At last month’s 29th ICIS World Base Oils and Lubricants Conference, Kline + Company was delighted to take part in the global conference.
Kline’s Yana Wilkinson, Global Lead and VP, Energy, spoke on both the opening and closing panel sessions: ‘The future of the lubricant industry in a changing world,’ and ‘Shaping the path ahead for the base oils and lubricants industry,’ respectively.
Whilst Milind Phadke, Vice President, Energy, spoke on the panel: ‘Cooling technologies in data centres – the next frontier in energy efficiency.’
So, what did Kline take away as three of the top topics from the conference?
Geopolitical landscape shifts
The impact of a new geopolitical landscape was a common thread. Macroeconomic pressures and the effect of a shifting and growing global population mean regional and local market dynamics are also changing.
The challenges are clear, shocks may be looming so businesses must have strong, robust and resilient longer-term strategies to deal with potentially unexpected, yet inevitable shocks. This includes having reliable and connected supply chains, and tools and processes that are continually being tested for what could go wrong.
‘Expect the unexpected’ is the strong message Yana emphasized during her opening panel discussion: “Scenario planning is critical. How prepared is your company for unwanted, unplanned surprises?
"Companies leave themselves vulnerable and exposed to potential market shocks without strategic scenario planning. Knowing which questions to ask to help you cushion your business against unexpected, inevitable tremors will help mitigate your company’s risk.”
Agility and being ready to pivot are essential traits that companies will need to master to succeed in the new global space.
AI is Here to Stay
Love it or loathe it, AI permeated almost all conference conversations and industry topics across both days. The industry is slowly but surely learning to embrace this transformative technology and its potential as a powerful tool.
But are we taking it seriously enough? There are key questions to answer. Who is managing it? Who are the stakeholders talking about it? As an industry, are we fully exploring its possibilities, say, in manufacturing? Or looking at the added value a fully AI trained, and competent sales force team and staff can have in helping to futureproof your business?
Digital twin technology is already impacting chemicalization; its expected growth will help organizations make a difference to their processes and outcomes, linking data driven technology to shape and reflect virtual replicas in real time, simulating objects, people and processes. The possibilities for more informed decision making and scenario planning are immense.
This here-to-stay disrupter and enabler is revolutionizing an industry that is having to play catch up, and fast. But the message is loud and clear: understand it and work with it – or your company will be left behind.
Immersion Cooling Continues to Grow
It was technology that featured again as the third takeaway from the conference. This time in the form of discussions around ‘Cooling Technologies in data centers – the next frontier in energy efficiency’.
Kline’s Milind Phadke highlighted the enormous potential for innovation and growth within this sector, particularly with advanced fluid technology and the advantages of liquid immersion coolants. As highlighted in our recent article, ‘Immersion Cooling In Data Centers: An Emerging Opportunity,’ these advancements offer significant benefits.
Demand for data storage and data centers will continue to grow. It’s essential for technology to improve efficiencies to reduce energy consumption, improve performance, save costs and create benefits for stakeholders.
There is exciting potential to improve power usage efficiency and thermal management capability in this sector, seen as ‘the next frontier’ in energy efficiency. Data centre cooling technologies are expected to grow, given that 3% global power consumption of grid energy is currently consumed by Bitcoin mining and global gaming demand.
Deep Seek and AI have raised demand further and with the geopolitical growth that is expected. Immersion coolants and thermal management technology offers exciting potential for innovation and industry specific opportunities.
Milind posed the interesting question to his audience: ‘Who is the key influencer here?’ The chip manufacturer, the server manufacturer, the data centre operator/owner, or the end user?
