Since launching Chemius in 2006 lots has changed.
We built Chemius first for us as there weren't any tools like that on the market. Creating and managing chemical documentation was and still is bread and butter of our business. So, we knew why we need the best possible tool and why building it will make a difference for our clients.
Soon after we started managing Safety Data Sheets, labels, and safety instructions we found most of the companies – large and small – face the same challenges. They’re lost in PDFs, don’t know where or who is responsible for the last valid Safety Data Sheets, are these new SDSs aligned with labels, did they send new SDSs to all their clients…
Chemius has evolved over the years, always keeping our paying customers' needs and wants in mind. What that means is we added some cool features to improve their user experience. These include adding logo on SDSs or labels, having QR code for immediate access to documentation, multilingual labels, ADR calculations for transport documents and many others.
While we’ve been riding the wild wave of success with ChemiusExpert service we also felt it’s time to do something about the future of Chemius. Here’s a thing. Now we handle well over 57000 products and their safety data sheets in 30 languages. For that reason, the current system or Chemius 1.0 is getting slower and harder to implement new ideas.
So, we decided to rewrite the entire system – a decision that goes against established and recognized wisdom in the industry. But we were sure Chemius 2.0 – a radically different product but with the same aim in mind - will make again a huge difference for our clients.
We’re now four years in the project going through some vigorous testing. Product design and technical architecture are coming to a phase where the product is ready to tackle new challenges.
In 2010 we pushed the chemical legislation boundaries by introducing active management of chemical documentation called ChemiusExpert. With that we turned static PDFs to live documents. But the system was still built around documents as such taking care of required specifications.
But the world has changed, and the quality of Safety Data Sheets is not the hard part anymore. SDS – if the data management is done properly – is just a side effect. I know this is huge, so let me explain just briefly.
SDS is a very useful well-structured source of data. Nobody denies that. In fact, SDS is a mandatory document - suppliers must provide them to their customers because of the law. On the other hand, SDSs are key source of information for the recipients, for planning and developing measures to protect people and the environment.
But the fact is nobody really needs SDSs. People need information FROM these documents, and a SDS is just a medium for the communication of information.
And PDF file therefore does not have any informational value unless you open and read it. Understanding this process helped us develop Chemius 2.0. It’s built around digitizing processes giving you information you need, and, in a form, you can use in a process.
Now you understand why it took us four years. It’s a slow but deliberate process backed up by tests. You might be asking how is this possible if you’ve been using Chemius 1.0. We took necessary time because we want to build flexible, powerful system that is true to its cause but also shakes up the chemical industry yet again.
We’re almost there. And I can’t wait to share Chemius 2.0 with you once we’re officially live.
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