BASF’s Verbund - a Process to Progress

Verbund stands for integration and networking, and is one of BASF’s most important strengths.

BASF has long been recognized for making the most of its integrated approach to manufacturing, research and its overall management philosophy. This philosophy, together with the maximum integration of infrastructure, processes, energy and waste management, is known as Verbund, a German word meaning "linked" or "integrated" to the maximum degree.

As a subsidiary of BASF group, BTC takes advantage of the Verbund, which traces its roots to the integrated system of production at the company’s original site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Here integrated production structures were developed as early as the end of the 19th century. By linking manufacturing plants, value-adding chains of production can be created where by-products and waste from one plant serve as the raw materials in other plants - the Production Verbund.

It was also clear that through this network of plants, energy and resources could be conserved in an Energy Verbund. What started in Ludwigshafen has been implemented and fine-tuned at BASF’s sites around the world.

Today, the Verbund strategy provides the basis for a wide range of activities and has become a cornerstone of the company’s strategy. It is reflected, for example, in BASF’s coordinated approach to purchasing, which helps to secure a stable supply of raw materials.

Crucial to this strategy are the employees, who make up a worldwide Know-how Verbund by sharing and exchanging ideas.

And the Verbund does not stop with the company. It includes BASF’s business partners, customers and the communities in which the company operates. For BASF, the aim here is to work with these groups to develop innovative solutions in accordance with the guiding principles of sustainable development.

BASF’s Verbund – a philosophy and the key to success