SIBUR operates more than 20 production facilities, with the Group's client portfolio comprising thousands of companies from industries as diverse as fuel and energy, mechanical engineering, construction, chemical production, and a lot more. In order to streamline the experience of its customers, SIBUR continuously seeks to improve the sales system, including by developing the Business Support Centre (SIBUR–BSC).

The main objective of this dedicated business platform is to provide expertise and qualified support for the non-production operations of the Group's companies. In 2016, the BSC started working on a new comprehensive service – contract management support. Today, SIBUR's sales support function is some sort of a one-stop shop: the Company's business units from different locations communicate internally without involving the client.

SIBUR has launched a project to integrate its client-related dealings into a single electronic workflow system in an attempt to further improve the speed and efficiency of the customer relations practice. The Russian electronic workflow systems market is still in the phase of rapid growth, but our specialists have gained sufficient experience to prevent the technical and organisational issues that posed a serious problem to users as recently as one or two years ago. Electronic workflow is becoming increasingly popular with Russian companies. Quite a number of SIBUR’s customers and suppliers turn to the Company proactively asking to offer them such a technology.

The electronic workflow system is expected to start running in a normal operating mode in April 2018. Contractual documentation (the contracts and their addenda) and financial source documents (such as delivery notes and invoices) will be the first to go digital.

Electronic workflow is becoming increasingly popular with Russian companies.

Another novelty is the introduction of a so-called "integrated delivery note" which combines features of an invoice and a regular delivery note. This innovation is set to bring about a two-fold decrease in the number of customer documents.

At the same time, it will significantly improve the overall customer experience. "The benefits offered by electronic workflow become obvious if we compare it to the traditional document exchange by post," says Andrey Koreshkov, Head of Contract Management at SIBUR-BSC. When SIBUR sends a document to a customer by post, the delivery may take up to 10 days. The customer will need some time to sign the document and then another 10 days to have it mailed back to SIBUR, with the entire cycle taking 20–25 days. Electronic workflow enables us to complete the same operations in a matter of hours or even minutes." This is of particular importance to new customers that cannot proceed to the first shipment before they have an original copy of the contract on hand.

The main benefit offered by electronic workflow is a considerable decrease in time spent on printing out, sending, processing and archiving hundreds of thousands of contracts and source documents. Electronic workflow gives SIBUR a substantial competitive edge and an opportunity to optimise its internal processes and customer interactions.

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