The new era of Big Data (BD) is influencing the chemical industries tremendously, providing several opportunities to reshape the way they operate and for shifting towards smart manufacturing. Given the availability of free software, and the large amount of real-time data generated and stored in process plants why many chemical industries are still not fully adopting BD? The industry is just starting to realize the importance of a large amount of data that they own to make the right decisions and to support their strategies. This article is exploring the importance of professional competencies and data science that influence BD in chemical industries for shifting towards smart manufacturing in a fast and reliable manner. This article utilizes a literature review and identifies potential applications in the chemical industry to shift from conventional methods towards a data-driven approach.