Kuraray’s Rodriguez leans into founder’s employee-centric philosophy

How to create a work environment that supports employees and the goals of the company is a key focus for Kuraray America Inc.’s (KAI) Nelson Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, plant manager at Kuraray’s Bayport site in Texas, said keeping people at the center of everything is his aim and is a continued effort that has trickled down through the years as a tenant of the company’s founding philosophy.

"I’m doing research that is leading me to create the best work environment for engaging our people, working with them on strategies needed to drive the best results for the organization," Rodriguez said. "We want Kuraray America to be a great place to work and are continuously working ‘to improve the employee experience,’" as our KAI CEO Tim Kawahara says.

Rodriguez, a chemical engineer graduate from the University of Puerto Rico, is part of a three-year executive leadership training program with Kuraray, which he said is taking him and other participating colleagues around the globe. The program promotes discussion with company employees and ultimately helps the participants gain a deeper understanding of why an employee-centric approach benefits the entire organization.

Part of that strategy involves analyzing attrition and retention as it relates to engagement and employee motivation, Rodriguez said.

"We do a lot of surveys, and that is critical," he said. "We want to be efficient and have the best outcomes for the business, and a lot of that comes from the work environment we provide and the satisfaction of our employees."

The Bayport plant was built in 2015 and expanded Kuraray’s footprint in the U.S. The site produces polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), a material used in adhesives and paper goods, and for applications including television screens, ceramics, coatings and water-soluble films, such as the material that packages the concentrated detergents used for laundry and dishes.

An early challenge Rodriguez faced was operating a brand-new plant and training many new employees and contractors. "Since we were a new plant, we worked hard to recruit and build a cohesive team with specialized skills. It was critical for us to maintain a good base of operators and personnel that could help us bridge the gap to the next level," he said. "That was a first big task."

Another challenge Rodriguez has experienced as a plant manager has included ensuring overall safety and reliability. Kuraray works hard to maintain equipment reliability so the company can deliver on the promise of the products to its customers.

"It was a new plant, so we had to check the equipment response as well as develop and optimize production processes to achieve efficiency and consistency," Rodriguez said. "Working through that was a challenge.

"Keeping up with ever-changing regulatory compliance is a critical aspect for the operations of any production facility," Rodriguez said. "We have a great staff of folks to help us navigate regulations, permitting, laws, etc. to help keep us compliant.

"Safety is always a focus. In our corporate statements, one of our company’s core values is ‘safety is the cornerstone of everything we do.’

"You have to know and live process safety," Rodriguez said. "There’s no way you can navigate a plant without having that in your DNA. You must also have the skill to know when to identify and interject into a situation.

"It’s helping people go through an assessment of what are the hazards of the particular task you are about to embark on," he said.

In addition to the plant participating in the Hazard Recognition Plus system and Responsible Care^® Program — both of which help keep the plant’s systems intact — Rodriguez said the site’s nested contractor, Turner Industries, has been with the plant since day one and has had zero recordable incidents.

The facility is ISO- and Responsible Care-certified, which drives the efforts to continuously improve its environmental, health and safety performance, facility security and the safety of its products.

Kuraray was founded in 1926 as Kurashiki Kenshoku Co. Ltd. in Kurashiki City, Japan, for the purpose of commercializing synthetic rayon.

In the 1950s, Kuraray became the first company in the world to commercialize PVOH fiber, under the name KURALON™. Synthetic fibers replaced arboreous cotton in student uniforms within a generation in Japan.

By the 1990s, Kuraray commercialized thermoplastic elastomer SEPTON™, new PVOH fiber KURALON K-II™ and heat-resistant polyamide resin GENESTAR™. Kuraray also established EVAL™ ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and PVOH resin manufacturing facilities around the world.

Today, the company employs around 11,000 people in 31 countries globally. KAI is headquartered in Houston, and the Bayport plant employs approximately 130 team members and contractors.

Kuraray’s founder, Magosaburō Ōhara, was committed to giving back to the community by building hospitals, schools and museums. This spirit of giving still lives within the company today.

Employees at the Bayport plant have followed that lead with their strong record of community involvement, and Rodriguez has served as chairman of the board for the LaPorte Chamber of Commerce. Employees are also involved in the city’s Sylvan Beach Festival, Trash Bash^®, Habitat for Humanity^® and the East Harris County Manufacturing Association, among others.

His work with the La Porte Rotary Club is particularly important to Rodriguez, as he is involved in awarding scholarships to local students.

"That gave me the avenue to many community activities and ways of supporting and sponsoring events our employees participate in," Rodriguez said. "Kuraray seeks opportunities to contribute to the success of our plant communities both financially and through the active volunteer participation of our employees."

Kuraray America is always looking for opportunities for growth and improvements, Rodriguez said, and is continually investing in the diversification of product lines. Rodriguez said bio-based production — which supports a reduction in the environmental footprint — will also play a large role in the future of the industry.

"It’s non-stop. We are always looking for ways to innovate and be better. We want to continue moving forward," he said. "For us it’s checking in with our goals, keeping our people engaged and focused. Safety is first — making sure that everyone who comes through our gate goes home in the same condition they arrived. Everything else is secondary."

In August, Kuraray announced a planned increase of its globally in-demand EVAL™ resin production capacity at its bases of operation in the U.S. and Europe.

A total of 5,000 mt/yr of capacity will be added at its U.S. and European bases of operation in 2024, with another 5,000 mt/yr to be added in 2026. The 10,000 mt/yr capacity increase will push total global production capacity to 113,000 mt/yr from 103,000 mt/yr currently.

Also, as detailed in the company’s PASSION 2026 medium-term management plan, a project team established in 2022 is currently deliberating on the creation of a new base of operations in Asia. The team is anticipating that demand for food packaging will continue to increase in Asia, where the market for EVOH resin is expanding significantly. To improve the capacity to react swiftly to customers’ needs, Kuraray intends to set up a technical center at the new Asian base of operations.

In June 2023, KAI was named one of the "Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation," by the National Association for Business Resources. This is the eighth year the global specialty chemical, fiber, resin and film production company has won the award.

Rodriguez is proud of the company’s focus on its people and interest in growth, calling Kuraray’s continual investment in moving forward "a breath of fresh air."

For more information, visit Kuraray.us.com.