Clear, concise communication and a passion for attaining goals are keys to success for Justine Franchina, COO of newly branded specialty chemicals company Ketjen.
Franchina took over the role in 2023 and is accountable for three manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe — the Bayport and Pasadena sites in Texas, and the Amsterdam site in the Netherlands. Her site responsibilities include procurement, maintenance, production, logistics and planning, in addition to her corporate-level procurement, capital expenditure engineering and supply chain functions.
"A large aspect of my role is driving the right safety and quality culture as well as a continuous improvement mindset," she said. "I have found that communication and organizational skills are critical to being an executive. Being easy-to-understand and succinct in your communication and being forthright about the intended results allows the organization to have a strong understanding of what steps are needed. In addition, being tenacious, passionate and resilient are important values to ensure you reach your desired goals."
Ketjen’s Franchina empowers teams with fervent leadership, effective collaboration
Justine Franchina, Chief Operating Officer, Ketjen
These qualities have served Franchina well, starting from her first position just out of college, when she was hired by DuPont as an R&D chemist. Franchina served DuPont for almost 18 years, contributing individually and in various managerial roles across myriad departments until she left the company in 2017. Later, she worked as the global manufacturing director and COO for the Freudenberg Group-owned chemical release agent producer Chem-Trend, where she was responsible for more than 200 people working across the world at eight plant sites.
Now, Franchina finds herself as a top executive at Ketjen — formerly known as Albemarle’s catalyst division. Ketjen officially launched its new brand in January 2023 by officials with Albemarle Corporation, a global specialty chemicals leader that provides essential elements for mobility, energy, connectivity and health. Ketjen is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Albemarle that crafts tailored, advanced catalyst solutions for the petrochemical, refining and specialty chemicals industries.
Headquartered in Houston and serving global customers through operations in 27 markets, Ketjen was "created as a distinct brand that reaffirms our commitment to our customers in the refinery and petrochemicals industry," said Mike Simmons, president with Ketjen. "That commitment also extends to supporting our customers in their sustainability ambitions."
Franchina elaborated, adding that the company supports customers in their individual energy transition journeys from fluidized catalytic cracking to clean fuels for hydroprocessing to organometallics and curatives throughout the petrochemical, refining and specialty chemical industries.
The Ketjen name is rooted in the legacy of the company’s founding family, which established a chemicals business in Amsterdam in 1835 and began its catalyst business in the 1940s. According to the company sustainability report, throughout its history, Ketjen has seen many changes and has pivoted to adjust to market conditions while keeping the needs of customers at the core of the business.
"Ketjen draws on the sustainability principles and practices of the parent company, Albemarle, by taking a comprehensive approach to sustainability, which includes environmental, social and governance aspects of the business," the report stated. "Best practices and initiatives are implemented to achieve sector-leading sustainability performance."
Led by Albemarle’s existing advanced catalyst solutions team, Ketjen has three divisions: Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Solutions, Clean Fuels Solutions and Performance Catalyst and Curative Solutions.
"We are most excited about our new catalysts that can help refiners in their transition journey and help them meet renewable fuel standards and other regulatory mandates," Franchina said. This excitement clearly stems from Franchina’s thirst for knowledge as seen through her college studies of organic chemistry — specifically polymerization — and surface chemistry, which culminated with her earning a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a doctorate from Texas A&M University.
"Our catalysts are the industry’s gold standard, and our tailored solutions deliver ever-increasing performance and advanced technology," Simmons said. "In 2023, we launched several groundbreaking solutions, including QUASAR™, ReNewFine™ and ReNewFCC™, designed to maximize our customers’ refining assets and support their sustainability goals by improving efficiency, reducing energy use and contributing to the supply of renewable fuels to their end markets."
Ketjen’s Franchina empowers teams with fervent leadership, effective collaboration
Ketjen’s Bayport, Texas, facility is comprised of cutting-edge research facilities and precision-driven catalyst manufacturing units.
An even more important focus than these innovative solutions, Franchina said, is safety and productivity. "These are common challenges across the operations world, and the key is to set transparent and realistic goals for the team and set the correct structure to support performance."
Specifically, it is key to have the right metrics and the right feedback for the performance, she added.
"In a previous employment, my team and I reduced labor and overhead by 2% by attacking the issues in a consistent and transparent way as well as highlighting the results both positive and negative through our metrics," she said.
"In my current role, organizational productivity is an opportunity. Developing the right metrics and setting the right structure will be critical to enable and empower the organization to be successful."
While the company’s Bayport and Pasadena sites recently lost safety streaks after going without recordable injuries for two and three years, respectively, overall safety performance at the company remains a top priority.
"Our Amsterdam site has over three years without a recordable injury," Franchina said. "Leadership involvement is critical to our success." Franchina works to keep her leadership skills honed through involvement in Women In Manufacturing (WiM), a national association dedicated to supporting, promoting and inspiring women in all manufacturing job functions.
"I believe in the importance of increasing diversity of thought in our manufacturing facilities to enable the highest level of thought partnership and creativity," Franchina said.
Also involved in AFPM’s Manufacturing Committee, Franchina believes both WiM and AFPM help her stay connected to the industry and better understand opportunities within safety, performance and capability.
"The leadership at Ketjen keeps a continual dialogue regarding safety in order to focus on the tasks we are doing without becoming complacent," Franchina said. "We are working every day to ensure we have a strong safety culture where clear and consistent feedback is given and received."
Growth is also a key focus for Franchina, and she said the Bayport plant is undergoing an expansion of one of the intermediate products to increase finished capacity and reduce overall costs. "We’re excited to make a large investment into our largest facility to fully support our customer’s needs." The expansion at Bayport will be completed and fully operational by the end of Q1 2025.
"I am really concentrating on continuously improving and driving productivity and cost reduction," Franchina said. "We are looking for a high level of engagement from our employees and working to ensure that everyone feels empowered to make the best decisions possible and move our business forward."
For more information, visit ketjen.com.
