What do small and medium-sized chemical enterprises lack?

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When such topics are brought up, many business owners in similar industries often dismiss them, claiming that their companies lack nothing! Yes, when many small businesses gradually make their way along the path of development, from initial investments to current profits, and eventually reaching a certain scale after going through many challenges, this state of affairs represents the ultimate goal for those business owners who are content with what they have. However, for those business owners who strive hard to advance their businesses, a small scale and modest profits are merely goals for a short period of time; looking to the future, such business owners aspire to expand their companies as much as possible, pursuing the most ambitious goals imaginable! Well, my following views are intended only for those business owners who are willing to see their ventures through to the end, and they serve merely as a starting point for further discussion! For a small or medium-sized enterprise, its true core competitive advantage lies in the owner alone! Furthermore, it’s just one or two highly specialized and targeted management or technical staff members who are around the boss. A large number of people does not necessarily ensure success, but few people will inevitably restrict ideas and stifle intellectual activity. So here comes the problem: small and medium-sized chemical companies typically have just one or a few formulas, as well as one or two sets of production processes – things that are simple and straightforward. What concerns the owners is that with too many people around, information might be leaked and the company could be at risk. Therefore, it’s common for them to assign just one engineer to handle all technical and process-related matters, taking care of sales and procurement themselves, while relying on the finance department for cost accounting; at most, they may add a workshop supervisor among the management staff! It seems that this approach is reasonable, but in reality, it is this very approach that causes the greatest harm to the companies themselves! ! A company’s set of manufacturing processes is entirely the work of a single engineer. We can’t say that there is anything wrong with the processes themselves, but it’s clear that it’s difficult for one person to take into account all the various requirements related to those processes. In other words, although production can continue (that is, products can still be manufactured), the economic efficiency of such production remains to be verified! Since this engineer is an authority in this company, no one questions the rationality of the design processes he develops. Although there are many minor technical adjustments made due to production issues, those are merely measures taken to maintain balance or when production becomes critically urgent! Often, engineers also identify the flaws in their own designs and use technical modifications to overcome them, but even such solutions are not perfect! The boss, having no one he could trust, took on procurement and sales tasks on his own. Not only was he exhausted from this, but he also created many problems for himself; in the end, the profits he lost were much greater than the costs resulting from hiring the wrong people. As for the finance department, they don’t understand production; they’re unable to assess whether the data is good or bad. And if production statistics are not accurate, any problems go unaddressed, and time is wasted needlessly (we won’t go into further detail on this here)! We don’t have perfect processes – we never will – but we can have the most reasonable processes, the most economical and reliable ones. So, how can we achieve that? In fact, we need to \"go out and invite in\" – go out to learn excellent production techniques and improve our production methods ； Learn advanced methods for managing waste, and broaden your thinking ； Experts in the same industry are requested to conduct on-site discussions and analyses to assess the rationality and adaptability of the existing processes ； Identify additional ways to reduce consumption and methods to improve production efficiency, and so on! But what about reality? A company has only a few core production secrets; what if someone hired comes and leaks them? Many, many business owners think in that way, and thus \"isolating oneself from the outside world\" becomes the only method for many companies to prevent the leakage of their technology. In fact, doing this is very wrong! Since we are a small business, we have also decided on a process that is not complicated. When it comes to leaked technologies, those in the industry can summarize such technologies in just a few words, and with a few simple experiments back home they can develop them further. Coupled with their understanding of industry knowledge, the new processes they create might not be any less effective than those already available to you! Besides, this also requires technical experts; what if someone invests money in this product? Are there any unbreakable doors? So, let’s not make our own methods too mysterious; otherwise, once the engineers leave, no one will have mastered the essence of them, and it will be useless to cry for help when problems arise! The problem is also that many business owners simply don’t think there’s anything wrong with their production processes; well, that’s just their opinion, stemming from their lack of knowledge in the field of chemistry! It’s never harmful to explore potential within the company itself! I encountered something: I originally studied engineering and had spent many years working in the processes related to ammonia synthesis and urea production. It was only because of an employment offer from a private enterprise owner that I ended up working at a medium-sized chemical company. What the boss needed was production management, so at first I was assigned by the boss to oversee the