UKLA President’s Report
In April, UK Government will introduce a packaging tax set at £200/tonne for all plastics that do not include at least 30% of recycled material.
The tax affects all packaging, both primary and secondary. This includes not only plastic one litre bottles of finished lubricants, for example, but also any plastic shrink wrap used in the palletisation and carriage of products.
The introduction of this tax forms part of a wider Government policy aimed at creating a more sustainable and ‘net zero’ economy. Sustainability in all of its forms affects our industry from the energy we consume to manufacture lubricants, to the nature of raw materials and even the channels of distribution used to reach our end users.
On the 25th May, UKLA and Lube magazine will UEIL President’s Report
The global pandemic acted as an innovation accelerator for many industries – and the lubricant industry was no exception. Digitalisation had been on the rise for more than a decade, but the crisis certainly accelerated its disruptive potential.
One area in which we have observed a clear impact of digitalisation is the change to sales models. As companies could no longer rely on in-person sales due to movement restrictions, the pandemic eliminated de facto the competitive advantage of companies with an extensive sales coverage. This opened up unprecedented opportunities for SMEs, as virtual technology enabled a geographic reach that would put them on a par with larger competitors.
The ”zooming” of interpersonal connections forced by a prolonged period of social distancing and travel restrictions has opened up new business opportunities to SMEs and has prompted us to rethink our sales strategies and expand our potential market.
Another aspect of the impact of digitalisation on sales is e-commerce. E-commerce of lubricants already existed prior to the global pandemic, but it has undoubtedly increased over the past two years,
4 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.168 APRIL 2022
be hosting the industry’s first physical conference in London dedicated to Sustainability. The conference will showcase both large and small companies providing examples of their own sustainability journey, and I would encourage you and your teams to attend.
Sustainability, as a core theme, is an evergreen issue that permeates all of our operations as lubricant organisations, and will be with us both today and in the future. Learning from others in the way we can implement and sustain carbon neutral operations helps inform our own journey to a more sustainable future that benefits our own organisations and the communities we serve.
Andrew Goddard, UKLA President
with several SMEs setting up an e-commerce platform or being in the process of doing so.
But how will we benefit from digitalisation and how will we avoid the risk of commoditisation that could come from the adoption of e-commerce?
To answer these questions and to help us develop a strong sales and marketing strategy, we have dedicated a full session of our 2022 UEIL Annual Congress to Innovation in Sales and Marketing.
Join us in the beautiful city of Athens, Greece, from October 19 to October 21 to hear more about tailoring your sales approach based on your customer needs, and about strategic and tactical aspects of e-commerce, to optimise resources, improve customer experience, and increase profitability.
I am looking forward to meeting you all there to shape together the future of our industry.
Valentina Serra-Holm, UEIL President
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