SCG Chemicals (SCGC), a leading chemical company in The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), grappled with the complexities of data management and ML/AI model development. Their new product development projects were mired in manual data gathering and challenges in digital tool adaptation. Implementing Uncountable not only revolutionized their data structuring but also provided a no-code solution for their model development — leading to a streamlined R&D process, enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and fostering innovation.
About the Customer: SCG Chemicals
SCGC is one of the largest integrated petrochemical companies in the ASEAN markets. Dedicated to fostering "Chemical Innovations," SCGC aims to drive the ASEAN economy and elevate the quality of life, in accordance with ESG and the circular economy.
SCGC's diverse product portfolio ranges from upstream production of olefins to downstream production of three main plastics resins and polymers: polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride — integral components in the manufacturing of daily products, from food packaging and automotive parts to medical equipment and infrastructure.
Before Uncountable, we couldn't develop a proper model for polymer formulation. Uncountable has unlocked this limitation and has been a powerful tool for our researchers. – Choosak Kiwjaroen, Team Leader, Polymer Simulation, SCG Chemicals
Before Uncountable: Challenges Managing & Analyzing Data
Before implementing Uncountable, SCGC's Digital Manufacturing team heavily depended on tools like Excel, Minitab, and Python. It wasn't long before they realized their existing tools were not conducive to speeding up R&D efforts or reducing cost and physical experimentation.
Key challenges included:
- Fragmented Data: Gathering, combining, and structuring data across individual laptops, servers, and various systems was a major pain point.
- Technical Hurdles: Developing ML/AI models using Python required specialized personnel — a skill set their researchers, as "non-IT guys," did not possess.
- Modeling Limitations: The scope of compounded resin development was intricate, resulting in a high volume of experiments that could have been streamlined.
These challenges prompted a search for an alternative, as existing tools couldn't help them achieve their targets and expectations.
The Solution: A Unified Data Management & Modeling System
Uncountable's all-in-one platform emerged as the standout solution, replacing two main tools to provide immediate outcomes:
- Streamlined Data Management: Uncountable replaced Excel for data organization, significantly reducing the effort spent on gathering insights from each data source, mapping, and visualization.
- Intuitive Modeling: Uncountable's platform enables faster and more intuitive model development and analysis, completely eliminating the need for Python.
Uncountable's standout benefit, according to SCGC, is its prowess in data organization and easy visualization. Their team frequently leveraged tools like ANOVA and AI to streamline their workflow.
The Results: Streamlined Innovation & Research Breakthroughs
With Uncountable, SCGC witnessed a paradigm shift:
- Unified Data Ecosystem: "We can gather and map various data sources into one platform effectively, allowing authorized users easy access."
- No-Code Innovation: "We can develop and re-train the models easily with the no-code platform," said Kiwjaroen, underscoring the empowerment of non-IT experts.
- Research Breakthroughs: "Before Uncountable, we couldn't develop a proper model for polymer formulation. Uncountable has unlocked this limitation and has been a powerful tool for our researchers."
SCGC has seen an average reduction in Design of Experiments (DOE) by 45%, with R&D accelerated by up to 20% and a 3x return on investment.
Summarizing the partnership, Mr. Chaiwut Kittiworakarn, SCGC's Industrial Digital Director, remarked: "Our teams are extremely satisfied using Uncountable, both in platform performance and user interface. Uncountable's platform has helped accelerate designing products and testing new ideas."
