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AI that actually works: built for chemical procurement

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<p>Procurement Leaders hosted a webinar bringing together Antonio Tong, Director of Sourcing at Owens Corning — a global leader in building and insulation materials — and Dheev Arulmani, co-founder and CEO of Valdera. Together, they explored how manufacturers are navigating a rapidly changing sourcing landscape, and how technology is helping teams stay ahead of it.</p>
<p>To watch the full recording, sign up here: https://www.bigmarker.com/procurement-leaders/redefining-chemical-raw-material-procurement?utm_bmcr_source=valderaondemand</p>
<h2 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">The Landscape: More Than Just Tariffs</h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">When asked about the biggest challenges facing chemical and raw material procurement today, Antonio was quick to reframe the conversation. &#8220;I&#8217;ll avoid the easy answer, which is tariffs,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Chemicals in general has had a very challenging couple of years. You&#8217;ve seen an awful lot of state-backed expansion in regions like China and the Middle East — and this is going to set things up for a very challenging next couple of years in terms of how chemical operators are going to go to market.&#8221;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">For Owens Corning, getting ahead of those decisions is a strategic priority. Chemical inputs are core to virtually every product the company makes, and disruptions to that supply chain carry real operational consequences. &#8220;If we still try to operate and compete and buy based on an old model,&#8221; Antonio noted, &#8220;we could hurt ourselves quite a bit.&#8221;</p>
<h2 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">From Transactional to Strategic: Rethinking Supplier Relationships</h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">One of the webinar&#8217;s central themes was the importance of moving beyond purely transactional supplier relationships with key chemical and raw material suppliers. Antonio was direct: &#8220;Don&#8217;t just focus on price all day. That&#8217;s not what the relationship is all about.&#8221;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">In an environment where being a <em>customer of choice</em> for key strategic suppliers can directly influence supply security, trust becomes a critical factor. Antonio put it simply: &#8220;That is the glue.&#8221; He described Owens Corning&#8217;s approach as genuinely symbiotic — openly discussing mutual challenges with key suppliers rather than concealing them, and building relationships where both sides benefit. &#8220;There are such things as transactional relationships, but the most important ones are where there is a circular back and forth and adjustment between the two sides.&#8221;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">This reflects lessons many procurement teams took from COVID, when companies that had invested in supplier relationships were generally better positioned than those that had treated suppliers as interchangeable vendors.</p>
<h2 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">How Owens Corning Uses Valdera</h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Antonio was candid about the fact that the value Owens Corning found in Valdera went well beyond what was initially expected. &#8220;The value in Valdera as it was pitched versus what we saw in the actual functionality — there&#8217;s quite a bit that we learned just in that bridge.&#8221; Rather than simply generating quotes, the platform opened up new ways of thinking about supply.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">He identified three areas where Valdera has delivered real value for his team.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The first is <strong>supply footprint visibility</strong>. &#8220;There are some places that we were not aware of or necessarily thinking were going to be competitive in terms of sourcing in North America. You don&#8217;t know these until you ask.&#8221; Antonio noted that procurement teams often make assumptions about where chemical manufacturing is concentrated, and in doing so can overlook smaller or regional suppliers who may be willing to compete aggressively depending on their own supply and demand positions.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The second is <strong>improving the competitive landscape</strong>. By bringing more sellers into the process, Owens Corning has found that suppliers become more creative in how they respond. &#8220;When a seller is motivated to move product, they might be more willing to come your direction on some of those externalities you need to solve.&#8221; Rather than simply returning a price, suppliers have proposed alternative formats, delivery approaches, and terms — opening doors that a traditional RFQ process would not have surfaced.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The third, and perhaps most important, is <strong>using market data as leverage</strong>. &#8220;One of the biggest wins we&#8217;ve gotten so far is just getting data on a certain position from a certain region that then allows us to go back and push on an incumbent.&#8221; For a company like Owens Corning that works with a significant number of specialty chemicals, this intelligence — even when it doesn&#8217;t result in a supplier switch — can meaningfully strengthen negotiating positions with existing suppliers.</p>
<h2 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">Building Resilience: The Core Goal</h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">If there was a single theme running through the conversation, it was <strong>supply chain resilience</strong>. Both speakers agreed that the goal is not to lock in a single optimal sourcing strategy, but to build the flexibility to adapt as market conditions change.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Antonio described Owens Corning&#8217;s approach as a total cost of ownership mindset. &#8220;You have to look at it not only in terms of how your material is purchased, but also how it&#8217;s used. We have to just be more clever in general in the way we move forward.&#8221; He pointed to past periods of disruption — including COVID — as proof that resilience, not just efficiency, is what determines which organizations come out ahead. &#8220;In all those times, resilience is what made it possible for certain organizations to succeed and others not to.&#8221;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">He was also candid about the practical constraints. Not every material can be easily substituted, and qualifying a new supplier can take months or years. &#8220;You can&#8217;t always just jump and go for the &#8216;there&#8217;s $10 million there if we could just do X,&#8217; because sometimes X is necessary in order to meet a customer requirement.&#8221; The key, he said, is prioritizing wisely — focusing qualification investment on materials that carry the greatest supply risk, and being disciplined about where the team&#8217;s resources go.</p>
<h2 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">Data as a Decision-Making Tool</h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">A recurring thread throughout the webinar was the role of data in enabling better sourcing decisions. For Antonio, the value isn&#8217;t in having more data for its own sake — it&#8217;s in being able to use it at the right moment. &#8220;One of the biggest wins we&#8217;ve gotten so far is just getting data on a certain position from a certain region that allows us to go back and push on an incumbent.&#8221;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">He also spoke to the importance of organizational mindset when it comes to using these tools. Owens Corning draws on a mix of finance, sourcing, and technology talent to work with the data the platform surfaces. &#8220;These are all very flexible people that can do a lot of different things. They&#8217;re not necessarily subject matter experts — they&#8217;re just extremely talented people that can jump between all of these.&#8221; The accessibility of the platform, he noted, means it fits across different functional backgrounds, whether in finance, sourcing, or technology.</p>
<h2 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">Looking Ahead</h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">For Antonio, the next 12–18 months will be defined by strategic decisions about who Owens Corning does business with globally — particularly as the role of China in the supply chain continues to evolve. &#8220;It&#8217;s going to be an awful lot of strategic planning about who to do business with. And all of those decisions are going to be backed by data and backed by an awful lot of study about what the future holds.&#8221;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">He was clear-eyed about the stakes. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m saying too much by saying that my job rides on being able to make those correct decisions. That is why I pay attention to things that can help me get there.&#8221;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">After 20 years in sourcing, Antonio&#8217;s perspective on the road ahead was straightforward: &#8220;There are no boring days. Every time you wake up, there are at least five or six challenges facing you that you have to resolve and win.&#8221;</p>


Owens Corning: Building resilience in the chemical supply chain

Procurement Leaders hosted a webinar bringing together Dheev & Antonio, Procurement Director at Owens Corning