Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (NASDAQ: SIAL) sells over 100,000 chemicals, 46,000 of which it manufactures internally.^[1] Most of the company's 80,000 customers^[2] are scientific research institutions that purchase basic lab chemicals. However, the company also sells chemicals in large quantities to pharmaceutical companies who use them to manufacture drugs on a large scale. No single account provided more than 2% of Sigma-Aldrich's total sales in 2007.^[3].

Many of S-A’s products are generic and available from many competing firms. Sigma-Aldrich differentiates itself from its competitors with its same-day shipping policy. 95% of all Research-segment orders are shipped the same day they are received^[4] and the company reports a backlog of less than 2%. ^[5] This policy comes at the cost, however, of larger-than-normal inventories; S-A reported 2007 inventories valued at 32% of yearly revenue, compared to the industry average of about 16%. ^{[6] [7]} High inventories can sometimes prove problematic in hard economic times because they reduce the company's cash-on-hand, though Sigma-Aldrich reported no problems with liquidity in 2007.

(Read more at Wikinvest )