Moore
Hexion Inc. believes leadership begins with integrity, ethics and environmentally sound operations. This same message is carried on through its global team — over 4,300 strong — which includes Hexion’s site leaders. The company’s Lakeland, Florida, site is led by Paul Moore. Moore is focused on running a site that not only produces the best specialty chemicals and performance materials but also manufactures products in a safe, ethical and environmentally responsible manner.
The Lakeland site opened its doors in 1965. It was originally built to manufacture flotation amines and defoamers for the fertilizer industry. Then the site moved on to making polyester resins for marine applications. Today, it manufactures epoxy curing agents, waterborne epoxy resins, surfactants and epoxy resin solutions.
“Over the years, our site underwent several changes in ownership, as it did with the products we manufacture,” Moore said. “However, we have now been under the same ownership since November 2000.”
Moore earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of South Florida. After college, he was hired by Mulberry Phosphates Inc. (MPI) as an environmental engineer.
Hexion
“After MPI, I was hired by Hexion as an environmental engineer at the Lakeland site,” Moore explained. “I worked in that position for two years. Then I became the site’s production engineer, and I was in that position for four years until I was promoted to production manager. I held that position for nine years.”
Moore has now been Lakeland’s site leader for almost two years. He is responsible for all site operations, including safety, production, budgeting, cost control, maintenance, reliability, and quality. He also develops and implements a local strategy that aligns site activities with business priorities and initiatives.
Important skills needed for his position
Moore’s role at the Lakeland site is very involved, and it requires several important leadership qualities. These include having a safety-first approach, being a good communicator and being flexible. But Moore explained it is of the utmost importance to consider safety first in every aspect of his job.
“From receiving raw materials to batch processing to packaging, we have developed a strong safety culture here at Lakeland where every single associate is empowered to ‘stop the job’ if there is a safety concern,” Moore stated. “Safety is ingrained in all of our daily activities. Every production meeting starts with safety to ensure any concerns are properly addressed.
“Communication is also essential so everyone is marching to the same beat. We try to communicate as much as possible through utilizing quarterly town halls, which include business updates, future capital plans, upcoming initiatives, etc.”
With the Lakeland site being a batch processing plant that produces over 140 different products, Moore emphasized flexibility.
“Product demand changes regularly, so we are always juggling our production schedule and manpower allocation,” he said. “We remain committed to continuous improvement in our manufacturing operations and safety performance.”
‘Safety-first approach’ = Success
In November of last year, Hexion’s Lakeland site reached five years without an OSHA recordable injury. (Prior to the November 2011 injury, the site had achieved seven years without an OSHA recordable.) To what does Moore attribute this success? He goes back to the “safety-first approach.”
“Everyone on-site has this approach to his or her job and is empowered to halt a job if there is a safety concern,” Moore stated. “We try to instill a strong safety culture into all associates, including contractors, from the first day they are brought on-site. We also have a very mature ‘near-miss’ reporting program. All near-misses are reported and investigated in an effort to reduce actual incidents from occurring. This program has been in place for more than 17 years now.”
The Lakeland site’s safety team is called the SWAT team, which stands for “Safety Works All the Time.” This team is represented by not only operators but all departments.
“They are a very creative and devoted safety team that develops programs to promote EHS initiatives,” Moore said. “The safety team also sponsors three safety days per year. ‘Safety Day’ is broken up into five sessions, and it is a day when all operations are shut down, including production, warehousing, and maintenance.
“The SWAT team develops new topics for each ‘Safety Day,’ so the material is fresh and doesn’t feel rehashed. We also include guest speakers to kick off the day, and the topics always revolve around workplace safety and culture.”
Responsible Care®
This past November, Hexion also achieved its recertification by the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC’s) Responsible Care® Management System, the chemical industry’s world-class environmental, health, safety, and security initiative. Hexion successfully completed an independent audit of four U.S. manufacturing sites — one of them being the Lakeland site — and its headquarters.
“Obtaining Responsible Care recertification was very important to the site, since it demonstrates our commitment to EHS,” Moore stated. “It also reflects our commitment to ongoing improvement and open, transparent reporting.”
According to Moore, the Lakeland site is in the process of deploying a continuous improvement program that Hexion calls “Manufacturing Excellence.”
“We are really excited about the upcoming transformation because we believe it is going to help standardize work processes, expand problem-solving at the shop floor level and increase our productivity,” Moore stated. “The site will also be undergoing the transition from ISO 9001:2008 to the ISO 9001:2015 standard in 2017.”
Helping outside the site
Moore highlighted the Lakeland site is actively involved with several charitable organizations. Many of the site’s contributions to the surrounding communities are 100-percent funded by the site’s associates.
These organizations include:
- Volunteers in Service to the Elderly (VISTE): Several times a year, the site’s associates collect personal care items for VISTE. These items include toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, soap, toilet paper, etc. The site then delivers the items to VISTE’s office and packs them into individual personal care boxes so they can be distributed to the community.
- Christmas Angels: Each December, the Lakeland site “adopts” five to 10 children. The site obtains their personal wish lists, purchases the gifts and wraps the presents. The presents are then delivered to the Christmas Angels’ office for distribution to the children.
- United Way of Central Florida: Each year, the Lakeland site conducts a United Way drive to which the vast majority of its associates contribute via paycheck deductions.
- Lakeland Fire Department: Annually, the Lakeland Fire Department utilizes some of the site’s out-of-service equipment to perform training for its personnel, including confined- space rescue and high-angle rescue.
Moore, along with site EHS Leader Bill Devore, is also a manufacturing representative on the Central Florida Regional Planning Council (CFRPC).
“I believe it is important that you develop strong working relationships with the first responders in the event they are ever needed,” Moore explained. “The CFRPC gives us a chance to interact with other industry leaders in the community.”
Moore is also heavily involved in the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce and the United Safety Council (formerly the Tampa Area Safety Council).
Hexion and the future
According to Moore, epoxy resins are the fundamental component of many types of materials and are often used in the automotive, construction, wind energy, aerospace, and electronics industries due to their superior adhesion, strength, and durability.
“The Lakeland site is well positioned for future growth based on the positive outlook for epoxy resins,” Moore stated. “We continue to invest heavily in automation of our batch processes. Automation produces more repeatable process conditions, resulting in a more consistent product with less variability. Inherently, automation will increase plant capacity by reducing batch cycle time and also reduce operator exposure during sampling activities.”
