How BASF is keeping at the forefront of supply chain management

By Lucy Whitehouse

- Last updated on GMT

BASF on supply chain best practice

Related tags Supply chain Supply chain management BASF

Leading chemicals manufacturer BASF recently came in seventh in the European league table for supply chains, and has spoken to Cosmetics Design about how it got there.

BASF found itself among other global beauty and personal care giants in the top ten;​ L’Oréal came in sixth, H&M (which recently launched its makeup range across the globe) came second, and Unilever took the top spot.

The rankings, by Gartner, look at how well optimised companies’ supply chains are and how competitive, and this year, CSR was also included in its criteria.

Working with customers

Ralf Busche, senior vice president global supply chain strategy & performance at BASF, explained that the company believes its success this year was largely due to close collaboration with customers.

“Our approach to continuously improve in supply chain management along with our intensive collaboration with our customers enabled us to make such a big leap ahead,”​ he said.

Points of focus

Busche also revealed some other key points of focus where BASF looks to maintain and improve its performance when it comes to supply chain management.

Ralf Busche, BASF
Ralf Busche, BASF

“We are working continuously to improve our performance in important areas such as supply chain segmentation, digitization of our supply chain, customized supply chain strategies for BASF’s various businesses and differentiated service portfolio,”​ he explained.

“We have also made great progress in the use of modern methods and technologies for smart data analytics.”

Optimising supply chains with digital solutions appears to be a major area of investment for the industry when it comes to developing production models, and BASF’s comments indicate that it’s paying off. Busche also noted that the company’s sustainability efforts are to thank for its successes.

“These subject areas, as well as sustainability, are at the forefront of our efforts to improve the supply chain on a continuous basis,"​ he confirmed.

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