Clariant collaborated with Uncountable to replace a legacy ELN and provide a scientific backbone that linked their synthesis and application teams, while being structured, searchable, and scalable across all sites. This resulted in over 1000 users across 35+ global sites.
The Challenge with the Previous System
The biggest issue with Clariant's previous ELN was the timelines; requested modifications took years rather than weeks to implement. Scientists who worked in the lab on a daily basis reported that the software was not improving, requiring them to rely on workarounds, which caused significant irritation within the organization.
If you are a user working on a daily basis in the lab with the software, and you don't feel that the software improves, you can be frustrated.
Michael Bayer, R&D Digital Solutions Manager & ELN Business Owner, Care Chemicals, Clariant
Image Credit: Uncountable
An Aggressive Rollout and a Result that Exceeded Expectations
Following a competitive examination in 2023, Uncountable's adaptability and readiness to meet Clariant's specific requirements proved decisive.
Over 800 people were onboarded in less than 10 months in 2024, thanks to strong power users, executive sponsorship, IT assistance, and focused project management from both sides.
The platform was expanded from 600 to more than 1000 users worldwide, with initial surveys indicating that scientists found it substantially more intuitive than its predecessor.
We've already achieved much more than what we had intended in the original scope.
Richard Haldimann, Chief Strategy &Technology Officer, Clariant
What Stood Out: Flexibility without Sacrificing Structure
Clariant's work includes both formulation development and chemical synthesis, which are very different ways of working. The ability to create templates tailored to daily lab activities, while keeping data as clean and structured as possible with minimal manual intervention, was a significant differentiator.
The platform also integrated the commercial organization directly: sales teams can now open lab requests on behalf of clients, speeding up communication and response times across the organization. A LIMS interface enables lab users to send test requests and obtain analytical findings from their notebooks with a single click.
The Foundation for AI-Powered Innovation
With the data foundation in place, Clariant sees huge potential ahead. Scientists can rapidly identify previous studies, reducing repeated work. In addition, the structured data generated by the platform's design paves the way for bespoke AI applications.
Cesar Chocou, Head of IT at Clariant, believes that AI will make research and development more productive, but the real benefits lie in using the company’s data to accelerate the team’s know-how: “This is where we can dramatically improve what we do for our customers."
The team’s next milestones include improving analytics and predictive modeling capabilities, integrating data from sources other than the ELN, and continuing to develop the linked ecosystem that will power Clariant's next generation of R&D.
For us, Uncountable is more than a vendor. We see them as partners.
Giriprasad Melpatti, Senior IT Business Consultant, Innovation and Lab Solutions, Clariant
This information has been sourced, reviewed, and adapted from materials provided by Uncountable Inc.
For more information on this source, please visit Uncountable Inc.