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Our business excellence program to better serve our customers

Meeting customer expectations and promoting the Group's variety of solutions are the two main challenges of Arkema's commercial excellence program launched in 2018. This priority cross-functional initiative, supported by all our business units, aims to position Arkema among the best in the industry in this area. The program involves the company's business and sales community, made up of 1,200 men and women who are in direct contact with our customers every day,

With a view to better listening to the customer and better ability to manage the stages of progression of new business opportunities, this project has enabled the deployment of commercial processes and digital tools to facilitate collaboration between the Group's different activities. Arkema has also set up an inter-business unit key account management system and developed marketing content for its sales force, highlighting Arkema's entire product offering by market to help them respond to customers as effectively as possible.

The impact of this sales excellence initiative was assessed in 2022 through a customer satisfaction survey of all Arkema customers, renewed over time.

Heeding our Customers’ Voice
 

In 2023, for the fourth consecutive year, Arkema conducted a survey aimed at collecting the level of satisfaction of its customers, as well as their expectations vis-à-vis the Group.
 
This survey provides us with valuable information on how to progress in customer relations, and strengthen our approach to commercial excellence by listening ever more attentively.
 
The survey, carried out in February 2023, covered all of our Business Units and our scopes of activity. We collected 2,990 responses, showing a marked interest from our customers for dialogue with a view to continuous improvement.

In addition, 789 customers expressed themselves through specific targeted comments which, as in previous years, are the subject of careful study and personalized responses.

In 2023, the satisfaction rate of 82% (+3%) and the NPS of 28.9% (+4%), each showing a marked increase compared to 2022, constitute recognition of the work carried out by Arkema to meet the needs of its customers, focusing in particular on the priorities expressed.

This is an encouragement for Arkema to continue the efforts undertaken, and to mobilize its organization towards greater proximity with its customers and partners in order to create more common value.

An initial analysis shows that significant progress has been seen in particular in terms of customer relations, the approach to sustainability, the supply chain, and in terms of the product and service offer.

While customer relations and Supplychain performance remain two major concerns for the Group's customers, which are naturally the subject of constant action and improvement plans, it is notable that the issues of sustainability and product offering and services see their relative importance increase significantly in 2023 compared to previous years. In particular, the demand for solutions that are safe, sustainable, and promote the circular economy continues to grow.
 
In terms of the supply chain, significant progress is expressed in terms of leadtimes and the reliability of these leadtimes, as well as in terms of order processing and quality of deliveries.
 
Finally, our customers recognize the high quality of the relationships, contacts and attentiveness dedicated to them, and naturally express the need for excellence in terms of the transfer of operational information and documentation, the issues on which the Group will keep innovating in 2023, mainly with digital solutions.

Strategic partnerships

To strengthen its customer relationships over the long term, Arkema forges strategic partnerships with key customers that are leaders in their markets or areas of expertise.

Some relate to industrial developments, such as the partnership with Daikin in refrigerants or with CJ CheilJedang and Novus in Thiochemicals. Others are innovationoriented, like the partnerships signed in 2018 and 2019 with Hexcel in thermoplastic composites and Carbon® in 3D printing.

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Two examples of close collaborations with clients in the composites sector

After forming a strategic alliance in 2018 to develop thermoplastic composite solutions for the aerospace industry, Arkema and Hexcel opened a joint research and development laboratory in 2019, combining the expertise of Hexcel in carbon fiber and that of Arkema in PEKK.

The companies’ objective at this new lab is to develop carbon fi ber-reinforced thermoplastic pre-preg tapes to enable lightweight parts to be produced for future generations of aircraft. The goal is to offer cost-effective solutions to meet the need for lightweight parts and faster production speeds in the aerospace and defense sectors.

In 2020, Arkema was a co-founder of the ZEBRA (Zero wastE Blade ReseArch) project driven by the French Technological Research Institute -Jules Verne, which brings together leading players and technical centres around an ambitious project addressing the design and production of the first 100% recyclable wind turbine blade.

Arkema is actively taking part in this project with its liquide thermoplastic Elium® resin, and strenghtening  its position as a key player in thermoplastic composite market. This resin is perfectly in line with the circular economy approach that the Group has initiated for both its operations and its products.

Arkema is at the heart of this consortium alongside Canoe, Engie, LM Wind Power, Owens Corning and Suez, and contribute to the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions for wind power with its expertise in high performance materials.

The relations with stakeholders

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