Eclic broadens its scope

DIGITISATION IN PRACTICE

DEVELOPMENT OF THE E-ECD WAS JUST THE FIRST STEP FOR ECLIC, WITH MORE TO COME

In recent years, EPCA’s Annual Meeting has done a lot to promote the uptake of digitised systems, platforms and networks among the European petrochemical industry and its logistics service partners. That clarion call has also been heeded by their representative associations, not least through the formation in 2018 of the European Chemical Logistics Information Council (Eclic) by the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), the Belgian chemical industry association essenscia, the European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA) and the European Federation of Tank Cleaning Organisations (EFTCO).

Eclic’s initial mission was to act as the platform manager for the electronic version of the EFTCO Cleaning Document (ECD); the supply chain was awash with paper ECDs, which could be lost, altered or forged. Putting this onto a digital platform was seen as a way of removing those problems, while also making the ‘eECD’ available to all relevant players, on demand, all along the supply chain.

Putting their heads together, the partners in Eclic got the system up and running on a trial base very rapidly and the eECD has now been in use in Germany and the Benelux countries for more than 18 months. Eclic reports that the issues posed by the Covid-19 pandemic have attracted more interest from shippers, carriers and cleaning stations across Europe.

Many companies had been reluctant to move away from established ways of working, Eclic says, but paper-based processes were also seen as presenting a route for the spread of the virus. So, while eECD had already demonstrated its value in terms of improved compliances, sustainability, product quality and efficiency among those who had adopted it, the added health and safety factor is now driving digital documentation forward. Since the Covid-19 outbreak started, eECD usage has increased by more than 25 per cent, Eclic reports.

That increase in uptake was fuelled in part by the translation of the eECD application into German, making it easier for the Germanspeaking user community to initiate and process eECD documents. BASF, which had already been using eECD at its Ludwigshafen plant, welcomed the move. It says: “The application is recently also available in German, which makes the use for our loading personnel even more comfortable. Other loading stations are in

evaluation in close alignment with the responsible business units and will soon be piloted. This will be a good basis to prepare for a further roll-out. We are convinced that this new way of digital collaboration will bring us forward in terms of quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness and will help us to even better fulfil our customers' needs.”

Exchangin eECD data through the Eclic platform requires that existing data from cleaning stations is provided digitally. Most cleaning stations use specific software, which can be accommodated by an open-source eECD API infrastructure.

One of those software suppliers, LynX Automation, has been engaged with the eECD project since it began and was the first to offer the eECD market solution. It says: “Optimisation of internal process eventually reaches a point where the investment costs exceed the financial return. The new Eclic platform extends the scope of data flow from internal to external processes. This expands the boundaries for process flow optimisation, unlocking previously unavailable business opportunities. LynX Automation recognises the potential of this platform and supports it with a free add-on to our software. This enables seamless integration of our software with the Eclic platform, allowing our clients to benefit from this new technology.” Eclic is now moving ahead with further, related projects to replace paper documents. During the fourth quarter of 2020 it plans to launch electronic versions of the ‘Proof Previous Load’ – ePPL – and EFTCO Cleaning Order – eECO – documents. These digitised documents will help harmonise the way of working between cleaning stations, carriers and loaders and will also further support semi-dedicated and dedicated bulk product flows, enhancing the value of the eECD.

Eclic developed ePPL and eECO during the middle of 2020 with input from a core group of eECD users and the support of its IT partners, NxtPort, Nallian and Pionira. Eclic says that the new documents are regarded as part of the existing eECD licence subscription so will be available at no additional cost to users.

BASF is one of the first chemical companies to take up the offer. It says: “We are committed to use the new ePPL use case. Together with the eECD it enables us to create a uniform digital process to check cleaned and uncleaned equipment before loading. This digital process brings improved compliance and process quality. The ease of use compared to the current situation means less time wasted and less room for errors in every step of the complete process. It enables us to trigger automatic notifications to clean in case of dedicated equipment. By this way we avoid time-intensive checks and reduce the risk of product quality problems. We are convinced this digital collaboration platform provides opportunities to re-design our site logistics processes and shift towards pro-active steering.”

There is more to come. At the start of this year, it was agreed to extend the Eclic platform with ePPL and eECO and to start to develop three new data exchange pilots covering an ‘eCMR’, estimated time of arrival (ETA) and equipment pre-notification. In August this year, the EU published the ‘eFTI’ regulation, which aims to replace paper documents with e-freight versions, including eCMR and eCIM, in the coming years. To help understand what that might mean across the supply challenge, Evonik has started an eCMR pilot project with some of its carriers and input from Eclic and Pionira. Evonik was one of the pioneers in eECD so has a head start in moving towards digitised documentation.

This year has also seen the launch of the ‘Eclic 2025’ roadmap, envisioning the evolution of the Council towards being a federated data exchange platform for chemical logistics, supporting both business-to-business and business-to-government interactions. Further work on this will be carried out in 2021. More information will be provided on the Eclic website, www.eclic.eu, as the process continues.