Principia Consulting

Strategy Consulting for Companies
in Materials-Related Industries

Specialty Chemicals

CASE STUDIES

Water Treatment

Negotiation Leverage

Please Send Samples

Small Customers

Customer Expectations

Focus in New Products

Entering a New Region

Competitive Defense

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The age of specialization drives the chemical industry, and new challenges to add customer value are faced by almost every player. Application development and technical support are basic requirements. Now technical innovations, service enhancements and other forms of meeting new market challenges are driving growth.

The world of specialty chemicals is where the best opportunities for growth can still be found; and few consulting firms are better equipped to help you find them than Principia Partners. Large enough to provide the necessary services and small enough to understand the industry in depth, Principia can be an effective strategy development resource to help your company find new avenues of growth.

The Principia Partners Advantage

Our business consulting programs for the specialty chemicals industry provide a range of proven ways to measure performance and establish solid strategies for managing and growing the core business. These custom tailored programs are created to directly support specific business objectives.

Principia consulting teams provide highly efficient problem solving. Combined decades of industry experience and the right mix of expertise serve as a foundation for exceptional results in solving business challenges, and can mean better results for your business.

Faster results to help you grow, extend or transform your business sooner
A short and painless teaching curve at the front end of consulting assignments
Sharper insights based on our focus on building products and specific industry experience
A unique industry perspective that can help change or confirm internal biases
Specialized information, experience, expertise and insights that lead to better decisions

PRODUCTS	MARKETS	CONSULTING SERVICES
Antioxidants Biocides Catalysts Chelating Agents Coupling Agents Defoamers Emulsion Polymers Flame Retardants Flavors and Fragrances Flocculants Pigments and Dyes Plasticizers Retention Aids Surfactants Thickening and Sizing Agents UV Absorbers	Adhesives / Caulks / Sealants Building and Construction Chemical Processing Industry Cosmetics Electronics Food Metals and Foundries Paints and Coatings Paper Plastics Printing Rubber Textiles Waste Management	Opportunity Screening Market Assessment Innovation Strategy Profitable Growth Program Manufacturing Cost Analysis Product Positioning Competitive Strategy Intellectual Property Channel Strategy Customer Satisfaction Brand Equity M&A Advisory Services Business Planning

INDUSTRIES SERVED

Building Products

Plastics

Specialty Chemicals

Private Equity

Manufactured Goods

PRINCIPIA SERVICES

Principia helps business grow by providing consultation, insights and recommendations related to key business and marketing topics, including:

Opportunity Screening

M&A Advisory Services

Market Assessment

Innovation Process Strategy

Profitable Growth Program

Cost & Profit Benchmarking

Product Positioning

Competitive Strategy

Intellectual Property Licensing

Channel Strategy

Customer Satisfaction

Brand Equity Measurement

Business Planning

Specialty Chemicals:
Selling Water Treatment Technology Developed under Grants

Challenge:
A non-profit research organization received a series of SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grants to refine a waste water treatment technology originally developed to handle acid runoff from mining operations. The objective was to generate funds from the refined process by selling the technology.

Principia Partners helped determine where the technology fit in the marketplace beyond the initial mine run-off application, and identified all potential buyers for the intellectual property.

Principia then developed an offering and negotiated the sale of the patents, trade secrets, and other rights to the technology to one company, a major water treatment chemical producer.

Result:
The Client sold its technology, generating funds allowing it to continue research in other core technology areas.

Specialty Chemicals:
Evaluate Supplier Manufacturing Cost for a Critical Raw Material

Challenge:
In preparation for an annual supply contract negotiation, a Fortune 100 chemical producer sought assistance in determining the actual production cost for a critical raw material.

Principia Partners developed a research program to determine all expense items for the production of the material. The product is only manufactured by one company in North America. Principia accurately modeled the process and all costs associated with the manufacturing operations, resulting in a precise estimate of the supplier's costs.

Result:
Principia's research was instrumental in helping the Client negotiate a 12% price reduction, saving nearly $2.5 million.

Specialty Chemicals:
Develop an E-Business Plan for Sample Fulfilment Company

Challenge:
A web-based information provider sought new services to deliver to the users of its site. The company served the chemicals and plastics industries, providing a wide array of information on products, suppliers, and industry news.

Principia helped identify and plan new services. The team identified a need for easy cross reference of various suppliers' products and for comparing technical information for the wide range of products offered by global suppliers.

Further, end users often sought product samples. Principia evaluated this opportunity and developed a business plan to pursue it, including strategic options for market entry. Principia recommended partnering with one of they established on-line product literature suppliers, and providing the sample fulfillment function through the combined company.

Result:
The company formed a joint venture with one of the prospective partners identified by Principia, and launched the business with two chemical companies as the first customers.

Specialty Chemicals:
Develop an Approach to Serve LTL Customers with Carbon Black

Challenge:
The leading supplier of carbon black focuses on large-volume applications and customers that purchase in truckload quantities, but recognizes that LTL customers represent a significant portion of demand. The company needed a cost-effective approach to serving these small accounts.

Principia analyzed the carbon black market, and evaluated competitive producers' approach to serving LTL customers. Based on small customer purchase volumes, support requirements and such other factors as credit risk, Principia determined that little opportunity for value creation existed in the LTL segment.

