[en] Over the past 10 to 15 years, petrochemical companies have aggressively cut costs due to increased international competition. Unfortunately, these conditions will remain part of the future business environment. To remain international as players, leading chemical companies must develop new methods to keep a competitive edge. One option is to use global supply-chain management. With this strategy, organizations can optimize costs in an integrated fashion along the entire manufacturing and delivery system worldwide. This is a sharp contrast to previously used compartmentalized cost cutting by departments such as transportation, manufacturing, etc. Rethinking the supply-chain management requires devising a new order on how all manufacturing process costs contribute to the total product costs. Manufacturers can no longer look at operation segments as separate puzzle pieces. They must devise a framework that integrates all functions of production and distribution to be the lowest-cost manufacturer in that market