production of paint. Meanwhile, the company’s chemical production lines were considered by the boss to be operating smoothly and well-managed, so there was no need to hire additional managers! However, when I went to the chemical processing workshop during my breaks at work, I discovered many small problems! I’ll list the major issues. First, although the design of that chemical processing plant claims to enable an annual production of 10,000 tons of ***, it actually produces only a little over 300 tons per month ； Secondly, since this production process involves vacuum evaporation for purification, there is an astonishing amount of sludge in the reactor (which is actually still liquid) ； Another issue is that there is an enormous amount of production wastewater, which cannot be treated! To address these issues, I conducted thorough research and verified the equipment, and through my own experiments in the laboratory, I ultimately proposed improvement plans for the general manager’s approval, which were then put into practice. Through three rounds of technological upgrades, the production volume of this workshop increased from 350 tons per month to 750 tons, the overall production costs were significantly reduced, and it also secured the first position in the market share ； The recycling scheme for furnace slag allows more than 100 kilograms of product to be obtained from each 200-kilogram bucket of slag, increasing its value by over ten times. With 100 tons of such slag available each month, this not only boosts efficiency and yield but also significantly improves the production process while reducing waste generation! For wastewater, I simply changed the density of the water, reducing the amount of water used to less than one-third of the original amount, **which significantly solved the problem of difficult treatment! In terms of production, I also proposed changing the reaction conditions to accelerate the completion of the reaction ； Change the packing in the distillation tower to alter resistance, accelerate the distillation rate, improve purity, and so on! At this point, let’s think carefully: a chemical company with annual sales in the hundreds of millions is no longer a small processing workshop; so why can it still be transformed through external efforts, and experience significant changes? Not even the boss himself really believes that the workshop he thinks is running well is actually the one with the most problems! ! The reason is that the company relies on an experienced engineer who uses traditional methods, lacks innovative ideas, and there is also a technological blockade along with conservative approaches to operations! And when the company itself is immersed in such an atmosphere and no problems can be identified, it becomes inevitable! Yet this entire series of changes was carried out without the knowledge of the senior engineers, and this is perhaps the greater tragedy for the company! ! In the words of the company’s executive vice president, “***was originally using a cannon to shoot at a chick,” to illustrate the mystery surrounding his technology. (I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to belittle the senior engineers – it’s understandable given the need to survive.) If it were just one company that had such problems, I wouldn’t need to make a fuss by issuing a statement to serve as a warning. But what I found is that every company has such problems (perhaps I haven’t visited many companies yet), and the fatal weaknesses lie in restricted technologies and confidential production methods; therefore, I realized the prevalence of this problem! Speaking of this, I need to make it clear that I’m not a theorist; what I say are just my own ideas. If a company merely aims to make a profit, then a conservative approach should suffice, as no company keeps its doors open if it isn’t trying to earn money. But if a company wants to become specialized, larger, more sophisticated, and stronger, then the owner has to consider more than just the issue of technology leakage! In our current production processes, we need to learn to question things, as questioning is necessary, but not in a blind manner. As we go all out to pursue our goals, there may be villains around, but we need not fear them. Rather than staying on guard at all times, it’s better to take bold actions. While others are still unaware that our products are of high quality, we have already achieved optimal combinations in production; with mature manufacturing processes, all that’s needed is to scale up production, thereby enhancing our ability to withstand risks. So, who would dare to compete with us? Just as in the private company where I worked, by mastering traditional manufacturing techniques, I designed and put into use a continuous production system that was different from the original one; this system has an annual production capacity of 15,000 tons. It eliminates the need for large-scale investments and optimizes the layout of the production process. The overall annual production capacity has now exceeded 20,000 tons. Who in this industry still has the ability or the need to compete with this? Therefore, I advise business owners in the chemical industry to give up their so-called formula secrets – they are of no value. What can truly bring them substantial benefits are new ideas, new concepts, and new knowledge. Make use of the approach of \"going out and bringing in expertise.\" No company is perfect, but we can do better; invite wise mentors and friends to help improve and optimize our businesses. Taking trust as the guiding principle in operations, reasonable performance evaluations, comprehensive reward and punishment systems, and scientific and practical management of the production site – these are precisely what many existing chemical companies lack! Only by mastering these can a company achieve healthy and rapid development, with its steps becoming higher and broader with each step forward! Transferred from the Internet, Shi Shangyu’s Weibo. Thank you to the original author!