YES. Cross-departmental communication as a formula for success.
Globalisation offers us all many advantages and innumerable opportunities. On the other hand, these extraordinary times also remind us how great our transnational dependencies are and how vulnerable individual systems have become. The bottlenecks in supply chains and commodity supplies affect CHT Recycling Solutions, too, which provides efficient process aids for plastics recycling worldwide. In the first half of 2021, the price of one very important commodity that is used in large quantities in our biggest-selling product suddenly saw a five-fold increase.
Communication: an important success factor in crisis situations
These logistics problems posed not only the threat of a sharp rise in the price of our top-selling product, but also a downward trend in our customers’ revenues. The situation called for a solution as quickly as possible – one which was adapted to the needs of plastics recyclers in terms of both price and quality, and which further strengthened our market leadership position. The greatest factor in successfully meeting this challenge proved to be interdisciplinary communication on the basis of a significant increase in the exchange of knowledge and ideas. These productive meetings involved our Sales team, which is in direct contact with our customers, our Research and Development department, which finalises the development of our products, and the Tübingen Recycling team, which is responsible for business development and laboratory tests. The Production department and the Customer Service Centre were also part of the project team in the initial and final phases of the problem-solving process. Beyond this, our customers played an active role, jointly planning the test phase for the new product with us and carrying it out on their plants.
Supply shortage leads to increased communication, and in turn to innovation
Set in motion by the steep rise in commodity prices and the resulting market pressure, this project has highlighted some of the challenging, varied and interesting aspects of my working environment. The several-week process resulted in a new, more efficient product which is prized by all sides for the added value it delivers to the customer in terms of performance and price. Working and communicating across departmental boundaries isn’t just satisfying – it is also a great way to broaden one’s horizons and strengthen overall problem-solving competence, thanks to the input from team members from different disciplines.
