By Richard Ward, President Brenntag Essentials UK & Ireland
2021 into 2022
For most of us, 2021 was a year like no other. I don’t think anyone has ever experienced so much disruption and uncertainty in their home and personal lives during a 12-month period. As a business, we dealt with the additional complexities associated with the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, the pandemic, supply chain disruptions globally and a business transformation project designed to ensure our future. Nevertheless, thanks to the skills and dedication of our colleagues, we came through stronger than ever.
As 2022 unfolds, we will inevitably continue to see supply chain disruptions, but everything we learned in 2021, and all the investments we made, will ensure we are best placed to continue offering value to both our customers and suppliers.
Assets & Infrastructure
2021 saw our highest level of investment in assets and infrastructure to continue providing the best facilities for our business. We have a firm commitment to operate at the highest levels of safety and sustainability and our investment profile reflects this. Through the development of technology-based Asset Integrity monitoring, we were able to prioritise our tank and vehicle replacement programme to deliver the greatest improvements in the shortest timeframes.
Specifically, we installed a new bulk storage facility at our site in Perth and commenced work on our automated container filling project in the South-East.
Our investment in new and multi-capability delivery vehicles continues to reflect the needs of our customers and suppliers, meaning Brenntag UK & Ireland is the best-placed distributor to service all market sectors.
IT/Digital
Development in our Digital and IT solutions have accelerated through 2021 following investment across numerous areas. Our Transend Mobile Delivery Management System incorporates sign-on-glass capability with pre-delivery checks and safety assessments, ensuring deliveries go smoothly and, more importantly, safely. We have commenced investment in a new Warehouse Management System (WMS) which will ensure a faster turnaround of product through electronic/QR tracking of products throughout our UK & Ireland warehouses with real-time stock replenishment information.
A new Transport Management System (TMS) is in development to be rolled out in early 2022 with automated routing capabilities and optimisation for improved efficiency, real-time delivery notifications and vehicle telematics.
Progress was made developing our Digital Sales Solutions through the Brenntag Connect portal and we can expect further news on this during the year.
People & Customer Experience
Providing our usual levels of in-person skills-based training has been a challenge in recent years, but we have an internal Learning & Development platform which our colleagues have accessed to gain additional insights into key areas. One particularly popular area was a suite of courses designed to support the needs of working remotely and ensuring employee welfare.
I am also pleased that we commenced the training and development programme for over 20 Mental Health First Aiders in December 2021. This will continue throughout 2022 to offer the best possible support to our colleagues.
Our Customer Experience ethos has moved forward substantially this year and culminated in our UK business winning the Gold Award in the B2B category at the UK Customer Experience Awards. This award recognises the efforts of everyone in the business and we will continue to invest in our people to support this important area and key differentiator in the market.
Sustainability
There is no higher priority to us than the Safety and Security of our colleagues, stakeholders, and the public. Despite the challenges 2021 entailed, we maintained and improved our performance in this area. In January, Brenntag was once again successful in maintaining our Gold status in the EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment – a status we are proud to have held since 2016.
The use of returnable containers remains a priority for us, as this relatively simple activity significantly reduces the environmental impact through the re-use of plastic and stainless steel containers for chemical deliveries. Increasingly, our customers and suppliers are recognising the importance of this and the introduction of higher levels of recycled polymers into some containers will further enhance this positive contribution.
We are exploring the use of all fuel options for our vehicle fleet and expect to see encouraging developments in terms of Electric and Hydrogen-fuelled transportation in the coming years.
Overall, the challenges we and the industry faced throughout 2021 helped us to better understand the challenges we may face in the future and investments in our safety, our infrastructure, our people, our digital landscape and our sustainable practices will enable us to secure our operations for the future.
www.brenntag.com
