Over the past few years, I’ve had countless conversations across the chemical industry.
What strikes me is not how different these companies are, but how similar the conversations have become.
Different companies.
Different roles.
Different business models.
Producers.
Formulators.
Distributors.
And yet, the same pressures come up again and again.
Margins are tighter.
Portfolios are larger and more complex.
Regulations keep evolving.
Customers expect faster answers and flawless execution.
And acquisitions never really stop.
Almost every conversation eventually lands on the same realization:
“We have a lot of tools. But it’s getting harder to scale without friction.”
At first, that sounds like a technology problem.
In reality, it rarely is.
Everyone uses product data. Few think about where it comes from.
Across the chemical value chain, most teams don’t think in terms of “data architecture.”
They think in systems:
- R&D and formulation tools
- Regulatory and compliance platforms
- ERP systems
- Customer portals, CMS, and analytics
Each tool plays an important role.
Each one works, in isolation.
The issue appears when product data has to travel across teams, systems, and use cases.
Which data is correct?
Which version should be trusted?
Who decides when something changes?
In many organizations, the honest answer is uncomfortable: there is no single place where product data is clearly defined and owned.
“It works… until complexity increases”
For a long time, many companies have lived with this situation.
And to be fair, it often works:
- when portfolios are stable
- when markets don’t change too fast
- when regulations evolve gradually
- when organizations remain unchanged
But that is no longer the reality for most chemical businesses.
Today, complexity comes from everywhere:
- expanding portfolios and variants
- growing regulatory pressure
- sustainability requirements
- global operations
- acquisitions and integrations
That’s when cracks appear.
Data gets duplicated.
Definitions drift.
Teams double-check everything “just to be safe.”
Trust slowly erodes.
What used to be manageable becomes a risk.
Digitalization Has Changed the Game
Beyond complexity, something more fundamental has shifted: digitalization.
Chemical companies are no longer managing product information for internal use only.
They are expected to expose product data externally:
- in digital catalogs
- on customer portals
- through self-serve product search
- in e-commerce environments
- via automated document downloads
- through CRM and inside sales workflows
Customers expect answers faster.
They expect documents instantly.
They expect consistency across every interaction.
And the act of selling has changed.
It no longer happens in a single exchange between a salesperson and a buyer.
It happens across multiple touchpoints:
- website browsing
- email exchanges
- inside sales conversations
- technical discussions,
- traditional sales visits
- customer portals
Product information must travel across all of them.
It must be portable.
Consistent.
Up-to-date.
That requires more than scattered tools.
It requires a system of record.
When “PIM” Is Misunderstood
This is often the point where PIM enters the conversation.
And very often, it’s misunderstood.
Many people associate PIM with:
- “another tool to maintain”
- “something for marketing”
- “a heavy IT project”
- “a system that replaces what already works”
If that were true, skepticism would be justified.
But that’s not what PIM is meant to be.
PIM Is Not a Tool. It’s a System of Record.
It defines, once and consistently:
- product identity
- structure and attributes
- versions and changes
- regulatory and sustainability context
- and all relevant product documents (SDS, TDS, specifications, certifications, declarations)
All other systems consume that information.
Lab tools, regulatory platforms, ERP systems, customer-facing channels — they all perform better when the data they rely on is clear, consistent, and governed.
When product data is structured and centralized in a PIM, sales teams are better equipped.
They can respond faster.
Recommend more confidently.
Share the right documents instantly.
Navigate variants and equivalents without hesitation.
In a digitalized sales environment, product data is no longer passive.
It actively supports performance.
Without a system of record, tools still function.
They just stop scaling reliably as complexity grows.
Why This Matters Across All Chemical Business Models
The operational reality differs across the industry.
Chemical suppliers, producers, and distributors are responsible for maintaining the master data of the products they sell.
Formulators, on the other hand, must maintain accurate master data for the products they buy, raw materials that directly impact formulation, compliance, and performance.
In both cases, product master data is no longer optional.
It directly affects:
- speed
- risk
- commercial effectiveness
- and business confidence
When organizations grow through acquisitions, the challenge intensifies.
Without a shared system of record, integration becomes a negotiation instead of a process.
Negotiations don’t scale.
Back to First Principles
What many teams are really looking for today is not another feature or another system.
They want to go back to first principles.
To clearly separate:
- systems that do things
- from the system that defines what things are
Once that distinction is made, conversations change.
PIM stops being “just another tool.”
It becomes the foundation that allows everything else to work together.
Quiet.
But essential.
The real question today is no longer:
“Which tool should we add next?”
It’s: “Which product data foundation do we actually trust?”
Ready to Build a Product Data Foundation You Can Trust?
Digitalization is now the primary driver of change across the chemical industry.
Whether exposing product data in digital catalogs, supporting self-serve customer experiences, enabling sales teams, or ensuring regulatory compliance, everything depends on reliable product master data.
ionicPIM is a Product Information Management platform designed specifically for the chemical industry, built to handle regulatory complexity, product structures, portfolio scale, and multi-channel exposure across producers, formulators, and distributors.
