Solutions for the Specialty Chemicals Industry


  • Running a business is complicated—running a specialty chemicals company is especially complicated. Maintaining numerous formulas, adhering to government regulations, keeping track of customers, managing personnel, and ensuring financial success are all critical. But how does a company manage it all? Many struggle using disparate solutions that do not work well together, but Sage PFW ERP can integrate these solutions—which can save time, money, and help your business succeed in a competitive marketplace.

    What is Sage PFW? From its earliest versions to the current release, Sage PFW ERP has been designed with technical completeness and functional richness. Specialty chemicals companies need to manage the manufacturing process, and Sage PFW delivers with modules like Formulas, Production, and Inventory. Sage PFW also offers a wide variety of other features and capabilities, all integrated to work together seamlessly. You can use Sage PFW to automate manufacturing, integrate sales with customer resource management (CRM), improve human resources with an integrated human resource management system (HRMS), and manage all of your financials, from standard accounting to multicurrency and multicompany requirements—frequently needed in the global marketplace.

    Schedule a Demo

  • Specialized Functionality
    Sage PFW ERP provides the functionality you need to succeed. Below are a few of the areas within the manufacturing process that Sage PFW can assist you with:

    • Formula management
    • Handling of co- and by-products
    • Raw material specifications
    • Regulatory compliance
    • Full forward and backward traceability
    • Yield optimization
    • Process variability
    • Flexible units of measure
    • Laboratory management
    • Product and hazardous labeling
    • Quality control

    Industry Consolidation
    The specialty chemicals industry is expected to grow for the foreseeable future. With several hundred companies active in the field, it's still a fragmented market, with the top 25 companies accounting for just under 25 percent of its total value. Fragmented markets and margin pressure create a natural desire to consolidate in order to bring economies of scale into the competitive mix. Sage PFW includes functionality to help when companies consolidate, like:

    • Comprehensive Quality Control—From formulas through production and ticketing, quality control is coordinated through the streamlined integration of modules
    • Customization Capabilities—These abilities provide enhanced batch-ticket functionality
    • Flexible Batch Status—Variable batch size and status options enable streamlined batch management
    • Insightful Reports—Extensive, instant reporting capabilities keep you on the pulse of your company’s operations
    • Convenient Automation—Automated scheduling and lot-tracking capabilities ensure production stays on track
    • Extensive Formula Options—Widespread formula capabilities empower your technicians with the tools they need to develop and analyze formulations cost effectively
    • Powerful Formula Utilities—Numerous utility options extend formula management capabilities for maximum functionality

    Whether you are a public or private company, consolidation is a fact of life. Sage understands that in order to deal with consolidating competition, you need speed, flexibility, innovation, and superb customer service. That’s why Sage PFW was designed to provide advanced functionality to “level the playing field” through:

    • Formula management with intermediates support (multilevel)
    • R&D support with formula optimization
    • Automated formula revision tracking
    • Regulatory compliance including Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), OSHA, and support
    • Lot/Bin/SSCC tracking with full recall and traceability
    • Multiple lot picking strategies with automation
    • Comprehensive inventory management
    • Quarantine and expiration date awareness
    • Robust quality testing and control
    • By-product management
    • Product costing
    • Unit of measure conversion

    Globalization of the Supply Chain
    The major specialty chemical companies operate globally and would prefer to work with partners that also operate on that scale. As a global company itself, Sage is uniquely qualified to assist specialty chemical manufacturers with the complex demands that far-flung supply chains place on vendor quality management, formula management, lot tracking, and EDI. Sage PFW provides many powerful capabilities through its advanced features to help chemical companies deal with global sourcing:

    • Multicurrency capability
    • Multilanguage
    • On-water tracking using Serialized Shipment Container Codes
    • Automated vendor lead-time management
    • Enterprisewide planning and budgeting
    • Vendor quality management
    • Electronic Data Interexchange (EDI)
    • Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
    • Lot tracking by lot number, bin number, and expiration date
    • Full AP integration
    • QC test results entered upon receipt
    • Contract management
    • Support for formulation and batch size adjustments for ingredient potency
    • Key performance indicator monitoring for currency fluctuations, outstanding payables, days inventory in transit, and more with business alerts

    Meeting Regulatory Demands
    In today’s competitive environment, compliance issues represent another key strategic front. Customers will outsource to companies that can ensure compliance with all environmental, safety, and FDA regulations. In support of companies with active participation in the industrywide Responsible Care® program and ISO 14001 certification for environmental management, Sage PFW provides fine chemical companies support for regulatory management with:

    • Streamlined MSDS Automation—From automatic MSDS generation and updates to physical property calculations, you’ll experience a higher level of streamlined efficiency in MSDS compliance
    • Powerful Customization—Sage PFW puts you in complete control of the format and content of your Material Safety Data Sheets, including accommodating new regulations and supporting multilingual needs
    • Insightful Reporting—Extensive reporting capabilities include SARA Title III, Title Tier I & II, Boilerplate Masterfile Variance, Boilerplate Where-used in Override, and Supplementary

