As the UK went into lockdown, Oxfordshire based OQEMA went into overdrive. A full line distributor of specialty and commodity chemicals, encompassing the manufacture of bespoke mixed acid nitrations and dilutions of Hydrazine, their business model has been built on stock holding in major markets, enabling them to meet customers’ “just in time” demands.
During the pandemic, sourcing from China and India has proven a challenge. However, robust supply chains and proactive staff have helped keep the global movement of vital raw materials, through flexibility & dedication. OQEMA adapted and changed procurement strategy to and from countries, as they went into and out of lockdown.
Manufacturing staff have continued to produce dilutions of Hydrazine Hydrate, according to social distancing measures. Hydrazine Hydrate is an oxygen scavenger, which is essential to the UK power industry. OQEMA are a major distributor of Flavour and Fragrance ingredients, which has seen a huge upsurge in demand for use in functional fragrances for hand soaps, detergents and anti-bacterial hand gels. With pressure coming from supermarkets for additional food supplies, this filtered down the supply chain to raw material level, which OQEMA coped with.
Rob Moss, Managing Director said “Like many companies in the UK, we are incredibly proud of the way that our staff have adjusted and taken on the challenge of working through this crisis. As a business built on relationships, it’s extremely important to continue face to face contact with customers and suppliers therefore, OQEMA has embraced technology. Our employees adapted very quickly to video calls (pets & children often making guest appearances!) and we’ve settled into regular patterns for internal and external calls, proving very efficient. Naturally, we have reduced our carbon footprint and established habits which we will definitely bring with us into the future, post COVID-19”.
OQEMA Limited, Carterton is part of the OQEMA Group. The Group’s turnover is over €800 million, with 1,200 employees working at 45 locations in 21 countries.
For further information. please visit www.oqema.com
