Digitalization brings many new business opportunities to the chemical and plastics industry. Covestro also hopes to take advantage of these opportunities and started a comprehensive strategic plan last year in its R&D, production, logistics and all points of contact with customers. Apply digital technology.
All the activities are in the project named 'digital@ Covestro' and include three main topics: In the field of 'digital operations', the cost efficiency of the company's own technical processes is increased, mainly in production. In the 'digital customer experience' 'In the field, to provide customers with new digital communication channels. In the field of 'digital business model', target new business models, such as the standard product online trading platform.
Digital development of polyurethane process chain
Unlike thermoplastics, the chemistry and process characteristics of polyurethane materials are complex and this project offers special opportunities for polyurethane industry customers. At the same time, Costron can also make significant progress in its own process technology through digitization.
At the upcoming European UTECH Conference in 2018, Dr. Ulrich Liman, Head of Polyurethane Innovation, will also introduce the company's theme under the heading 'PU 4.0 – Improve the digital development of polyurethane products'.
Covestro has been using digital technology for many years. Its modern control room application algorithms use digital flow control systems to guide production. In the automotive industry, it is a common practice to apply digital simulations to tool designs for customers. In the future, the entire The value chain will be digitized to simulate all process steps - from formulating and blending of PU systems to processing of chemical components with the help of robots. This will greatly reduce the time to develop and implement a complete production line.
Virtual Polyurethane Synthesis
Using digital computing methods, Covestro also operates a 'virtual chemical reactor'. The company has developed a software that can accurately calculate temperature and molecular composition changes, ie the progress of chemical reactions.
It not only considers important major products such as urethane rubber and urea plastic, but also considers the side reactions, the influence of catalysts or reverse reactions, and the development of molecular structure networks. This sophisticated software has already proved itself in various projects, such as Coase. The use of MDI prepolymer combination optimization project.
Online prediction tool for polyurethane optimization
In the area of 'Digital Customer Experience', the company provides customers with new digital service elements. Polyurethanes is currently providing a digital service platform for its original partner, which has a forecasting tool to determine the best online for a specific production environment. Polyurethane formulation and production conditions.
The tool has been tested successfully on the foam partner Fritz Nauer AG. In the project, the software determined the weather's impact on the flexible foam and proposed countermeasures to compensate for quality fluctuations.
Another online cloud-based platform, i4pt0TM, covers all Covestro's divisions. This platform focuses on the development of polymer products such as foams, elastomers, coatings, adhesives, sealants and polycarbonate compounds. The software calculates raw material and recipe recommendations for customers based on the properties of the customer's desired product. This platform already has digital tools for polyurethane foam production.
Efficient purchasing online platform
The other pillar of the company's digital strategy is the digital chemical trading platform. In the future, customers will be able to purchase standard products online at the current market price effectively. The platform is designed together with customers and is currently being tested.
Since April 23rd, Covestro has also delivered high-performance polymer products through Alibaba’s flagship store. The Internet giant Alibaba Platform is currently the largest commercial user market in China.