Management
Application
Delivery
Production
Discovery
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Eleven innovation themes drive business building in chemicals.
AI-assisted chemical discovery
Use of AI and advanced analytics to predict and uncover new chemical molecules or combinations that provide superior performance to solve novel problems that traditional chemicals have not (eg, AI-enabled protein discovery
for pharmaceuticals)
Decentralized chemical production
New chemical production systems that are capital light, decentralized, multi-use, and/or can be located closer to the point of use, resulting in desirable unit economics, higher ROIC, and minimized inventory/transport
Chemical process innovation
Processes to reduce emissions in the chemical production process (eg, electrification, new reactor design, non-virgin feedstock, etc) and novel manufacturing to create commodity chemicals in an ecofriendly, modular manner to enable high process value chains (eg, lithium extraction from brine resources)
CO₂ to chemicals
Production of chemicals and fuels using CO₂/carbon as feedstock (in combination with hydrogen)
Digital platforms and
e-commerce
Digital marketplace or platform that allows digital interactions and transactions across chemical value chain players (eg, buyers, sellers, distribution) on sourcing, spec/MSDA management, inventory, etc
Tools used to enable transparency into the supply chain and manufacturing process of chemicals (eg, SaaS solutions, raw material intelligence)
Traceability of chemicals
Specialty materials for sustainability applications
Digital marketplace or platform that allows digital interactions and transactions across chemical value chain players (eg, buyers, sellers, distribution) on sourcing, spec /
material safety data sheets
management, inventory, etc
Individual materials and/or material system engineering that support sustainability initiatives such as the transition to renewable sources of energy and electrification (eg, EV production, insulation, flame retardants, coatings for wind turbines)
Specialty materials
for new applications
Individual materials and/or material system engineering that support the development of new industries and innovations (eg, space travel, medical grade plastics)
Circularity of plastics
Reduce plastic waste/leakage and support plastic recycling and reuse (eg, waste to plastic, bioplastics, pyrolysis recycling, mechanical recycling etc) and/or reconfiguration of plastics value chain to support circularity (eg, product trade-in system)
Circularity of other chemicals
Reduce waste/leakage and support recycling and reuse of other hazardous and non-hazardous chemical products (eg, biofuel, rerefining lubricant, tires to mulch) and/or reconfiguration of chemical value chain to support circularity (eg, redesign of products for easier repair)
McKinsey & Company
Biofeedstock and bioprocesses
Use of biomass and other biomaterials
as inputs in the production of chemicals, energy, and materials vs traditional petrochemical inputs and bioprocesses
(eg, fermentation, biochemical process
with enzyme, etc)