In any leadership position, the ability to manage change is the true measure of success. Jim Newport has honed that skill and more in his 20-plus years of plant management. And in his current position as vice president and site manager of Bayer MaterialScience’s (BMS) operations at the Baytown, Texas, Industrial Park, Newport concerns himself daily with the competitive nature of his business, focusing on the future of his employees, his site and his company as they work together to maintain their stellar position as an industry leader in the markets BMS serves.

“In chemical manufacturing, we are dealing with what seems to be constant change and adjustment,” Newport explained, “all while maintaining our superior performance in health, safety and environmental. That is our license to operate, so to speak, both from a business standpoint and because it is fundamentally the right thing to do for our people both inside the plant and in the community.

“In the world we live in today, success will be determined by those companies that can manage that change effectively and adjust to the global competitive environment.”
   
Leadership
It takes an experienced leader to be at the helm of a world-class facility, and Newport certainly fits the bill.

After obtaining a biology degree from Sam Houston State University and completing two years of post-graduate work in pre-med at the University of Houston, Newport joined Fina Oil & Chemical in 1975 as a production engineer. During his 10 years with the company, he gained hands-on experience through several positions of increasing responsibility.

In 1985, Newport accepted his first plant manager role when he made a career change to ARCO Chemical. That defining leadership role at ARCO’s Vinyl Siding Extrusion Plant in Olive Branch, Miss., was the beginning of 12 years with ARCO (including five years in Indonesia), where he held seven different management roles.

In 1997, Newport joined Lyondell Chemical as manager of polyol manufacturing services in Pasadena, Texas, before beginning his tenure at Bayer MaterialScience (through acquisition) in 2000, where he has served at BMS’ Baytown facility since 2006.

This extensive background in plant operations is something that Newport sees as an integral part of his position.

“Knowledge in plant operations and in diverse technologies, as well as strong leadership and the ability to communicate clearly both written and verbally are the essentials to site management,” he said.

Newport, much like the employees at the Baytown facility, also believes that being involved in industry associations is crucial. He is a board member of the Texas Chemical Council, the East Harris County Manufacturers Association (a group of industry plant managers in his local area), the Baytown Chamber of Commerce and Houston Regional Monitoring (an organization of companies — primarily in the chemical industry — that support air quality monitoring through a large number of field monitoring stations that measure emissions and chemical components in the air). Newport is also an active member of the Baytown Plant Managers Network and Citizen Advisory Panel — a local group of concerned citizens.

‘One Business … One Team’

The Baytown site is the largest facility for BMS in the Americas (global management is based in Germany), producing 20-25 percent of global product demand for the company and approximately 80 percent of product in the Americas region.

“It is a very important site for the four business areas that we operate here and for the success of the company as a whole on a global basis,” Newport explained.

The industrial park is located on 1,700 acres along Cedar Bayou. The first operating units came on line in 1971 and have achieved steady growth in the more than 35 years since. The site doubled its manufacturing capacity between 1997 and 2001, investing $1.4 billion at Baytown, a record-setting capital expansion for the global Bayer.

The Bayer Baytown Industrial Park hosts four guest facilities on the property — Hexion Specialty Chemicals, El Dorado Nitrogen, First Chemical Texas and Texas Brine — to provide raw materials for the site and one energy center (Calpine Corp.) to produce steam and electricity for the entire complex.

Products manufactured at the site primarily support the automotive and construction industries — polycarbonate thermoplastic, raw materials for polyurethane foams, high-performance coatings and inorganic acids. LANXESS, a global Bayer holding company also located at Bayer Baytown, produces maleic anhydride.

And those products are manufactured safely and responsibly. The Baytown team has been recognized by numerous organizations for its commitment to safety and the environment, including American Chemistry Council, NPRA, Texas Chemical Council, the Chlorine Institute, National Water Environment Federation, OSHA and others.

The site’s total recordable incident rate for 2007 was its personal best at 0.61 for employees and contractors combined — less than one-fifth of the current industry average of 3.20. The site also achieved its best environmental performance year on record in 2007, achieving stringent internal goals and benchmarks for improvements in air, water and waste reduction.

The challenges
In addition to managing change, Newport faces other challenges of a competitive nature.

“We must affect our efficiencies — to meet the needs of our customers year after year, finding the methods and the investments needed to continuously improve our efficiencies,” he said. “We also must maintain and continuously improve our HS&E performance.

“When dealing with constant change and our employees, you can never just assume you are there. It is a matter of systematically tracking and knowing where we stand. Following each project will get us there.”

And as industry faces an aging work force and skilled labor shortage, BMS is no exception. The Baytown site is proactive in its approach to the inevitable — a 25-30-percent retirement turnover in the next three to five years — by focusing on education, special workshops, wellness programs and intense succession planning in each department.

Planning for open spots in the team created by the coming wave of retirees is a complex task and requires close communication on many levels.

“Although the opportunity is here for good jobs that support families well, the industry in general is challenged by a continuous shrinking pool of qualified candidates,” Newport said. “We will continue to recruit the best and brightest to work for our company.

“We continually work to enhance our training and development strategy to ensure that employees are fully qualified before taking over new positions,” Newport said. “One example is how we work with our local community colleges and industry associations to encourage and provide support for special development sessions for chemical process operators.”

The bigger picture
On both local and national levels, Newport and BMS are concerned with two main issues — the regulatory environment of rail transportation and the cost of natural gas.

“The real issue here is service level by the common rail carriers across the nation and their responsiveness to our concerns relative to efficient movement of our products,” Newport explained. “In many cases, we are captive to only one rail carrier, so the rate structure is totally out of line with the level of service. So, we are actively engaging our congressmen and senators to revise legislation that encourages competition and improves quality of service.”

BMS, as does the chemical industry as a whole, consumes a hefty supply of natural gas both as a raw material and as an energy source to fuel manufacturing processes.

“The cost per unit is two to three times higher than in other parts of the world,” Newport said, “which explains why we are at a significant competitive disadvantage in the cost of manufacturing our products.

“We want to work with our regulatory and legislative community — locally, state and federally — on these issues and more, such as chemical plant security and gaining additional access for natural gas exploration off the West Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. We think it is critical to the success of our industry.”
   
The rewards
“We take seriously our social obligation to give back to the community,” Newport said. “We also pride ourselves on openly communicating with the community. We want to have a positive impact in our community, and we also want to emphasize the value that a site of our magnitude can bring to the area.

“To achieve that, our employees are active. We encourage volunteerism, benevolence and involvement in the community. Our team is a strong supporter of United Way, and for the past two years has set new records on contributions and participation.”

Helping to build the future through education is another strong emphasis.

“In our industry, science and mathematics are very important,” Newport said. “Our employees are active partners in education starting at the elementary school level. We also bring Bayer’s award-winning ‘Making Science Makes Sense’ program to area fifth graders to encourage students to build strong math and science skills.”

The site also recently funded recycling bins for the City of Baytown’s new curbside program that will provide 18,000 bins that will enable citizens to recycle easily.

“We want to be known as a good neighbor and the premier site within our company, and we believe that projects such as this one serve to strengthen our respected reputation within the community and our industry as well,” Newport said.

Bayer Baytown Industrial Park
8500 West Bay Road
Baytown, TX  77520
Products: Polycarbonate thermoplastic, raw materials for polyurethane foams, high-performance coatings and inorganic acids
Employees: 1,050 Bayer employees, 650 nested contractors, 100 guest facility employees
Acres: 1,700 (35-percent developed)