“Change imperative” in response to market situation Page Content
Bayer MaterialScience’s business situation is characterized by overcapacities in the market, accompanied by high raw material and energy costs. The situation is compounded by new competitors pushing their way into the market, the ongoing crisis in Europe and an economic downswing in the Asia-Pacific region. Production plants built in recent years are facing slower global market growth overall. The situation has been additionally burdened by unscheduled shutdowns at our facilities in Baytown, Texas and Caojing, China.
The response to these conditions is that to stay competitive, “We must adapt our activities,” Patrick Thomas said. "We must concentrate more on our core business, align ourselves more closely to developments in the market, and safeguard and expand our advantages in terms of process and product technologies."
The BMS CEO was a guest at the regularly scheduled employee assembly on Monday in Leverkusen, Germany. In his talk, Thomas addressed the fact that planned measures included adapting organizational structures to meet new market conditions. Up to 700 jobs worldwide could leave BMS over the next four years. Up to 180 positions could be affected at BMS AG in Germany.
In the future, innovation activities are to be more sharply focused on what Thomas described as "our core business".
“That means concentrating our developments, for example, on familiar markets or products,” Thomas explained. This is because attempts to gain a foothold with new products in new markets in which we have no experience, have not been successful. “That is what we mean by ‘new new,’ and we will be abandoning these activities," Thomas continued. “However, abandoning projects does not mean we are quitting research and development. We are merely shifting the focus, moving forward only with those development activities that relate directly to core business and where we see real value-generating opportunities through our industrial marketing activities. And by selecting projects and improving this process, expenses in this area can also be reduced.”