| | January 20158CIOReviewThe first companies to deploy Big Data strategically were those that deal primarily in information, like media, banking, retail, and travel--which is understandable, with powerful new entrants like Netflix and Amazon using new tools to run incumbents like Blockbuster and Barnes and Noble into the ground. To date, more material-centric industries like chemical manufacturing, oil and gas, agriculture, and automotive have only deployed Big Data tactically to achieve operational efficiencies in areas like inventory optimization or maintenance tracking. While material-based industries haven't yet seen major disruptions, they have been envisioning them for a long time. From the intelligent oilfield to personalized medicine, these concepts have been slow in coming because of the longer lifecycles of physical equipment; the risk to humans and the environment of mistakes; and the up-front capital cost of deploying any new technology in these fields. Still, some initiatives like Schlumberger's Digital Oilfield in oil and gas or GE's Industrial Internet point to where the most visionary companies are heading.In the chemical manufacturing industry, there are four main areas where Big Data (and its related technologies, like cloud storage, advanced analytics, and even the Internet of Things) have been deployed: R&D / Cheminformatics, Supply chain management, Plant operations, and Market monitoring/product performance. In each area, there are vendors offering chemical industry-specific solutions, as well as generalists that are usually much larger.R&D / CheminformaticsA number of data-related challenges face today's research and development teams: The volume and variety of scientific and industry literature is soaring; paper lab notebooks are inherently insecure, costly to store, and inefficient to use and search; and accurate knowledge of the supply and location of lab chemicals is hard to come by. Software like Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMSs) integrate lab data with chemical databases and academic literature to innovate faster, and key vendors in the space include Open Chemistry, Chemspider, Chemaxon, Accelerys (now Dassault Systemes Boivia). Supply ChainLike any major global industry, chemical manufacturers need better supplier product data, real-time operations information, and logistics planning systems. Since these needs are similar across industries, the space is dominated by generalist IT companies like SAP, Oracle, and IBM--each of which does offer chemical-industry specific systems and services (e.g. "Oracle for Chemicals").Information Meets Matter: The Present and Future of Chemical Industry Practices and ProductsBy Mark Bünger, Research Director, Lux Research opinionin myMark Bünger
< Page 7 | Page 9 >