Solution Center Profile: Dr. Andrew Mint, Director of Global Solution Centers

Globalization is a big part of your vision. But isn't R&D all about local service and support?

Indeed it is, and we'll keep that local support because it's so important to meet suppliers and customers where they are, to understand the demographics, trends and local regulations at play in a customer's particular geography and market. In addition, our globalization plan is about better connecting our scientific and technical brain power, industry experience, and resources and assets across the globe. We have incredibly talented people working at individual laboratories but connecting those minds and capabilities to move beyond the traditional, more siloed R&D methodologies will help us achieve more efficient, seamless operations.

So that's where better digitalization — connecting, working and sharing virtually — comes in. Fortunately, at Univar Solutions we've been very busy in the last few years investing in digital tools, technologies and minds to transform and streamline our business. Applying this same model and extending these capabilities to our Solution Centers is the next exciting step. Ultimately, the more technical synergies and ideas we can get in the pipeline faster, the better we can service our customers and suppliers.

Tell us more about the Digital Solution Center. What's on your to-do list?

Plans are underway now to connect our labs and technical experts with cloud-based technology to increase collaboration and reach across the globe. We're building out our current digital Innovation Hub, augmenting extensive custom formulations and an array of strategic-ingredient marketing kits, and expanding on-demand technical content with webinars and how-to video content, all meant to give supplier­–partners and customers better access to knowledge resources that assist them with resolving their technical challenges. As we provide our scientists more digital tools, they will be able to react faster and solve problems quicker, which will mean customers get better product solutions faster. 

What do you mean by advanced digital solutions?

There are many advanced applications and tests in the marketplace, which can help create quicker and better data for solving problems, and we want to bring in technologies that offer real advantages and deliver what our customers and suppliers really want. Although we operate within an R&D environment, our focus is much more on the “D” — Development. As scientists, we’re passionate about using innovative ingredients to bring new products to market and solving our customers' technical challenges today and in the future. Combining our human ingenuity with advanced digital technologies will allow us to be more predictive — and more productive — in our formulation work. It will also better connect us to, for instance, key research or sustainability universities, regulatory agencies, think tanks and industry startups.

As a leading chemical and ingredient distributor, we are uniquely and ideally positioned to help customers scale up and get their products to market faster and easier than they might achieve on their own. We're excited about how we can use these advanced automation technologies to help formulators not only discover next-generation solutions but also penetrate the market with the latest discovery.

Can you share a real-world example and how your vision might take that innovation to the next level?

Here's a beauty and personal care solution that falls right into my wheelhouse. As a research dermatologist by training, I absolutely recommend using sunscreen to protect skin from harmful UV rays. But as more people use these products, there's mounting evidence and greater awareness that certain ingredients can damage the coral reefs in the ocean, one of the world's most important ecosystems. So as markets transition away from certain ingredients, we've been able to develop more sustainable and coral-friendly sunscreen formulations that are safe and effective for humans and less damaging to our planet.

Through a lens of improving our capabilities and taking our Solution Centers to the next level, new digital solutions will help us share our sunscreen findings and new formulations with the industry, allowing a broader audience to virtually visit our labs and benefit from an extended bench of researchers and industry experts in this category.