extraction: such as Tris, EDTA, chloride salts, TRIzol and raw materials for PBS solution, TE Buffer, and Lysis Buffer and other
Chemicals virus transportation media, such as: chloride salts, D-Glucose, Gentamicin sulfate, magnesium sulfate and other
Medical gases
As Covid-19 can affect the respiratory system, the demand for oxygen gas and medicinal gas mixture has increased with the number of patients being treated with supplemental oxygen via masks
Which solutions are the industry proposing?
In times where supply and demand tend to get out of balance, the right matchmaking is an essential success factor for the industry to be able to operate. On CheMondis we have established separate areas on the marketplace that service particularly the need for disinfectants and testing materials (RNA extraction and virus transportation media).
The large need for disinfectants has also affected chemical regulations. To increase the manufacturing and supply of disinfectants on the European market, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is supporting EU/EEA authorities to apply derogations from the normal authorization requirement for biocidal products.
Companies looking to quickly access the market with their disinfectants that contain an already approved active substance can apply for time-limited derogations from the standard product authorization requirements in situations where there is a threat to public health. [5]
In a nutshell
The chemical industry is affected in various ways by Covid-19. Some segments will be severely affected, while others will almost boom. In order to ensure the health of humanity, the entire chemical industry is working at full speed to combat supply bottlenecks and difficulties in the value chain.
Now it is up to you
What are your first experiences with the current crises? Do you have the same experience on the future like we have? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Thanks for taking the time to read the CheMondis Blog.
[1] The European Chemical Industry. (2020). Facts & Figures of the European chemical industry. [2] Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. (2020). Petrochemicals to recover slowly after the coronavirus outbreak. [3] Reuters. (2020): Germany’s chemical association cuts production forecast due to coronavirus. [4] Roland Berger. (2020): Latest update of our corona economic impact series. [5] ECHA. (2020). Speeding up the supply of disinfectants.
We care about the well-being and health of our team, all their loved ones and society as a whole. The current corona crisis is demanding all of us to go new ways. Already last week Monday, we closed our office and started working from home. We are deciding week by week on how to progress in this unusual times.
Luckily, our technical set-up and working culture have always allowed us to work from home. So from the moment that the decision was taken, the “how” was very clear to us. With today’s blog article we want to give you some insights in how we practice remote working (+ what it actually is) and hope that you might find one or two ideas which will help you in carrying on business as usual, as much as possible in these times, as well. Enjoy the read!
Of course, for our customers, nothing changes. You can contact us anytime by phone, e-mail, our chat or via our social media channels if you have any questions or need support.
“Remote work” – A new buzzword in society?
We’d like to kick off with clarifying briefly the differences between “remote work” and “home office” as these two are currently on everyone’s lips. Remote work is a working model that allows employees to work from wherever they like. This means, they are not tied to a specific work location (the company’s office), but can decide from where they want to do their work. In this case, it does not matter whether it is someone’s home, their favorite café, or even an exotic island. This shows that home-office is one possible alternative for a place of remote working.
Advantages of an alternative working model are a higher flexibility, with a better balance between family and career and those who like to travel can work from every time zone.
As many of us will be staying in our home offices for the next couple of weeks and traveling can currently not be recommended, we will talk about working from home rather than working remotely in any other location in the course of this article.
One of the biggest misunderstandings in context of remote work is that we all just sit around in our pyjamas, searching for a new series on Netflix and doing our laundry. But how did this image get into the minds of so many people? Maybe it comes from the idea that if you can’t see someone physically working, how can you be sure that they’re working?
Fortunately, faith in humanity is not yet lost. Studies after studies have shown that employees, working in home-office are more productive than the employees who come to the office. For example, a Harvard Business School study measured employee productivity of employees at the US Patent Office who were allowed to work from anywhere. The results were very clear: employees allowed to work from anywhere were 4.4% more productive than their “in-office” counterparts. The increase of 4.4% of employee productivity represents up to $1.3 billion of annual value added to the U.S. economy.[1] This, of course, is a general observation, which largely depends on the function and job description the individual is fulfilling.
We will be able to see the effect on the European market soon. By end of this year more studies, maybe jobs where you thought it would be impossible to work remotely will experience the breakthrough. It seems like a chance to reinvent the world of work all around the globe.
Remote working at CheMondis: how we structure our working days
CheMondis is a young and technically advanced company. This means that everyone is equipped with all the technical necessities to be able to work from home. In theory.
