As one of the world’s largest polymer companies, Covestro’s business activities are focused on manufacturing high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in a vast array of industries.
Covestro’s Turrion: Safety, health, community are top priorities
Victor Turrion, Covestro Baytown, Desmodur W Unit Plant Manager
For more than 50 years, products enhancing an array of industries, sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry, itself, have enhanced the lives of local and global communities, alike.
The company’s largest North American facility, the Covestro Baytown, Industrial Park, meets these needs with three main production units. The site kicked off production with polyurethanes in 1972, followed by the production of polycarbonates in 1975. Coatings and adhesives came next in 1976.
“Within coatings and adhesives, we have several manufacturing areas, and I am the plant manager of a product called Desmodur W (DesW),” Covestro Baytown Desmodur W Plant Manager Victor Turrion said.
Turrion’s solid educational background, accompanied by a deep cache of hands-on industrial experience, well prepared him for his career with Covestro. His journey to Covestro originated in Spain in 2009, where he earned a master’s of science in electronics engineering from Rovira Virgili University.
In 2010 Turrion began his professional career at Bayer (Covestro precursor) as a process control technology project engineer in coatings and adhesives in Zona Franca, an industrial area located in Barcelona, Spain. Three years later, Covestro tapped him for an international coatings and adhesives assignment in Baytown, Texas.
After several years in the process controls technology group, Turrion took on his current role as plant manager at the Baytown site’s DesW unit.
DesW is a liquid cycloaliphatic diisocyanate; its products are used in coatings for flooring, roofing, and textile applications as in cast elastomers, potting and encapsulation compounds, optical products, medical products, adhesives and sealants.
, adhesives and sealants. “I coordinate, support and facilitate safety, quality and environmental systems for the CA DesW production unit, including addressing customer complaints, service complaints and compliance requirements,” Turrion said.
To properly execute this position, Turrion must tap into strong problem-solving and interpersonal skills to work and lead diverse teams in order to achieve their goals. Leadership and communication skills, and project management experience are other talents that help Turrion successfully do his job.
Overcoming challenges
Covestro’s Turrion: Safety, health, community are top priorities
Like most industries, Covestro is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting to challenges including: higher numbers of people working from home and learning how to balance the new way of life, all while maintaining safe and reliable operations.
“The idea was actually born out of necessity. We had to find new ways to do our safety checks in the face of the coronavirus restrictions and social distancing.”
Covestro has long focused on safety in production processes, plants and transport. Recently, the Baytown site was recognized for its safety performance with the Distinguished Safety Service Award, as well as being named “Best in Texas,” both presented by Texas Chemical Council.
Communities engaged are communities enriched
Through an array of employee volunteer service projects, the company has continued its support of enhancing the community for the past 50 years.
Covestro and its employee partners also support other organizations’ events, which Turrion said strengthens Covestro’s relations with the Baytown community.
“Baytown employees are passionate about giving back to our community — which is centered around industry,” Turrion shared. “We continue to carry a rich tradition of good corporate citizenship throughout the area, and the city is known for its strong sense of community.”
When he isn’t busy onsite making sure his operators and manager are working safely and carrying out Covestro’s vision of community engagement, Turrion, himself, is actively engaged in volunteering with non-profit organizations fighting cancer, and the United Way of Greater Baytown and Chambers County.
Future goals
The increasing familiar phrase, “Industry 4.0” refers to the exponential growth of intelligent interconnection of people, machines and processes with the help of state-of-the-art information and communication technology. Recognizing that the fourth industrial revolution is in full swing, Covestro is intent upon becoming a “smart plant” by embracing Industry 4.0.
Covestro’s Turrion: Safety, health, community are top priorities
Covestro aims to benefit from the advantages of this ongoing digital transformation, while simultaneously continuing to be best in class on safety by not having any safety incidents.
“Zero safety incidents is possible,” Turrion said. “Our goal is to reach the next level of digitalization so that we can produce even more safely, efficiently, sustainably … in a more customer-focused way in the future.”
Turrion knows the benefits of using IoT devices; predictive analytics driven by artificial intelligence software are nearly limitless and make maintenance strategies more reliable.
Turrion also appreciates the fact that, overall, data-driven decisions allow more efficient allocation of maintenance resources and new technologies. Mobile maintenance or online maintenance planning improve maintenance time-on-tools
As he further considers what the future holds for Covestro, Turrion emphasized that the company strives to achieve several ideals as pointed out in its mission statement. Covestro strives to imbue its partners and stakeholders with a sense of purpose, “to make the world a brighter place,” as well as to inspire innovation and drive growth through profitable products and technologies that benefit society and reduce the impact on the environment.
Turrion noted that the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission is currently reviewing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) report.
“Covestro supports Texas maintaining an environmental regulatory agency and would encourage the legislature to pass a bill insuring that the state agency would continue to operate,” he said.
The company is also firmly dedicated to living up to the industry’s sense of social responsibility by becoming a fully circular economy.
“A circular economy enables a climate-neutral future, and is the key to resource conservation, climate and environmental protection,” Turrion concluded. “Plastics are a driving force for implementing a circular economy, and we want to become fully circular. We want to contribute to make circular economy the global guiding principle, and anchor it across the whole company.”
For more information, visit covestro.com.
