Syngenta-Bringing the Plant Potential to Life

By Taylor Janicek and Jacqueline Guyton

Syngenta is the world’s largest producer of crop chemicals in agribusiness.  The Syngenta Company provides better food through crop solutions.   Their strategy is simple:  grow enough food to feed the growing population by putting the grower in the center of it all. 

Syngenta was born in 2001 from the marriage of two earlier companies; Geigy founded in 1758 and Sandoz founded in 1876 (Syngenta).  It is the first global business whose focus is agribusiness. Syngenta’s global business is headquartered in Basel Switzerland.  The company employs 28,000 people in 90 countries around the world (Syngenta).   The business supports all elements of the food and farming industry.  They are committed to sustainable agriculture through research and technology.  They deal in fungicide to promote crop yields; herbicides to control weeds and protect yields; insecticides to control insects that damage crops and reduce yields, as well as seed care with a broad spectrum of treatments. To learn more about Syngenta click here.  

Their supply chain operates through the reduction of inventory, driving up operations efficiency and customer service achieved through supply chain excellence.  Syngenta’s global supply chain is flexible and responsive to distribute products right on time, when and where they are needed.  They have tailored their distribution which provides GPS tracked vehicles and online warehousing management.  They lead the industry in dangerous goods transport, warehousing and operations.  They have the national capability of “order today, deliver tomorrow”(Industry Week).

Supply chain excellence can be measured with how companies collaborate with their business partners.  Syngenta has collaborated with ingredient manufacturers by dedicating manufacturing sites to ensure the unique needs of each product type.  Once products are established in the market they move to "low-cost receiver" facilities. When a product become mature it is outsources to a third party or the manufacturing is moved to a "lean site."  These lean manufacturing concepts drive down the cost of production. In doing so Syngenta has reached a cost savings of over $10 million since 2007(Industry Week).  In a similar fashion Syngenta has a similar collaboration with suppliers helping add value to services for key supplies and technical assistance and training in procedures for handling hazardous materials.  Click here for more information.

Syngenta has a supplier relationship management approach (SRM) that permits them to manage their suppliers effectively while promoting strong authoritative practices and focusing on their more critical suppliers to maximize value and reduce risks in their supply chain. (Syngenta) Analyses are a huge part of Syngenta’s supply chain they are focused on supplier based and the use of filters such as how much is spent, the businesses impact, and single source situations. (Syngenta)

One tool that Syngenta uses in its supply chain is a supplier risk dashboard that assesses risk of individual suppliers. (Syngenta) A supply chain risk assessment assesses risk at a particular tier of the supply chain. (Syngenta) Another tool is an Active Ingredient Sourcing Risk Tool that will assess high-level risk that is associated with sourcing of an individual’s active ingredient. (Syngenta)

Syngenta deals with many hazardous materials such herbicides that need to be handled with care. Every employee in contact with these materials needs to have special training and have qualifications in order to work with these materials. Their drivers also carry a lot of liability. A spill of these chemicals is not only a huge threat to not only the people in the accident but also the environment around them. Syngenta deals with seasonal work. There is high demand in the agricultural growing months and when growers need products they expect to have them within 24 hours of a phone call. Forecasting is vital for during this 5-month period in the Corn Belt, the farmers and the consumers rely on it. Click here to find out more about managing corporate responsibility in our supply chain. (Syngenta)

References:

Syngenta Overview:  Syngenta.com

Industry Week:  Creating High-Value Supply Chains

YouTube: Syngenta