A well-structured and functional home office is an obvious choice for people working primarily individually. Many essential things can be done within your own four walls, the strict local ties are actually eliminated.
As we are organizing our work by the SCRUM methodology, frequent discussions are the crucial basis of our daily work. And this is the point where working from home becomes more tricky. It is essential for us to have the right tools at hand to structure and plan our work accordingly. In order to be effective, we depend on perfectly functioning communication tools.
For different purposes of alignment, we are using different tools, which you can read below. A crucial success factor is that anyone needs to have access to all of these tools at any point in time.
Our working routines
But for many of us, it is not the organizational part or digital infrastructure, which are tough. It’s more to get used to a new kind of routine. For example, spending a large part of your day alone at home instead of around your co-workers in the company’s office. Or trying to focus during a call with your kids running around bored, asking you to play with them. We asked some of our team members, who have spent already some experience in practicing remote working for some practical tips.
1.) Find a proper place to work
The choice of a proper working place is essential for your productivity. It would be ideal to find a place in the house or apartment that feels at least like a separate space – like “heading to work”. This will help you at the end of the day to mentally disconnect from your work. Make sure that the light conditions are good for your eyes and the seating is good for your back. And, ideally, that you can close a door when you have an important call.
2.) More is more when it comes to communication
A major obstacle in exclusively virtual communication via e-mail and chat programs is that the body language is completely missing. According to studies, 93% of communication takes place non-verbally, which includes eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, and accentuation.[1] For successful virtual communication, this 93% must be compensated somehow to prevent any miscommunication.
A couple of tips which might help: Inform your colleagues when you’re really busy with something and can’t respond right away. When it comes to meetings and the need to have a discussion with someone it always helps to set up a brief video chat. We really recommend you to keep the video running during the conversation. Why? Because it prevents you and all other participants from doing something else at the same time.
Checking your Whatsapp, checking another e-mail, making a coffee. You would never even think about doing that when you’re in a face2face conversion. So don’t do it in video calls either. When chatting, use emojis and reactions to underline your emotions. Within the last week, we already noticed a huge increase of slack messages that we sent. The rule is: Over-communication is better than giving room for assumptions.
3.) Create space for social interactions
To forester the communication and to really know how your co-workers are doing, it helped us to create some space for social interactions – anytime and without any business-relevancy. We set up a “CheMondis-kitchen” channel in whereby to meet for a coke or a coffee and to have some non-work-related conversations. Exactly like you have it in the office when meeting your favorite coworkers in the company’s kitchen, just virtual.
On Fridays, we usually celebrate our renowned beer time at 5pm. We relocated this ritual into a virtual room as well. And in case you’re missing the lunch dates with your coworkers, we can recommend you “social cooking”. Just agree on a meal you all like to cook, move your laptop to the kitchen and turn on the camera. You’ll see it’s definitely more fun than preparing lunch and eating on your own.
4.) Initiate daily routines
The missing local separation of work and home can lead to becoming lazy. We’ve all been there. Nevertheless, in terms of productivity and well-being, we recommend to not neglect your daily care rituals. Get dressed, put on your make up, and read the daily news. Keep your daily routines to feel fresh and energetic to start into the day. Also, try to stay hydrated even though you’re not going to meet your coworkers in the kitchen.
Just prepare your lemon water and coffee mug on your desk as usual. When it comes to the lunch break – take the time! It’s important to switch off your mind and being surrounded by other topics for a few minutes. Additionally, physical activities shouldn’t be neglected. Take a short walk after lunch or start your day with a morning workout.
In a nutshell
In times like these, home office has become a critical component to all of us keeping up “business as usual”. Many essential things can be done at home. But we know that in many other industries this is not common and the current situation comes unexpected.
We hope that our tips will help you make the best out of the current situation and let you work from home happily and effectively. And keep in mind that the argument of decreasing productivity is rejected – you’ll see. Stay safe and healthy!
[1] Choudhury, P. , Larson, B., and Foroughi, C. (2019). Harvard Business Review., [2] Mehrabian, A., Ferris, S. (1967). Journal of Counselling Psychology (31), pp. 248-252.
Thanks for taking the time to read the CheMondis Blog.
Our business model is as unique as each of our team members and combines customer-centricity with tech and chem know-how. Since our founding, back in mid-2018, we have grown into a team of 35 talented people who are experts in their individual fields.