Result:
The Client continues to serve this segment of the market through several distributors that provide the small order volumes and support needed, and assume the credit risk from these customers.

Specialty Chemicals:
Assess Key Product and Service Attributes in Emulsions Industry

Challenge:
Several leading producers of emulsions jointly funded an assessment of the requirements to serve a range of end markets, including paper, carpet, and adhesives among others. These suppliers required a viable benchmark of their performance in meeting customer needs, and a system for tracking service improvements.

Principia designed an ongoing customer value assessment program that links customer expectations of suppliers with the suppliers' actual performance on a range of product and service attributes. The program analyzes specific tasks within each business process to determine which factor requires the supplier's attention. The program further assesses the "value received" from supplier products and services to determine if customers are willing to pay more.

Result:
The suppliers continually use the program to track their performance with emulsions customers and to monitor the impact of their performance improvement efforts.

Specialty Chemicals:
Reconfiguring New Product Development in Polypropylene

Challenge:
A global leader in polypropylene saw modest growth in its core markets, and sought to rejuvenate its product portfolio. Over 250 active projects in its new product development pipeline drained resources, with few likely winners.

Principia used the FasTrak NPD assessment program to identify the value drivers in the key markets, then reviewed the Client's existing NPD process. Metrics were benchmarked against key PP competitors and against two engineering thermoplastics producers to determine improved approaches to identifying real customer needs and obtaining reliable market input. Priorities were developed along with new metrics to better measure improvement.

Result:
The Client focused on new and enhanced polymerization processes and catalysts to produce polypropylene resins with enhanced material properties. These new products contributed over $70 million in annualized revenues since mid 2001.

Specialty Chemicals:
Investigate Opportunities in Wood Building Products

Challenge:
A leading chemical producer was assessing how acetylation technology could be applicable for a variety of wood building products, including those used in residential, commercial, and infrastructure end uses.

The company required a feasibility assessment on the best roll-out strategies for the technology as well as how to best secure specification in existing pressure treating facilities.

Principia evaluated a number of business scenarios to determine best product positioning and pricing options to reach maximum revenue and profitability targets over the next five to seven years.

Result:
Based on Principia's recommendations, the Client has begun next steps in its product development process.

Specialty Chemicals:
Timely Entrance in a Fast-Growth Additives Market

Challenge:
A leading international supplier of plastics additives developed two products to improve physical properties and aesthetics for Wood-Plastic Composite products for decking, railing and fencing applications. The additives help manufacturers improve products without sacrificing manufacturing throughput.

The Client required an assessment of the business opportunity for this technology to advance its own manufacturing technology to the next stage of commercialization.

Principia assisted the Client with a product entry strategy including possible pricing levels and the likely adoption curve for the products at potential users.

Result:
Pilot programs are in place at several leading WPC producers.

Specialty Chemicals:
Adding Services to Product Offerings for Business Growth

Challenge:
A leading European supplier of water treatment chemicals sought to expand its business by offering service solutions to its product offering.

Principia and the client mutually identified a set of potential segments to review and determine greatest value creation potential. Principia developed an in-depth program to provide required insight including the likely competitor response to the broader product and service offering to the industry.

We conducted a complete investigation of the client’s market position and resources to determine the proper fit and value that the company could provide to its current and prospective customer base.

Result:
The Client made key strategic decisions based on Principia recommendations, and the Client successfully added services to its product offering, thus adding incremental revenue.

Specialty Chemicals:
Assess Corporate Image for Fortune 100 Chemical Producers

Challenge:
As part of an industry-sponsored public relations campaign, a leading chemical industry association needed to assess perceptions of chemicals and chemical companies held by various target audiences.

Principia developed an image assessment program to measure the brand image of 20 leading chemical producers, as well as certain key products among consumers, municipal governments, the press, financial institutions, and various special interest groups.

The research measured the importance of a range of both positive and negative attributes of chemicals and the companies that produce them, and determined the key brand images associated with the producers.

Result:
The association uses the program results in programming its public relations campaign and in working with the media to present the positive impact that chemicals have on everyday life.

Specialty Chemicals:
Entering the North American Market for Biocides in Plastics

Challenge:
A well-established European producer of biocides was in the early stages of commercializing a novel non-arsenic biocide for plastics in Europe, and needed a market entry strategy for North America.

Principia provided a thorough overview of the use of biocides in plastics and identified key end uses and major consumers. Key trends in usage and types of biocides were developed, along with perceptions about the future use of non-arsenic biocides. Principia aided pre-marketing efforts by establishing point-of-sale and point-of-marketing contacts at large consuming companies with an interest in non-arsenic type products.

Result:
The Client's business development team toured the United States, visiting the targeted customers. Four product development programs were initiated by the customers and the new biocide is currently under evaluation

Specialty Chemicals:
Segmenting the LCP Compound Market to Defend Market Share

Challenge:
A pioneer in the development of LCPs (liquid crystal polymers) serves a broad array of applications with its products. In response to competition, the company sought to expand its market coverage to include small but growing end users.

Principia Partners developed a market segmentation program based on customer size and growth prospects, which identified and profiled small-lot purchasers of LCPs. Principia analyzed the Client's sales potential with these accounts.

Result:
The Client determined that few of the small-lot customers are viable marketing targets, and elected to continue its focus on large-volume users.