Kemira’s water segment went through a strategy reform that shifted the emphasis from a product-based approach to a customer-driven operating model and the segment was divided into municipal and industrial water purification customer segments. Pekka Ojanpää, President of Kemira’s Water Segment tells about the advantages of the transition.
New strategy brings Kemira’s services closer to both customer groups. “Now our people can concentrate primarily on one customer segment and focus in greater detail on what our customers really need.” Ojanpää says.
New solutions generate growth
Alongside emerging economies, the driving forces propelling growth in water treatment are advances in technology and tightening of environmental legislation around the world. Ojanpää is confident that innovations for the markets will also generate growth for Kemira.
“One good example of a new solution is the eco-friendly and cost effective method of treating drinking and wastewater that could replace chlorinebased purification.” Ojanpää is also confident that the coming years will see demand for Kemira’s system to remove odor from wastewater.
“We’re also looking into our role in bioenergy. Municipal wastewater processes produce vast quantities of sludge that can be decomposed into bioenergy. This is an interesting area of growth where we can play a role by supplying chemicals that aid the decomposition process.”
Raw material supply is guaranteed
The downturn affects the availability of raw materials for water purification chemicals. The downswing in industry has made it increasingly difficult to procure by-products, such as ferrous sulfate from titanium dioxide production and pickling acid from the steel industry. “We have strong industry ties which guarantees a supply of raw materials. And we can count on the availability of ferrous sulfate because Kemira is a shareholder in a joint venture that produces titanium dioxide in Pori, Finland.”
Many competitors do not have similar relations. If they cannot get sufficient supplies of raw materials at cost-effective prices, some companies will have difficulties supplying products. “This is where Kemira stands to increase its market shares. Profitability in the water business mainly depends on procuring raw materials cost-effectively. Kemira can reap the benefits of its local and global presence. It’s our major competitive edge.”
Text: Matti Remes
Original article published in Kemira’s stakeholder magazine Just Add 2/2009.