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What are their main products?
DSS produces chemicals. These chemicals are bought by clients from the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry to be used in drugs and agriculture (crop protection). Some of the drugs that are eventually produced will go to treat conditions such as asthma, cancer, heart disease, epilepsy, anti inflammatory drugs, arthritis and antihistamines.
Images: Courtesy of Degussa AG. Copyright held by Degussa AG.
DSS produce the chemicals, which are then used by the pharmaceutical industry, for example, and processed into tablets or other forms that are administered by hospitals, ambulances, doctors and in over-the-counter medicines. As a result of this type of production, the company tends to produce relatively small quantities of products, unlike other companies, which might have plants dedicated to producing large volumes of, for example, ammonia. DSS therefore are involved in batch production.
DSS's main business is in carbon-based organic chemistry. They deal in fine organics - the term 'fine' refers to chemicals that are difficult to produce. This is different to other chemicals such as ammonia, which are produced in large volumes and therefore can have dedicated plants to produce them.
DSS have to focus on having a flexible plant that can be adapted to produce different types of product according to demand. Many of the products DSS will produce are complex molecules, which are difficult to produce in commercial quantities.
A customer might approach DSS with a problem or a process that they have developed in the lab, which has produced the desired chemical. DSS will then work to try to solve the problem or look at ways in which the process can be developed on a commercial basis. The problems might be that a firm needs to produce a specific chemical or molecule to help them develop another product or drug. DSS have the expertise and the facilities to be able to do the development to help solve this problem.
Images: Courtesy of Degussa AG. Copyright held by Degussa AG.
Sometimes, the process can produce spin-offs that DSS can then exploit to expand sales elsewhere. This can occur when new equipment and/or processing skills enable other customers' requirements and business needs to be met in a financially advantageous way. In other cases, the development of a process can be financially draining and also frustrating. For example, DSS have developed processes for well-known pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical companies use these products in drugs that are going through trials to prove efficacy. At late stages of these clinical trials, the products can fail the tests and have to be withdrawn. DSS have to accommodate the financial loss as a result.
The contracts that DSS enters into tend to be for small amounts of product in relative terms. Unlike the example of ammonia mentioned earlier, which can be produced through a production process called continuous process, DSS use batch production. Some contracts can be for as much as 200 tonnes whilst others might be for 100kg. The cost will be based on the number of reactor vessels used as a proportion of DSS's 'fixed cost', plus the costs of raw materials, packaging and other 'variable' elements.