The conglomerate Actylis made its debut today. The new brand integrates specialty ingredient maker Aceto with 10 specialty ingredient manufacturing and sourcing companies.
The Port Washington, New York–based company will serve customers in various industries, including pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. It will also offer materials to companies specializing in nutrition, cosmetics, agriculture and specialty chemicals markets.
Among the specialty ingredient manufacturing and sourcing companies integrated in the merger are A&C, A&C Bio Buffer, Biotron Laboratories, Cascade Chemistry, Finar, Inter-Actifs, IsleChem, Pharma Waldhof, Syntor Fine Chemicals and Talus.
Actylis bio buffer facility. [Picture: Keith Wiseman]
“If we can’t manufacture it, we’ll source it and if we can’t source it, we’ll manufacture it,” quipped Cottier in a media briefing.
The new company aims to tap its breadth to improve product availability for customers who have struggled with supply chain challenges during the pandemic. “As we face the most recent challenges, we’ve been able to navigate the supply chain and figure out how we ensure that our customers see the least amount of disruption possible,” said Edward Roullard, senior vice president of marketing and operations, in a media briefing. “Because we’ve got such a large sourcing network, if we had a plant in China that suddenly couldn’t operate because of COVID, chances are we had another supplier already qualified in India that we could substitute if that would work for the customer.”
The company manages 15,000 international shipments each year and has 50 sourcing specialists worldwide.
The breadth of the company’s network will help it to focus on supply chain resiliency and move away from concepts that no longer are useful, Roullard said. “Lean has been a keyword over the past 20–25 years. Lean is great until something goes wrong,” he noted. “And I think we’re tending to see more and more disruption, which throws a wrench into the lean strategy.”
“We don’t believe the disruptions will end and lean in the end will cost us more than the immediate return we might be able to save,” Roullard added.
Actylis has more than 850 employees in 10 countries with backgrounds in specialty manufacturing or ingredient sourcing. The company’s sourcing network includes more than 1,000 suppliers and 300 strategic relationships.
Before announcing the formation of Actylis, the company conducted extensive customer, industry and internal stakeholder research.
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