"Faster, better, cheaper” - does this slogan capture the nature of your customers’ demands? Originally coined at NASA, the succinct phrase highlights the needs of an increasingly competitive market, and has influenced project management and product development across a number of disciplines. When it comes to the chemicals, coatings and adhesives industries, everyone from the formulator to the end user is faced with accomplishing more in a shorter time frame, meeting an increasing number of performance criteria, and doing so with greater efficiency and cost control.
Compounding the problem is the fact that changes are occurring simultaneously across many categories. Environmental concerns, sophisticated design requirements, new performance requirements and globalization are only a few items on the list of factors that are quickly reshaping manufacturing. In addition, sometimes the demands in one area directly conflict with the demands in another.