“It is extremely rewarding to work with an increasingly diverse team and so much passion.” – Alina Knoop, Office Manager
At CheMondis, each of our colleagues performs a meaningful role, while enjoying unlimited access to learning, growth, and development opportunities. In addition to being able to take advantage of outstanding benefits, we want everyone to be healthy, to have enough time to vacate and have the financial resources and support they need, in and out of the office.
We have created a workplace that is unique, challenging, smart, and innovative. A workplace that is inclusive and reflects diversity. Where everyone can be their authentic self, and where this authenticity is celebrated as a strength.
We cultivate a working environment that inspires new ideas, promotes ownership and experimentation and supports highly motivated individuals to be truly creative and to serve our customers in the best possible way.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of my work is that I get to work together with great people from various cultures, with different expertise” – Irene Prinz, Head of HR
People who work at CheMondis come from many different backgrounds, both professionally and culturally. Besides this diversity, we are also united by our corporate values and our culture. They guide us in every single decision we make, and we truly live by them.
Our core values are multi-perspectivity, responsibility, vision-driven orientation, collaboration, and personal development. To gain deeper insight into CheMondis, look at our previous blog article, about our corporate values, mission statements, and vision statements here.
Our mindset
Our teams are constantly working on exciting new ways to further develop our culture and way of working. We’re set up in an agile environment with flat hierarchies and small interdisciplinary teams.
How do we live agility at CheMondis? One example is, that we use Scrum as a framework to develop our product. It enables us to release software increments in two-week iterations. In other words, new functionalities, features, and components are deployed to the marketplace at least twice a month.
To get as much as possible released in these sprint-cycles or to provide the best possible customer experience, many teams hold daily stand-ups to align their activities. To help visualize our progress we make use of physical Scrum boards.
Furthermore, we apply Objectives & Key Results (OKR) in order to set and harmonize our company, team, and individual goals on a quarterly basis.
Office environment
Applying agile approaches does not only require rethinking traditional team constellations but also redesigning the working environment we need. For that reason, the CheMondis office was designed to our individual needs and tailored to our networking culture in the format of an open workspace. We work in an environment that makes us feel comfortable and that awakens the urge to participate and collaborate.
“The ergonomics of our surroundings are amazing.” – Jesse, Working Student
Shaped in a semicircle, the office promotes both concentration and relaxation. While offering us multiple areas for creative collaboration, it also gives us the opportunity to speak confidently in secluded rooms. In various living room setups around the office, everyone can take a break and relax or have an informal conversation.
Right in the center of our office is an open space that can easily be – and often is – adapted to different kinds of events such as tech meetups, hackathons, or other business-related events. This is also the place where we come together for our monthly team stand-up, where every team briefly updates all colleagues on current activities, learnings, and highlights.
Our perks
We believe rest and a fulfilled life outside of the office makes a happier, healthier team, which is vital to productivity. For us, trust is one of the most important pillars for being able to work autonomously. This is why everyone at CheMondis profits from flexible working hours and the option to work from home.
When you look at our everyday office life, lunch is the time to socialize at CheMondis. We embrace a healthy lifestyle and always provide fresh fruit in the kitchen as well as snacks, drinks, and coffee.
In our spacious kitchen, lunch can be cooked fresh or bought from nearby restaurant options. Colleagues meet here to enjoy the food – and each other’s company. A great perk is that CheMondis offers a subsidy for our daily lunches.
For us, a healthy lifestyle is not only linked to nutrition, but also to physical activities. Bi-weekly, our yoga teacher Nico gives a yoga class in the office, and on Wednesdays, we have the opportunity to take part in a soccer match.
We regularly promote team events, activities, and everything that brings our team members even closer together – and we also like celebrating our achievements! Whether it be team lunches, concerts, excursions, workshops, or team building activities – there’s always lots of fun.
Team rituals
To promote cooperation across teams and encourage networking, we additionally use so-called “donut dates”. The goal is to pair two people across the teams to get to know each other better and to gain insights into each other’s work fields and challenges by meeting for donuts and coffee.
Furthermore, we cultivate another weekly ritual at CheMondis – “beer time”. To ring in the weekend, on Fridays, every one can meet up in the office kitchen, to socialize, enjoy a drink and to look back at the past week’s achievements.
