The Strength of our Supply Chains

As a chemical vendor, the team at CORECHEM is very aware of the critical nature of our supply chains. Often, the chemical products we supply are necessary to the very heartbeat of our customer’s businesses- and a failure to supply or late shipment could have dire consequences, such as a plant shutdown, costly downtime for employees, etc. Clearly, we can’t supply in a timely manner if our producer suppliers aren’t top-tier, also! As a part of our commitment to being the best supply chain partner we can be, here we focus on the effort we put into strengthening our own supply chains. We sat down with John in our Sales Department and Wyatt in our Supply Chain Department to go over what, exactly, that entails.

In this article…

• What is a Supply Chain?
• What Does a Great Supply Chain Partner Look Like?
• What Are the Strengths of CORECHEM’s Supply Chain?

What is a Supply Chain?

For many of us, when we think of a ‘supply chain department’, it is very possible we think of it as the ‘purchasing department’ – the department of the company that purchases the materials the company supplies and distributes to its customers. However, our Senior Purchasing Agent Wyatt has further insights- specifically mentioning these 6 things as core functions of his job:

• Purchasing
• Quality Analysis
• Logistics
• Market Updates
• Inventory Management
• Demand Analysis

The supply chain department also must work closely with many other departments within the company, to facilitate and coordinate the delivery of products to our customers in a timely manner; including the customer service department, sales, operations, logistics, the lab, and the accounting department. (Whew! It truly does, take a team!)

What Does a Great Supply Chain Partner Look Like?

At CORECHEM, our goal is to be, the best supply chain partner we can be! So, how do we do that?

Well, there are four common variables that must be managed as the core functions of that department:

• Price – our team negotiates the best possible prices, based on our volume, so that you can get a good price. Due to the nature of our business (simultaneously operating 3 verticals: Industrial Chemicals, Heat Transfer Fluids, and Contract Packaging), we are able to have more competitive strength for products used in more than one vertical. For example, our overall total volume of glycol- commonly sold as both an industrial chemical and used to manufacture our heat transfer fluid products – is significantly higher than what it would be if we only purchased glycol for a single vertical (or, business unit).
• Quality – Obviously, it’s important that we don’t ship our customers inferior-quality product. Whether we ship chemicals direct, or bring material through our warehouses (to be quality tested in our own laboratories), the quality side of purchasing is an ongoing, critical part of the process.
• Reliability – Whatever your needs or operations, the flow of product to your facility needs to happen in a reliable and dependable manner. We monitor our customers’ ongoing consumption and do everything in our power to plan accordingly for what we know you’ll need.
• Availability – Fire at an oil-cracking facility in Texas? Overseas conflict causing widespread disruptions with import product? Whatever the situation, our supply chain team has to manage availability.

The acronym DIFOTIS is one we use: ‘Delivered In Full, On Time, In Spec’, to describe the ideal purchasing & fulfillment scenario for our customers.

What Are the Strengths of CORECHEM’s Supply Chain?

Finally… what are the strengths of CORECHEM’s supply chain? What are some of the things we do, to ensure continuity of supply for our customers and their businesses?

1. Robust Logistics Network. We utilize multiple rail facilities, which strengthens us on both price and availability. We have a robust carrier network, which includes longstanding relationships with a number of trusted 3^rd party carriers. We’ve built out our own fleet purposefully, to have capabilities available to meet a wide variety of needs. We also have negotiated, contracted rates with some of our suppliers for delivery on their company-owned fleets.
2. CORECHEM Fleet. When you see the green CORECHEM trucks delivering to your facility, you may think of them as delivery vehicles. Actually, we use our trucks for both pick-up AND delivery. Our fleet is a major asset, as it allows us to pick-up and deliver product quickly and efficiently – without having to work through another company to arrange shipments. As Wyatt says, “It’s just easier to manage that way… we can get things as close to instantly as you can get it in this business.”
3. Multi-Sourced. CORECHEM is multi-sourced on the majority of our larger products. Suppliers can have varying lead times, which change constantly depending on their situation. This gives us the flexibility to choose between multiple suppliers, depending on what your needs are. It also means, when it comes to availability, we aren’t tied to a single producer. Our multi-sourced nature is one of the CORE strengths of our supply chain.
4. International Sources Available. While CORECHEM is primarily domestically sourced, we do have international producer suppliers that we do regularly secure supply from.
5. 3rd Party/Direct Shipments. These can be facilitated on our own trucks, where we pick up from the producer and deliver material directly to our customers. Or, if it makes sense to ship something directly from a production terminal to a customer via a third party carrier, we are happy to do that as well, to save the cost of bringing the material into our warehouses. Ultimately, our goal is to make the arrangements that make the most sense for you.
6. Vertical Structure. As mentioned above, we leverage better buying power through our 3-vertical structure.

With further questions about CORECHEM’s supply chains, or how we can help meet your industrial chemical, heat transfer fluid, or contract packaging needs, get in touch! We’ll be delighted to speak to you!