Careers at DuPont
Mission
Dupont generates a diverse range of products which facilitate or support the operation of its various commercial customers.
Business segments
Dupont comprises 10 businesses which are aggregated into 6 reportable segments:
- Agriculture, comprising the activities of DuPont Pioneer and DuPont Crop Protection, which provide a range of products and services to improve the quantity, quality and safety of the global food supply and the global production agriculture industry;
- Electronics and Communications, which supplies a range of differentiated materials and systems, including metallization pastes and backsheet materials, for use in photovoltaics, consumer electronics, displays and advanced printing;
- Industrial Biosciences, which develops and manufactures a broad portfolio of bio-based products, including enzymes that add value and functionality to processes and products across a broad range of markets such as animal nutrition, detergents, food manufacturing, and ethanol production;
- Nutrition and Health, which provides a range of sustainable, bio-based ingredients and advanced molecular diagnostic solutions, providing solutions for specialty food ingredients, food nutrition, and health and safety.
- Performance Materials, comprising DuPont Performance Polymers and DuPont Packaging and Industrial Polymers, which provide polymer science solutions and application development assistance services; and
- Safety and Protection, comprising DuPont Protection Technologies, DuPont Building Innovations and DuPont Sustainable Solutions, which provide various safety and security solutions and services.
History
DuPont was founded in 1802 by Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, who had fled France to escape the French Revolution. The Company was launched using capital raised in, and gunpowder machinery imported from France, beginning its operations as a manufacturer of gunpowder. The company grew quickly, and by the mid-19th century had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the US Military, supplying half of the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War.
In the 20th Century the Company began do diversify its interests, moving into the production of dynamite and smokeless powders, as well as investing in the burgeoning automotive industry. This was followed by investments in the materials science and polymer production markets, and a number of significant acquisitions, including that of oil and gas producer Conoco Inc in 1981, which it later sold to Phillips Petroleum.
Dupont has continued to expand and is today among the largest diversified conglomerates in the US, with operations across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and an interest in a range of industries and business sectors. The Company is placed 101st on the Fortune 500 list and 232nd on the Forbes Global 200 list. Dupont trades shares on the New York Stock Exchange and has a current market capitalisation of $60.71 billion.
Benefits at DuPont
Business model of DuPont
Customer Segments
Dupont offers a broad range of products and services through its diversified operating segments. The Company’s segments collectively serve customers across the following sectors:
- Agriculture, including crop producers, and farming businesses;
- Automotive, including automotive manufacturers and aftermarket service providers;
- Building and Construction, including construction firms, specialist contractors, property development companies, and infrastructure development companies;
- Electronics, including consumer electronics manufacturers and photovoltaic product manufacturers;
- Energy, including energy producers, oil and gas companies, and power transmission companies;
- Food and Beverage, including food and beverage producers and marketers;
- Government and Public Sector, including various local, state, and federal government bodies and public bodies;
- Health and Medical, including healthcare providers, medical device manufacturers, and medical supply and packaging companies;
- Marine and Mining, including industrial marine companies, shipping companies, and various mining entities;
- Packaging and Printing, including various commercial packaging and printing companies;
- Plastics, including plastics producers and polymer science companies; and
- Safety and Protection, including military bodies, police and fire forces, and industrial businesses.
Dupont’s principal market is its native US, which accounts for the largest portion of its business. The Company also serves a substantial number of customers across three other regional segments: Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Latin America.
Value Propositions
Dupont provides value to its customers in the following ways:
- Its reputation and standing, with the Company established as one of the largest diversified conglomerates in the US, having a long history of providing high-quality products and services, and serving a number of high-profile clients;
- Its broad portfolio of products and services, with the Company providing an extensive range of customers across its six reportable business segments, and serving clients from a broad spectrum of industries;
- Its international reach, with the Company serving customers across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, in addition to customers in its core markets in North America;
- Its commitment to innovation, with the Company committing a substantial portion of its funds to the development of new and innovative solutions, seeking to provide cutting edge services to its clients; and
- Its specialist personnel, with the Company employing highly-trained technical staff from a range of disciplines across its six diverse operating segments.
Channels
Dupont operates a website at www.dupont.com, through which it provides information on its various products, services, locations and target industries. The Company additionally operates websites for a number of its operating subsidiaries and divisions, which provide more detailed information on specific products and services. Dupont does not appear to operate any significant online sales channels or portals.
Dupont makes sales through its various sales and marketing teams, which are organised by geographic region, operating segment, and division. These sales personnel operate out of the Company’s various offices and facilities across the US and Canada; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Latin America. The Company also operates its own manufacturing and distribution facilities across its operating regions.
Additionally, many of Dupont’s products are sold through a network of third party intermediaries, including independent producer-distributors, specialist distribution companies, wholesale distributors, and retailers. The Company also serves customers through its numerous subsidiaries and joint ventures.
Customer Relationships
Dupont does not provide products and services to customers on a self-service basis. The Company primarily serves its customers directly through dedicated in-house sales staff. These sales personnel typically work closely with customers in order to fully cover the individual needs of each customer. The Company typically provides services under multi-year supply and distribution contracts, with a view to establishing long-term relationships.
Each of Dupont’s operating segments provides ongoing support to its customers, operating their own distinct customer and technical support teams. These support staff are able to provide personalised assistance over the phone or online. The Company also provides an online contact form on its website, through which new and existing customers can make more general enquiries.
