BASF to strengthen India hub

BASF’s Global Business Services organisation has announced plans to bundle its finance and HR services in a new global hub at Hyderabad, India. The move is described as “part of a broader transformation aimed at creating a consolidated service portfolio, driving standardisation and automation more effectively, and leveraging cost-efficient locations”.

Existing regional Hubs in Berlin, Kuala Lumpur and Montevideo will continue to deliver services where bundled on a regional level. Supply chain-related services will be consolidated at Kuala Lumpur and activities that must remain close to operations will continue to be delivered regionally or locally, BASF confirmed.

“With this step, we plan to systematically strengthen Global Business Services to support BASF’s strategy with the most competitive services structures,” says Dr Dirk Elvermann, CFO and chief digital officer (pictured with Industry Minister Piyush Goyal). Global Business Services consists of around 8,500 employees and also manages logistics, communication, regulatory, IP and EHSQ services.

This came shortly after BASF announced plans to open a global digital hub in Hyderabad within Q1. These hubs are centres of expertise that deliver standardised digital services at scale to its businesses worldwide. Others are located at Ludwigshafen, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur.

This is part of a plan to reduce complexity and “standardise and focus the digital portfolio on areas that generate the greatest value for BASF’s core businesses”. The Global Digital Services division aims to reduce its global workforce “significantly” by 2030, including at Ludwigshafen. It also plans to reduce the number of sites where digital specialists are based.