    Rapid Response to Customer Needs
    Customers want flexibility. They want suppliers that can produce small quantities—sometimes just a few kilograms for trials. They also want suppliers that will rapidly gear up for full production. Suppliers need employees, ERP software, pilot plants, and production facilities that are all flexible. Specialty chemicals companies also need to be reliable while getting products to market quickly. They want suppliers that can produce the right quantities and are efficient enough to keep costs down. Sage PFW is specifically designed to allow you not only to be faster and more accurate in operations, but also to be able to react flexibly to customer needs:

    • Customer history
    • Contract data
    • Custom pricing tables
    • Production data
    • Inventory data
    • Substitution data
    • Option to launch batch orders from Order Entry
    • Advanced material planning features
    • Material shortage analysis wizard
    • Seven different methods of automated batch sizing
    • Automatic unit of measurement for formulation and batches
    • "Backflush" material requisitioning
    • "After-the-fact" purchase order processing for expedited purchases
    • Option for formulation adjustments on batch ticket
    • Automated MSDS maintenance and printing
    • Costing
      Quickly and easily adjust production costs to calculate how changes affect total product cost in order to maximize every last penny.
    • Formulas
      Track all aspects of your formulas with this powerful module, which also provides tight security so your secret ingredient information can only be accessed by authorized personnel.
    • Labeling
      Save time and ensure accuracy by automating your entire labeling process, including shipping, product, receipt, finished goods, and package labels.
    • Laboratory
      Transform ideas into products using powerful, reliable computerized formulation, which lets you perform "what-if" scenarios to analyze how changes impact physical formula properties.
    • Inventory Pro
      Access up-to-the-minute information on materials, containers, costs, and finished goods, in order to operate with unprecedented efficiency and profitability.
    • MRP
      Determine precisely when and how much material to purchase based on a time-phased analysis of sales orders, production orders, current inventory, and forecasts.
    • Order Entry Pro
      Build or improve customer satisfaction and keep your customers loyal for life with quick access to all up-to-date customer information.
    • Production
      Minimize downtime and maximize production while enhancing quality, service, and product safety using powerful automation capabilities that expedite scheduling, simplify batch sizing, and improve inventory accuracy and costing.
    • Purchasing Pro
      Manage your purchasing processes efficiently to reap the benefits of lower costs, expedited deliveries, and enhanced vendor relationships. 

    Learn more about the capabilities in the Business Management Modules section below.

  • Sage PFW Software Configurations are modular and fully integrated, providing adaptability today and scalability tomorrow. Sage PFW manages the unique aspects of your enterprise, organizes resources, and provides the visibility necessary to improve bottom-line results. Additional Sage PFW Software Configurations include:

    Core Accounting
    Sage PFW Core Accounting applications are the system’s heart - General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Bank Book, and Multi-Currency Manager.

    Distribution
    Managing every phase of the distribution process with Sage PFW will reduce costs and increase profits.

    Business Intelligence
    Customizable report writers, integration tools, business intelligence tools, and electronic printing solutions complete the Sage PFW business information system. FRx Desktop provides financial reporting (balance sheets, income statements, and more) and comes bundled with both versions of the General Ledger application.

    Payroll, HR and Project Management
    Stay on time and on budget with payroll, HR, and project management tools that integrate seamlessly into Sage PFW.

    eBusiness
    Transacting business over the internet is something your customers expect. The eBusiness application simplifies the technology barrier, giving you the flexibility to build a Web presence complete with security features to keep hackers out.

    CRM
    Customer service, satisfaction, and retention are critical to continued revenue growth. That's why so many companies are using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions to improve internal communications, increase customer satisfaction, and boost sales revenues.

    Budgeting and Forecasting
    Sage PFW Premier Budgeting and Advanced Allocations automate the time-consuming process of creating budgets and calculation allocations. With Premier Budgeting you can create more precise budgets while saving time and resources. Our Advanced Allocations module automates the allocations process, saving customers a significant amount of time.

  • Sage PFW is helping companies like yours achieve their goals. Read some of our Success Stories to see how Sage PFW is helping Specialty Chemicals companies and companies facing the same challenges as the Specialty Chemicals industry.

    • NuGEN Technologies, Inc. Sage PFW calculates requirements for each of NuGEN’s 100 formulas, performs lot tracking, documents inventory numbers shipped, and provides data for detailed sales analyses.
    • ChevronTexaco Global Lubricants Canada. CTGL relies on Sage PFW for its Multi-Currency Manager module, which coverts funds from Canadian to U.S. dollars for streamlined reporting, and the system’s ability to track actual costs during the distribution process, allowing the calculation of costs on a per-line item basis.
    • Welco Manufacturing Company. Welco uses an EDI interface to accept electronic orders through Sage PFW, helping the company to remain competitive. Sage PFW also allows the Welco team to track inventory efficiently for significant time savings.
    • Bomark Ink, Inc. Sage PFW provides an end-to-end system for Bomark’s manufacturing operations, helping the company to minimize waste and provide consistency between batches. MSDS documents are included with shipments, so customers are in full compliance with OSHA requirements.