Dupont and its subsidiaries also operate various social media accounts through which it can interact with customers, including with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Key Activities
Dupont operates principally as a science and technology company. Its operations comprise 10 core businesses organized into six reportable segments: Agriculture, Electronics and Communications, Industrial Biosciences, Nutrition and Health, Performance Materials and Safety and Protection.
The Company develops, manufactures, and sells a diverse portfolio of products, including corn hybrids and soybean varieties, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides in the Agriculture segment; photopolymers and electronic materials in Electronics and Communications segment; enzymes and bio-based materials in the Industrial Biosciences segment; cultures, emulsifiers, texturants, natural sweeteners and soy-based food ingredients in the Nutrition and Health segment; engineering polymers, and packaging and industrial polymers in the Performance Materials segment; and nonwovens, aramids and solid surfaces in the Safety and Protection segment.
Key Partners
Dupont works closely with a range of companies across its multiple operating segments. These partners can be categorised broadly as:
- Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of various raw materials, consumables, and resources that are utilised in the manufacture of the Company’s various products, as well as supplier of services and tools that are utilised more broadly across the enterprise;
- Channel and Distribution Partners, comprising various distributors, wholesalers, and sales agents that extend the Company’s in-house sales and distribution capabilities;
- Development Partners, comprising various technology, scientific, and specialist companies that assist in the development of various Dupont products and solutions;
- Community and Sustainability Partners, comprising various non-profits, charitable organisations, and educational institutions with which the Company collaborates on various social, community, and sustainability projects;
- Strategic and Alliance Partners, comprising a range of companies and organisations across multiple sectors, with which the Company maintains close relationships and collaborates on joint projects.
Dupont counts a number of high-profile companies among its partners, including Honeywell, Globe, Procter and Gamble, Tate and Lyle, and USAID.
Key Resources
Dupont’s key resources are its technologies and intellectual properties, its supply chain and materials, its manufacturing and distribution facilities, its sales and marketing channels, its IT and communications infrastructure, its partnerships, and its personnel.
Dupont utilises a number of proprietary technologies in its products and solutions, which the Company protects using patent and trade secrecy laws. These properties are key to its operations. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified numerous patent applications filed in Dupont’s name, including applications entitled ‘Method of manufacturing non-firing type electrode’, ‘Blue luminescent compounds’ and ‘Aqueous ink-jet inks containing branched polyurethanes as binders’.
Dupont additionally owns and or leases a number of physical properties that are key to its activities, notably including its network of manufacturing, processing, marketing and research and development facilities.
Cost Structure
Dupont incurs costs in relation to the procurement of supplies and materials, the operation of its manufacturing and distribution infrastructure, the operation of its sales and marketing channels, the maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.
In 2015 Dupont accrued cost of goods sold in the amount of $15.11 billion. The Company’s selling, general and administrative expenses totaled $4.62 billion, while its research and development costs amounted to $1.90 billion.
Revenue Streams
Dupont generates revenue through the production and sale of a diverse range of products to customers across multiple industries and jurisdictions. This includes the development and sale of:
- corn hybrids and soybean varieties, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides;
- photopolymers and electronic materials;
- enzymes and bio-based;
- cultures, emulsifiers, texturants, natural sweeteners and soy-based food ingredients;
- engineering polymers, and packaging and industrial polymers; and
- nonwovens, aramids and solid surfaces.
In 2015 Dupont recorded net sales of $25.13 billion, down on the $28.41 generated by the Company in 2014. The Company’s Agriculture segment is its largest revenue generator, recording net sales of $9.80 billion for the year.
Our team
info: Edward Breen (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) Edward Breen (“Breen”) has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DuPont since 2015, having first joined the Company in 2012. Breen has held numerous senior executive roles across multiple companies and sectors. From 1994 to 2000, Breen held a number of senior roles at General Instrument, including as President of the Broadband Networks Group, President of Eastern Operations for the Communications Division, and Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. He served briefly as President and Chief Executive Officer at Motorola before joining Tyco in 2002, where he held a number of roles, including Chief Executive Officer, before joining Dupont.
info: Nicholas Fanandakis (“Fanandakis”) has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Dupont since 2009. Fanandakis has worked at Dupont for more than 35 years, having first joined the Company in 1979 as an accounting and business analyst in the Company’s Petrochemicals Department. He went on to serve in a number of plant, marketing and product management positions, including almost six years in the Fluorochemicals business, before being appointed regional manager in Specialty Chemicals in 1993. He has since held a number management positions, including senior leadership roles, such as Vice President and General Manager of DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise, and Vice President of Corporate Plans.
info: Phuong Tram (“Tram”) has served as Dupont’s Chief Information Officer since 2007. He is responsible for information systems and information technology globally for the Company. Tram is a long-serving employee of Dupont, having first joined the Company in 1989 as an operations manager in Sydney, Australia. He moved to Singapore in 1994 and became Director of Customer Order Fulfillment for Asia Pacific for two years, before being appointed Director of Information Technology and Business Improvement Process for Asia Pacific in 1996. Tram went on to hold a number of positions in the US, including a spell as Chief Information Officer and eBusiness Director for the Agriculture and Nutrition businesses, before taking on his current role.