Enhancing Digital Formulation Through Structured Data, Expertise, and People-Centric Transformation

Juliette Gamez: We’ve long had a robust online catalog that provides an intuitive and efficient way to search for ingredients, allowing users to quickly find the right solutions based on their specific needs. Designed for ease of use, it serves as a trusted digital resource that simplifies ingredient selection and accelerates decision-making.

But with The Digital Lab, we're taking a significant step forward: it delivers formulation inspiration directly connected to practical applications and concrete technical needs. The Digital Lab leverages the expertise of our formulation specialists to enable users to search for formulations and ingredients based on specific attributes, helping them quickly identify the most suitable solutions. By combining deep technical knowledge with real-world applications, it accelerates innovation and streamlines product development.

This evolution wasn't just about creating a more appealing interface - it was fundamentally about leveraging the strong data foundation we've carefully developed internally, supported by the deep expertise of our teams.

Loraine Lombardi: Exactly. The ingredient catalog continues to be a reliable platform for ingredient sourcing, but customer expectations have evolved. Today, formulators and technical experts are looking beyond ingredient listings - they require deeper insights, inspiration, and practical formulation ideas. The Digital Lab responds directly to this, combining our proven ingredient expertise with real-world application examples and enriched technical data.

Juliette Gamez: Our primary internal transformation involved structuring data and implementing strong governance. We centralized product creation within one system, enabling consistent product taxonomy and robust portfolio management. Our Product Information Management (PIM) system now hosts more than 25,000 carefully structured ingredients, with detailed technical and product information.

Alongside this, we launched an internal intranet based on SharePoint. This acts as a powerful communication hub, giving our teams immediate access to validated, accurate information, streamlining cross-departmental collaboration, and ensuring all teams work from the same source of truth.

Loraine Lombardi: Additionally, our teams played a crucial role in the adoption and validation of these new digital tools. Their involvement and dedication turned what could have been just another technical project into a genuine operational asset. Their trust and commitment helped us transform the internal workflow into a leaner, more agile, and reliable structure—an essential prerequisite for platforms like The Digital Lab.

Juliette Gamez: Absolutely critical. Digital transformation is as much about people as it is about technology. Our teams were actively involved in defining the taxonomy, data structure, and workflows. They helped ensure data quality, harmonized our databases, and gave crucial feedback during development phases. Without their operational knowledge and engagement, we wouldn't have achieved this level of data consistency or trust.

Loraine Lombardi: Indeed, their ongoing support and ownership allowed us to seamlessly integrate our traditional online ingredient catalog with the inspiring formulations of The Digital Lab. They're the ones ensuring accuracy, context, and compliance daily. Their involvement guarantees that our digital tools stay aligned with real-world market and regulatory needs, especially our in-house Lab technicians and managers.

Juliette Gamez: Our suppliers now enjoy greater visibility and precision in how we represent their ingredients online. With structured data, we showcase their products consistently and compellingly across markets, improving their exposure and time-to-market. For our customers—R&D formulators, procurement specialists, and technical managers—we've improved the user’s experience, allowing easy access to trustworthy technical information and practical formulation guidance.

Loraine Lombardi: The Digital Lab especially targets formulators who need rapid, precise inspiration combined with relevant product information. It's about quickly moving from inspiration to solution. We offer both our customers and suppliers more context, clarity, and actionable insights—something an ingredient catalog alone can't deliver.

Juliette Gamez: We're being deliberately thoughtful. AI represents tremendous potential—but only if integrated with purpose and responsibility. Right now, we're preparing our digital ecosystem to become AI-ready, meaning clean, well-structured data, robust metadata standards, and strong governance. We're carefully identifying where it genuinely adds value and aligns with our business philosophy.

Loraine Lombardi: We view AI as a future partner, enhancing - not replacing- the deep industrial knowledge of our teams. The aim is strategic, incremental integration, thoughtfully augmenting human expertise. Our teams will remain the heart of every digital transformation at Safic-Alcan, and AI will ultimately empower their decisions and creativity.

Juliette Gamez: The priority now is scaling our digital ecosystem further across global operations and continuously improving our systems. We will deepen our use of structured data to enhance both internal operations and customer experiences, reinforcing our position as the trusted partner in chemical distribution and formulation expertise.

At the same time, we'll keep investing in our teams - offering training, support, and the tools they need to thrive. Digital transformation at Safic-Alcan is sustainable precisely because our people remain central to every step we take.

Loraine Lombardi: Exactly. The Digital Lab represents the future we want to build: one where clear structure, trusted expertise, and human-centric technology converge. Our digital roadmap is about turning industry knowledge into lasting value, consistently delivered to our customers and suppliers by empowered teams.

Juliette Gamez: The Digital Lab marks a strategic step in Safic-Alcan's ongoing evolution. But more importantly, it's proof of what's possible when our entire organization commits together to purposeful digital innovation.

Loraine Lombardi: It's not about technology alone. It's about empowering expertise, streamlining collaboration, and preparing thoughtfully for what's next. That’s the Safic-Alcan way.