European Management Journal Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 199–212, 2002  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Pergamon Printed in Great Britain 0263-2373/02 $22.00 + 0.00 PII: S0263-2373(02)00030-0 Enhancing Value Stream Agility: The UK Speciality Chemical Industry THOMAS BURGESS, Leeds University Business School BRIAN HWARNG, National University of Singapore NICKY SHAW, Leeds University Business School CLAUDIO DE MATTOS, Leeds University Business School As part of a shift in chemical production occurring across the globe, the UK chemicals industry is increasingly moving from commodity to speciality production. In the UK the industry’s batch pro- duction methods are little changed from previous decades and the speciality chemicals industry faces mounting challenges that argue for an increase in agility throughout the industry value stream. Indi- vidual companies and managers have responded in a variety of ways to these challenges. The Britest research project is a concerted industry response that seeks to improve the three key value streams of the industry by introducing new philosophies and methods into plant and process design. This article outlines the Britest approach to introducing agile manufacturing concepts in the speciality chemicals industry and then extends the approach to a more holistic focus on supply networks rather than con- centrating on individual production units.  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Speciality chemicals, Value streams, Process improvement, Supply chain management Introduction Global chemical production is increasingly differen- tiated according to the stage of a country’s economic development. Corporations are focusing manufactur- ing located in developed economies on speciality chemicals to counter the comparative advantages in European Management Journal Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 199–212, April 2002 199 commodity chemical production enjoyed by newly emerging economies. However, corporations are doing more than simply concentrating on speciality as a strategic response; they are pushing to improve competitiveness in the crucial value streams that deliver speciality chemicals. Here we look at special- ity manufacturing in the UK, and at actions taken to make manufacturing at the plant level more agile and then we extend this thinking throughout the whole value stream. The UK chemicals industry is traditionally a key con- tributor to the national economy, with total pro- duction value of approximately £33 bn in 1999, and an important player on a global basis since £22.4 bn of this was exported from the UK (Howitt, 2000). This tradition, although under threat, e.g. ICI losing its role as “bellwether” company, is still in place today. The primary segment of the industry produces active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry while the next largest segment produces organic chemicals for use as basic building blocks in the manufacture of consumer and industrial goods. Other segments lying within the industry include plastics, perfumes, surface coatings, dyes and pigments, and fertilizers. In the past the UK has been home to a number of large trans-national corporations such as ICI, Zeneca and Glaxo Wellcome. However, significant changes are reshaping the (global) industry, such as the recent mergers of the last two mentioned companies with other partners to form AstraZeneca and Glaxo SmithKline. These mergers are part of a response to the increasingly fierce global competition and to the