www.paintshow.com.br
PAINT & PINTURA
Julho 2011
19
The survey entitled “Chemical and Petrochemical
Distribution in Brazil and its Importance in the
Supply Chain’s View,” conducted by the Brazi-
lian Association of Chemical and Petrochemical
Distributors, known for short as Associquim,
and the Union of Chemical and Petrochemical
Wholesalers in the State of São Paulo, known as
Sincoquim, has shown some of the challenges
facing the industry over the next few years, es-
pecially the implementation of effective policies
for sharing the knowledge gained at each step
of the supply chain, focusing on safety and sus-
tainability. “The mission of distributing compa-
nies is more and more about conveying know-
ledge to encourage environmentally responsible
policies. The survey is aimed at showing where
we can be more active,” says Rubens Medrano,
president of Associquim.
The survey was answered by more than 160
companies, including producers and industrial
consumers, which demonstrated quality and
confidence in the role played by distributors
towards regulating inventories and helping to
set product prices. “From a logistics and sto-
rage standpoint, more than 60 percent of the
companies said that their distributors’ perfor-
mance was between good and great,” Medrano
remarks.
Distributors also play the important role of
informing industrial consumers about the best
way of handling their products from the storage
stage, as well as the specific uses of each chemi-
cal compound. On the other hand, the survey
has also shown that there’s a poor interaction
between the parties, and the specific know-how
of each activity fails to contribute to the develo-
pment of another, impairing the rise of innova-
tion in the industry. “The knowledge mastered
by manufacturing technicians needs to be better
utilized and passed on to the distributor. That
is not only for the products to be used properly,
which is one of our concerns as it is, but also for
the appropriate product to be sold to each cus-
tomer, along with proper information on how to
use it,” Medrano explains.
Medrano also points out that it is very impor-
tant to keep up the reverse process by referring
information, questions and suggestions from
distributors, which are in direct contact with
industrial consumers, to producers. “Distri-
butors have the ability to capture that infor-
mation throughout the country and provide
a constantly updated market analysis, thereby adding
value and knowledge to the service they provide. In fact,
such analyses could also be used as reference for R&D
(Research and Development), so that companies will
know what the market requirements are and be able to
develop products focusing on filling those gaps from that
information. The implementation of these processes,
combined with the technical assistance that distributors
provide for their customers, will make the supply chain
more efficient and more responsible both socially and
environmentally,” he concluded.
Plastic Packaging - Gaining trust in the market
The plastic packaging market has experienced great
growth in the past few years due to the benefits provided
by plastic buckets, which always display smart, modern
and more environmentally sustainable solutions, as well
as the significant improvement in printing processes.
“In Brazil, the printing element has great appeal, much
more than in other countries. In addition, while plastic
buckets used to be limited to economy paints, now there’s
a noticeable penetration into the premium segment. As
a matter of fact, plastic packaging materials for water-
-based paints have a larger market share than tin cans