How to Choose the Right Chem­i­cal Sup­ply Partner ?

Whether you are in the food, elec­tron­ic, phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal or any oth­er type of indus­try where you rely on chem­i­cals for the run­ning of your busi­ness – choos­ing the right chem­i­cal sup­ply part­ner is impor­tant. Find­ing one is not too dif­fi­cult ; the local as well as the inter­na­tion­al mar­ket is sat­u­rat­ed with chem­i­cal sup­pli­ers. You can eas­i­ly find one, but whether you should work with that sup­pli­er is where things can get tricky. That being said, fol­low­ing these four tips (which we are to dis­cuss in a moment) can make it eas­i­er for you to decide. You don’t have to be an expe­ri­enced head or an expert on chem­i­cal sup­ply chain. Even if you don’t have a net­work peer to con­sult to, these tips would still work. 

Tip #1 : Choose a sup­pli­er that has the expe­ri­ence of work­ing with clients in your industry

Dif­fer­ent indus­tries require dif­fer­ent types of chem­i­cals and chem­i­cal reagents. Where two indus­tries might share com­mon chem­i­cal needs, the grade of each chem­i­cal might vary. Some indus­tries might also car­ry strict reg­u­la­tions with regards to the way a chem­i­cal should be pack­aged and shipped. A chem­i­cal sup­pli­er must be able to cater to all such spe­cif­ic needs, and only a sup­pli­er who has the expe­ri­ence of work­ing with clients in your indus­try, can do that.

Tip #2 : Look at the supplier’s client base

This infor­ma­tion could be found on the chem­i­cal supplier’s web­site. Their clien­tele would help you in assess­ing the qual­i­ty of prod­ucts and ser­vices that they pro­vide to their cus­tomers. For exam­ple, here at Wat­son Inter­na­tion­al, we sup­ply chem­i­cals to GE, Siemens, Sony, Mer­ck, Pfiz­er etc. For your sat­is­fac­tion assur­ance, do drop an inquiry to the list­ed clients ask­ing if the infor­ma­tion found on the supplier’s web­site is cor­rect.

Tip #3 : The sup­pli­er should offer con­sul­ta­tion where needed

There will be times when you will strug­gle to make a selec­tion between two or more chem­i­cals, not know­ing which reagent might best suit your appli­ca­tion. A good exam­ple to cite would be the selec­tion headache of choos­ing a cat­a­lyst when you are design­ing an indus­tri­al process. This is where you will need help and there is no one bet­ter than your chem­i­cal sup­pli­er to assist you in this sit­u­a­tion.

Tip #4 : The chem­i­cal sup­pli­er should have strong RD capacity

This would help you to order cus­tomized solu­tions where the require­ments of a project are as such. For instance, many busi­ness­es need cus­tom pep­tides and resins for research and for­mu­la­tion pur­pos­es. Know­ing your sup­pli­er can facil­i­tate you with cus­tomized solu­tions will pro­vide you with peace of mind. You won’t have to look for an alter­nate at the eleventh hour. Your chem­i­cal sup­ply part­ner­ship can give you a com­pet­i­tive advan­tage in your indus­try. There­fore, choose a sup­pli­er wise­ly. A BONUS read : 5 Tips to store your chem­i­cal stock in a full proof way