Global expertise in risk management, high service quality, and continuous dialogue—these are the key ingredients for the success and long-term partnership with Arkema, the international industrial group that has trusted Coface and its credit insurance program, Coface Global Solutions (CGS), for nearly a decade.
Founded in 2004 after spinning off from Total, Arkema is now a globally recognized leader in specialty materials, producing adhesives, coatings, and advanced performance materials such as polymers and additives. Arkema's products are widely used across industries like transportation, energy, water, health, and consumer goods. Among their innovations is Pebax®, a high-performance thermoplastic elastomer used in sports shoes, developed by Arkema and favored by major sports brands like Puma and Mizuno.
The Arkema Group employs over 21,000 people in nearly 55 countries, including the United States, China, France, Germany, and Japan. In 2023, Arkema generated €9.5 billion in revenue.
Securing Arkema’s international expansion
While Arkema had already been partly insured by Coface under Total’s umbrella since 1976, the company started afresh after its 2004 spin-off. In 2014, Arkema issued a tender through its broker, AON, to find a comprehensive solution.
Our priority was to outsource risk management in order to deal with the decentralised nature of our organisation and the management of trade receivables. Entrusting our portfolio of activities to Coface was a way for us to optimise our resources and ensure that all our entities benefit from Coface's solutions.
- Nathalie Vinchent, Credit Manager at Arkema.
As Arkema expanded into new markets, particularly Asia, it sought a partner with global risk management expertise capable of assessing risks with local understanding. Arkema had initially operated mainly in Europe and the United States but strategically shifted its focus to growth markets through innovation, acquisitions, and investments in emerging economies. Between 2005 and 2023, the company increased its revenue share from Asia and other regions from 18% to 29%, while North America’s share grew from 25% to 37%, and Europe’s share dropped from 57% to 34%.
The value of direct dialogue and tailored risk assessment
Arkema turned to Coface and specifically to its tailored “Coface Global Solutions” (CGS) for multinational companies. Coface’s risk management experts and sales teams worked to develop a comprehensive, robust, and tailored program, optimizing the management of the company’s large portfolio of policies spread across the globe. As a result, Arkema now operates under a unified contract model with identical terms for all its companies, simplifying and harmonizing the management of 120 policies for 26,000 customers, regardless of their size or location.
"Knowing that our business development is secure gives us greater peace of mind when it comes to making decisions and shaping our strategy. Coface's solutions also facilitate my work as a Group credit manager: in addition to local support for each of our subsidiaries, I benefit from a centralised organisation, supervised by a leading programme and a referee, with whom I have direct dialogue to carry out personalised risk assessment: this is invaluable!", says Nathalie Vinchent.
A long-term, growing partnership
Over nearly a decade of collaboration, Arkema and Coface have built up a privileged partnership. "Proximity and a partnership approach are the foundation of our relationship with Coface's teams, who are responsive, flexible and ready to find solutions based on our expectations and the difficulties we face. Despite changes to the people we deal with, our relationship has never lost momentum. This shows that it doesn't depend on the people who run it, but that it's based on a shared culture between two companies", comments Nathalie Vinchent.
The long-term relationship has also contributed to added value for both organizations. Arkema’s trust in Coface has helped improve the CGS program. "Our client is a high-quality technician, an expert in trade credit insurance, who - rightly! - expects a high level of service from Coface. Arkema is a pioneer in many areas, such as innovative API solutions. We challenge each other and, together, we succeed in making Arkema's portfolio evolve towards greater performance. The company is very dynamic and constantly growing, which requires perfect international monitoring and coordination to meet our client's expectations. It's extremely rewarding to see the relationship developing positively," says Julie Machon, CGS Account Manager.
"Apart the fact that Coface remains competitive, the level of service weighs heavily in the balance and we are always trying to improve our contract. Working with Coface allows us to be more reactive in case of an alert on one of our exposures, and to better prevent the risk of non-payment in the long term. It's a virtuous circle that continuously improves the quality of our portfolio over time. It is precisely for these reasons that we intend to write even more beautiful pages in our shared history," concludes Nathalie Vinchent.
