In January 2020, Indorama Ventures acquired the Huntsman Corp. plant in Port Neches, Texas, as part of its acquisition of Huntsman's integrated ethylene oxide (EO) and propylene oxide assets, the largest acquisition in the company's history.
At that time, Kim Hoyt was lead project manager officer, having transferred to Port Neches from Huntsman's Conroe, Texas, site in 1998.
Following the acquisition, Hoyt stepped into the role of site director in February of this year. Because of the growth experienced in the past 10 years, Indorama Ventures has now established a clear vision of market leadership and future readiness, Hoyt explained. As part of this vision, the company has started a project to implement a single, group-wide enterprise resource planning platform.
"This project is the largest transformation ever undertaken at Indorama and will transform our multi-system landscape into an integrated digital platform for finance, operations, procurement, sales, supply chain and human resources," she said. "All global processes will be standardized, which will transform management reporting and make Indorama a truly digitally driven intelligent enterprise."
The company has started these changes and more will be enacted this fall. Hoyt acknowledged this is a "huge undertaking" for Indorama Ventures and the personnel helping to develop the systems and standardize the processes. Once the systems are fully in place, she said everyone will reap the benefits, but the transformation will be difficult. Hoyt believes these opportunities will increase production for the site with minimal additional cost.
Port Neches produces a variety of surfactants, which have many end uses, from personal care items to oilfield technology. A major raw material at the site is ethylene, which is produced on-site and received via pipeline. The ethylene is converted into EO inside one of three EO units. EO is a major building block chemical that can be converted into many other products.
The other main production unit on-site is the propylene oxide/methyl t-butyl ether unit, which uses isobutane, oxygen, methanol and propylene as raw materials.
Aside from these products, the Port Neches site also produces much of its own utilities, including steam and electricity, Hoyt added.
Not just a manager
As site director, Hoyt is responsible for keeping the site in compliance with all environmental, health, personal safety and process safety regulations, as well as improving in those areas. She considers the safety of on-site associates and the responsibility to operate safely without negatively impacting the community as key duties of her role.
Hoyt also provides input on the capabilities and improvement strategies for the units at the site, which requires a close working relationship with her team to deliver the planned business results and identify opportunities for improvement. She works with the team to set goals that will drive improvement in the site's operations. Ensuring the site has a trained and knowledgeable workforce is critical, and providing customers with quality products that meet their needs are among her key responsibilities.
Hoyt earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from The Ohio State University in 1987. After graduation, she started her career at Texaco Chemical Co. in Conroe, Texas, as a process engineer. She spent the next 10 years there and progressed through a range of roles before she became operations manager.
In 1994, Huntsman acquired Texaco Chemical Co. Hoyt stayed at the Conroe site until 1998, when she transferred to the Huntsman Plant in Port Neches. Since coming to Port Neches, Hoyt has held assignments in operations, engineering, planning/pipelines and manufacturing excellence, with her last role being lead project management officer. After the acquisition by Indorama Ventures, she became site director.
"In my position, it is important to have a high level of understanding about all aspects of the site, but not necessarily be the expert in everything," Hoyt acknowledged. "I think some of the most important skills needed for someone in this position relate to being a leader, not just a manager. This is a big site, and everyone has an important role to make the site successful. As the leader, it is my job to create the vision and set expectations and goals, but I have to let the teams define how they can achieve those."
As a leader, Hoyt makes herself accessible to those she works with so the site can continue to achieve its goals. "I have to be available for the teams, listen to their issues and give them help, training or resources when needed," she explained. "I have to be able to take action to remove roadblocks or whatever it takes to enable teams and individuals to be successful and deliver results."
Leading through the storms of life
In her time at Port Neches, Hoyt has encountered various challenges, from natural disasters to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"The events that directly impact our community, our associates and their families are really the biggest challenges I have faced as a leader," Hoyt said. In 2005, Hurricane Rita devastated the area and just three years later, Hurricane Ike did so again. Both storms caused damage to the plant and the local communities. When Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017, followed by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020, it was "more of the same," Hoyt said. Then, a new set of problems arrived with Winter Storm Uri in February.
"Dealing with the issues of getting the plant repaired while also having employees with flooded homes, holes in their roofs, damaged vehicles, broken water pipes, no utilities, etc., is difficult, but it really pulls everyone together," she explained. "We have always been able to work together as a team to help those in need while others work on the plant. During these events, we have organized teams to put tarps on roofs, tear out sheetrock and wet carpeting, remove trees, find temporary housing for families and provide hot meals, while other teams at the plant worked to get units repaired and restarted safely."
Compared to natural disasters, COVID-19 has been a completely different animal. There are still issues the site is working through and may be for some time, Hoyt admitted. Currently, the site is working on how to allow more workers to safely return, whether there will be a change in mask policy, whether visitors can come on-site and more.
Even through COVID-19, the site achieved a record-low injury rate in 2020. Hoyt explained that site teams conduct monthly inspections and audit the elements of personal and process safety to ensure systems are effective. Anyone can report a safety issue, and safety items are tracked in the maintenance system or action item system.
"Having good procedures and systems is key, but having individuals who take extra time to eliminate risks and work safely is imperative," she asserted. "Safety is everyone's responsibility. Everyone must make it their priority and help look out for their co-workers."
Hoyt hopes the site continues to achieve improvements in safety and environmental performance. Port Neches recently conducted an employee engagement survey and leadership kicked off a number of initiatives because of these results. "These take time, but I know we will be successful and ultimately drive our businesses forward as leaders in our markets and be the leading site within Indorama Ventures," Hoyt stated confidently.
She said her site's focus will remain on being a world-class chemical company that embraces change, because the business landscape is constantly evolving. Hoyt said the industry should continue evolving as well.
"We believe sustainability and the quality of our products should go hand in hand, as they are integral to the continued success of Indorama Ventures and industry as a whole. Our corporate sustainability strategy is driving our business and industry toward a resilient economy by encouraging collaborative efforts to meet sustainable development goals," she explained.
