Rotam CropSciences Unveils Major Restructuring
21 March 2013 
Rotam CropSciences Ltd. unveiled plans for a company-wide restructuring, entailing top-to-bottom organizational changes, facility expansions and increased spending on R&D and manufacturing.
The Hong Kong-based crop protection company said senior management changes and a restructuring of its regional divisions worldwide – which have grown from six to nine regions – reflects its ambitious growth strategy. Rotam said it is currently growing at a rate of 20% a year.
New job titles include:
- CEO James Bristow has taken on a new fully global role as International CEO to encompass the Chinese market.
- Annie Yang has been promoted from head of human resources to the position of senior vice president, global human resources.
- Jean Michel Duhamel’s management position has been consolidated into the role of chief commercial officer supervising the nine world regions, business development, sales and marketing.
- Research and development will now be managed by Senior Vice President and Head of Technical Development, Dr. Yifan Wu. Wu will also take on the role of general manager of Rotam’s largest production and laboratory complex in China.
- Regional Vice President James Liu extends his reach to the position of commercial head China to help grow the expanding opportunities in the country.
The company has also reevaluated how it defines various regions:
- Argentina and Brazil are no longer considered a combined region.
- Taiwan is now being considered a region in and of itself due to the importance of the company’s manufacturing and R&D facilities.
- India will now also be considered a new region.
In sum, the global divisions of Rotam now comprise China, Taiwan, Asia Pacific, India, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), NAFTA (U.S., Canada and Mexico), LAN (Latin America North), Brazil and Argentina.
Rotam also said it is investing more heavily in research and development, with a new laboratory facility that extends to 27,000 sq. m. over nine stories in China with enhanced manufacturing capability. In addition, it announced new plants in Taiwan and North China.
“Ultimately the changes will allow Rotam to deliver more quality crop protection formulations to the market – which is what we do best,” said Bristow.
Q&A With Rotam CCO
In response to the changes, Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Jean Michel Duhamel sat down with FCI to discuss the motivation behind the overhaul, along with the global trends Rotam is addressing through its reorganization.
FCI: What prompted the desire to gear up and restructure?
Duhamel: By restructuring, we are improving communication and enhancing the individual drive and passion among the manpower of the organization.
We are passionate, entrepreneurial people striving for branded innovation and growth. This is why we consistently have two-digit annual expansion. We are expecting this to be the growth rate over the next five years as well.
To ensure this continued fast rate of growth, we needed to significantly increase effectiveness and efficiency internally. This restructure accomplishes that by bringing clarity, transparency and accountability to the organization.
FCI: What are Rotam’s goals in the coming year?
Duhamel: Rotam has a commitment to research and development driven by the necessity to deliver more quality crop protection formulations to the market.
We have amplified our strong commitment to the research and development platform. This has been done through expansion of two of our regional experimental field stations in North and South Hemisphere (China, Brazil and Argentina) in order to speed up product development.This will also help us with ad hoc solutions for our local customers’ needs despite the constraints of seasonality.
On top of that, we have expanded our German-certified Good Laboratory Practice Lab to include ecotoxicology in addition to existing chemical studies.This provides us with increased efficiency and cost savings in data generation in support of global product registration. We have also started our sixth-generation laboratory expansion with a planned nine-story central laboratory providing 27,000 sq. m. floor area of which 80% is reserved for R&D.
Moreover, we have enhanced our manufacturing capability with new plants in Taiwan and North China.
In order to financially support the R&D and manufacturing platforms, we are listed in Taiwan Stock Exchange. This maximizes the synergy benefits for this strategic development.
FCI: What trends in the chemical industry is Rotam aligning itself with?
Duhamel: We turn off-patent AI into innovative products by adding benefits for farmers worldwide in a smart and cost effective way.
We operate mainly in the proprietary post-patent segment which is composed of off-patent molecules still sold over 90% by originators. This includes many kinds of innovation that could be added to a 20-year commercialized molecule which is very different to the commodities concept that aims to sell volume with a me-too product.
For example, Rotam is now a leader in European cereal post-patent sulfonyl urea herbicides thanks to its registration label investment, innovative packaging, manufacturing know-how and logistic responsiveness. In the U.S., we have successfully introduced a superior formulation of methomyl under the Nudrin brand.
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