Chemical Distribution
Decisions wait on month-end; the owner flies blind between closes and "true margin" is an argument, not a number, because freight, demurrage, credit cost, scheme recovery and dead-stock cost are never netted in one view. Slow grades, near-expiry lots and stretched receivables are invisible until they hurt, and in a volatile market the buying-timing window closes before the picture is clear.
Who has it
Every segment; sharpest for industrial and specialty chemical distributors, who need margin by grade and principal, and for solvent, polymer and resin traders, who live on landed cost and price volatility.
What we build
Always-current dashboards over the connected layer: cash cycle (stock days, debtor days, creditor days), true landed cost and weeks-of-cover by grade, margin by grade and principal after freight, credit and scheme recovery, regulated-stock value, stock and shelf-life ageing, and receivables ageing. The moment an owner sees true margin by grade once freight and credit cost are charged is usually when the whole thing clicks.
What is automated, where AI helps, who signs off
The reliable spine
The non-AI spine is the deterministic calculation over the connected layer: cash cycle (stock, debtor and creditor days), true landed cost and weeks-of-cover by grade, margin by grade and principal after freight, credit and scheme recovery, regulated-stock value, and stock, shelf-life and receivables ageing, every figure traceable to its source.
Where AI helps
AI does no arithmetic on these dashboards; at most it drafts a plain-language read of what a chart shows so the owner sees it faster. The numbers themselves are computed, not generated, and never owned by a model.
Who signs off
A named person signs off anything touching money, stock, a customer promise, a regulated filing, a payment, a price, a credit decision or a people decision.
What changes day to day
The owner and successor run the week off live numbers; slow grades, near-expiry lots, below-floor deals and stretched receivables become visible while there is still time to act; buying timing improves because landed cost and cover are current.
Illustrative outcome
Working capital tied in slow and near-expiry stock reduced as lots surface; the cash cycle shortened.
Illustrative; final numbers come from your own data.
Path to the build
Book a free 60-minute call, then a free Blueprint on the firm's own records. Deep-dive and build, followed by run and govern so the workflow keeps paying back.
Related builds
A free 60-minute call. No cost, no obligation, just a clear read on what is worth building.