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FIT FOR THE FUTURE STRATEGY • BRENNTAG IS EXPANDING ITS ONLINE ACTIVITIES WHILE CONTINUING TO IMPLEMENT ITS TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME AROUND THE WORLD BRENNTAG AND CHEMONDIS, the leading B2B online marketplace for chemicals in Europe, have embarked on a cooperation to jointly accelerate digital sales and marketing for the chemical industry. Both companies recognise the increasing importance of online sales channels for the chemical industry and agreed to collaborate, beginning with Brenntag’s paints and coatings, and adhesives and sealants portfolios. “Over the last two years Brenntag has steadily built our Brenntag Connect e-commerce platform,” says Maarten Stramrood, CDO of Brenntag. “The platform is now live in most of our mature markets. We see a strong upward trend in online business and with this complementary cooperation we extend our digital channels further. Our collaboration
with CheMondis will provide our current and potential customers an even broader choice.” “At CheMondis we are excited to welcome the world’s leading distributor Brenntag as a new partner. It is a strong sign that online sales are becoming an increasingly important strategic component in the chemical industry,” says Sebastian Brenner, managing director of CheMondis. “Customers in our industry are demanding an online buying experience and CheMondis provides for that need.” CheMondis was founded in 2018 as an independent startup out of Lanxess and has since then established the leading open B2B marketplace for chemicals in Europe with more than 3,200 active companies and some 50,000 products listed. CheMondis offers sellers of chemical products (manufacturers
and distributors) a state-of-the-art online sales channel, offering a full digital customer journey, professional online marketing support and data-driven analytics. Buyers have used CheMondis for several thousand digital transactions already. PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE The cooperation with CheMondis can be seen as part of Project Brenntag, the company’s transformation programme, which has already seen plans to restructure the organisation into two more tightly focused divisions (HCB November 2020, page 48). Since then, Brenntag’s management board and supervisory board have clarified the next steps in that transformation and the new operating model that will be crucial in coping with future requirements. “The implementation of the various measures of Project Brenntag will also include an adjustment of our global workforce,” says CEO Christian Kohlpaintner. “This step will be anything but easy for us, but it is necessary to ensure Brenntag’s success in the long term. We intend to perform any planned reductions in a socially responsible manner and strive to avoid compulsory redundancies.” Brenntag now says it expects to reduce its global workforce by some 1,300 jobs out of a current total of 17,500 over the next two years. At the same time, it plans to invest significantly in its network, although again this will involve some site closures. “While maintaining its global reach, with the optimised network Brenntag will improve efficiency, leverage scale benefits across divisions and products, and increase proximity to business partners,” the company says. “The optimisation envisions closing sites to consolidate the site network in geographies and improve the utilisation of existing sites.” Brenntag plans to close about 100 sites across all regions, half of which are third-party logistics sites. At the same time, it will invest in existing and new sites, create regional hubs, and close white spots in the network. LATEST RESULTS Meanwhile, Brenntag has reported thirdquarter sales of €2.88bn, down 11.6 per cent
HCB MONTHLY | DECEMBER 2020
