A strong work ethic. An open mind. A humble disposition. An affinity for travel.

For some, those are the qualities one looks for when thumbing through the personal ads searching for a significant other.

For Tom Berens, vice president of manufacturing for Lubrizol Advanced Materials, those are the characteristics that have allowed him to achieve success in a profession that demands he always be at the top of his game.

“My responsibilities involve leading all the manufacturing activities for the Advanced Materials plants,” he said. “Lubrizol Advanced Materials has 28 chemical manufacturing facilities worldwide, and I’m responsible for ensuring that we safely operate those facilities, keep our costs competitive and maintain a high level of service for our customers.”

And that’s just what Lubrizol Advanced Materials has been doing for more than a century. As a leading global producer of advanced specialty polymers, polymer-based additives and chemical additives for a broad range of consumer and industrial applications, the segment manufactures ingredients essential to everything from personal care and plumbing to athletic equipment and adhesives.

This versatility requires that Berens remain diligent, stay focused and be willing to work with people from around the world.

“The fact that we operate plants with many diverse process technologies and have many locations around the world makes my position different,” he said. “It gives me an opportunity to travel and interact with people from different backgrounds and cultures. You learn a lot from people with different backgrounds. Different cultures look at things in different ways, and they all have real value. We try to take the best from each and incorporate those ideas into our facilities.”

A leader who listens

Berens’s ability to focus on the larger picture is balanced by his willingness to tackle the day-to-day issues the industry faces — a characteristic he possessed even before receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University in 1979.

“As I was preparing to graduate, I was looking for something in the manufacturing field. I liked the challenges and the fast pace of manufacturing as opposed to something like consulting,” he said.

It was that thinking that led him to seek employment as a project engineer, first with BFGoodrich and later with Westinghouse at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory.

But it wasn’t until he returned to BFGoodrich two years later that he had the opportunity to move his career in a different direction. Having been spun off in 2001, the company’s chemical division was purchased by financial investors and incorporated as Noveon Inc. Lubrizol then acquired Noveon in 2004, and Berens took over as plant manager for its facility in Avon Lake, Ohio.

From the start, he saw his role as being both a leader as well as a listener.

“While working in the plant, I would spend a lot of time in the control room talking to operators because they are the ones with the most intimate knowledge of their process and equipment,” he said. “You can get some good ideas from them.”

Berens’s ability to interact with others is something he learned to value early on while working in maintenance.

“The maintenance manager I worked for taught me a lot about maintenance systems and preventive maintenance,” he said. “That was also my first experience supervising people. He taught me a lot about that aspect. When you’re working in a chemical plant at the age of 25 with 50- or 60-year-olds working with you, you have to find the best way to work with them, and that means listening to them.”

Later, as he moved into various managerial positions, Berens followed the guidance of another mentor who helped him hone the many important skills needed in a supervisory role.

“Later in my career, as I moved into management, I had a particular plant manager who helped with my development, especially as it related to evaluating talent, how to delegate and how to let other people do their jobs,” he said.

Berens strongly believes that exhibiting confidence in employees’ abilities imparts a sense of ownership for individuals working in a facility. Doing so, he said, helps create a dialogue between him and other employees, ultimately improving the overall quality of the work being performed.

“I’ve spent my career in manufacturing and have worked in several different facilities. One of the things I’ve seen is that most people really want to do a good job, and they want to feel a sense of accomplishment. We have to listen to what their needs are and provide the tools and the environment for them to be successful,” he said. “You also have to allow other people to make decisions. In many cases they will do something in a way that is different than I would and their way may be better.

“With all the technologies and issues that exist, you really have to gain all the expertise you can from the people around you.”

An experience in one new facility confirmed for him that people tend to make the most of a situation — however difficult — when given the opportunity to succeed. Although working with new technology and with newer operators, the individuals working at the plant met and exceeded expectations — much to everyone’s delight.

“During the start-up of a new plant that we had built, we scaled up from laboratory to commercial volume all in one step, which is not typical,” he said. “I was directly involved with training, equipment commissioning and start-up. We were able to get the plant on line on time and on budget, and we were making in-spec materials within a few hours of coming on stream. We had a group of young operators who were really proud of the accomplishment. That was a very memorable experience for me.”

Improving facilities, helping communities

Berens is also very much a realist. Outside forces, he said, occasionally push managers and workers into difficult circumstances, and he has discovered that regardless of the abilities of certain personnel, there are occasions when challenges and roadblocks can’t be overcome.

“One of the plants I worked with in the past was a very efficient facility,” he said. “But it was in a shrinking market, and it couldn’t be competitive. We were forced to get out of the business.

“No matter how badly you want to make things work, no matter how good a job you do trying to make a facility its best, there are times when, because of market conditions, things will not go as planned. You have to learn to step back and revise your strategy.”

Berens’s overarching strategy as it relates to his duties at Lubrizol involves avoiding complacency at all costs.

“I’ve always had a philosophy of making continual improvements. I don’t believe in accepting the status quo. No matter how good you are, there’s someone out there who’s better, and they will always be improving. So, we also have to find ways to improve,” he said.

Again, he sees communication with all levels of plant personnel as being key to not only his own success as a professional but for the success of the company as well.

“You have to learn all you can from the people you work with, whether it’s operators, maintenance craftsmen, engineers, supervisors or managers. You can learn something from everyone,” he said. “Then you can take that information and improve.”

According to Berens, overall improvement involves expanding Lubrizol’s list of core competencies, especially as they relate to manufacturing excellence. He also emphasizes the need for product innovation as well as quality customer service. Focusing in these areas, he said, will better position Lubrizol to meet its larger objectives in the future.

“Our corporate goal is to grow, both internally and through acquisitions. We really have to support that strategy by making our manufacturing operations competitive with any company in the world,” he said.

But Berens is also quick to point out that Lubrizol’s proactive approach doesn’t stop when its employees are off the clock; the company strives to lend a helping hand to all the communities in which it operates. Whether it’s an engineer speaking at a school’s career day or donations to charitable organizations, Lubrizol believes it has a duty to the community to make the most of its resources.

“We try to develop that philosophy on a global basis,” he said. “As a corporation, we have adopted a strategic focus relating to our community engagement in the areas of youth, education, science, and health and human services. We encourage all of our manufacturing facilities to identify local community activities they can support. This allows us to get involved at the local level — whether it’s working in soup kitchens, clean-up days or working in schools.

“Lubrizol believes giving back to the community is the right thing to do.”