Q: What are your responsibilities?
A: As maintenance and technical services director, I'm responsible for directing all aspects of equipment maintenance and mid-size construction projects for the more than 10 unique units included in the chemical intermediates (CI) business at the BASF site in Geismar, Louisiana. Equipment is a broad term and includes fixed equipment, rotating equipment, instrumentation and control systems.
My management team is segmented into three categories: mechanical maintenance, instrument/electrical (I/E) and control systems, and turnaround management. We plan and field-execute all elements of maintenance and construction projects. Our team consists of roughly 50 BASF employees and 100 contractors on a routine basis. During turnarounds, the team can grow to 500-plus contractors. BASF employees include mechanical, electrical and chemical engineers, construction managers, I/E technicians, control systems technicians, supervisors and planners. Contractors include electricians, millwrights, welders, pipefitters, boilermakers, scaffold builders and insulators. Our ability to produce chemicals safely and reliably 24/7/365 is directly related to my team's performance.
Q: What led to your position, and what education does it require?
A: I've worked at BASF for 15 years and in direct manufacturing for 21 years, having started in EHS. After working in the environmental permitting arena for nine years, I was at a crossroads: continue doing the same type of work as an expert, or branch out into other areas of manufacturing. I chose to exit the EHS arena and work as a production engineer in 2007. For me, this decision rested on the same motivation that drove me to pursue my first engineering degree: to prove I could succeed at something atypical. Since that time, I've continued to pursue different roles in manufacturing, such as leading a site optimization project, leading a technical procurement team responsible for 30 BASF sites, directing maintenance and reliability for the Geismar site, and now directing maintenance and technical services for the CI business. My desire is to continue pursuing challenging opportunities in manufacturing for the remainder of my career.
I have bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering, which are typically required for the positions I have held throughout my career.
Q: What are the most challenging aspects of your position, and how do you face them?
A: My day-to-day focus is on the continuous improvement of the safety, cost and quality of our work to maintain a competitive edge in manufacturing CI products in North America. The CI units at Geismar produce a mix of specialty and commodity chemicals. To be competitive in this market, we must be a low-cost producer.
In my role, I have many levers that can impact our cost position, and they're relatively easy to identify: workforce management, employing better technology, increasing preventative/predictive maintenance, improving first-time quality, increasing productivity, etc. Pulling any of these levers typically has a change management element, and this is the most challenging aspect of my position, as change involves behaviors. It's human nature to resist change, and outside of a crisis, it's difficult to overcome the organizational inertia that makes us stay the same; however, we will not remain competitive in North America by staying the same.
I face this challenge through basic performance management: being transparent with my team about what needs to change and why, having a clear vision for how we are going to change, setting expectations in the form of team and individual targets, holding myself and my team accountable to meet our targets, recognizing and celebrating success, knowing each person's strengths and developing people to be their best.
Q: What has been your proudest achievement so far in your role?
A: Prior to joining maintenance, I had only participated in a large turnaround as a production engineer. Within the first six months of being in my first maintenance role, I was asked to lead the execution of a $25 million turnaround that had a significant cost and schedule risk. That turnaround was executed safely, on budget and on schedule. I was most proud of the team I assembled in short order that led to this success, and how much I learned from them in the process. Our team had diverse backgrounds and experiences, and we played to each other's strengths. I've carried that same staffing approach through my other maintenance roles: first assess the team's strengths and gaps, and then identify talent to fill the gaps. In the past seven months, I've had the benefit of hiring most of my staff, and I'm very proud of the talent I've been able to recruit and the bottom-line improvements we've created.
Q: What has surprised you the most about your job?
A: What has surprised me most is how much I underestimated what it takes to make a change sustainable. This is not something unique to my current job, but something I didn't appreciate earlier in my career as an individual contributor. It's very easy to identify problems and visualize solutions. Solutions involving behavioral change are harder to implement and sustain. The time commitment and emotional energy required to lead change is high.
Q: What do you enjoy about your role?
A: I love working in manufacturing! The three words that come to mind that describe what I enjoy about my job are "people," "results" and "autonomy." Working with a diverse team is energizing, and it's gratifying to know we are driving positive results. Over the past year, we've been successful in reducing costs and increasing volumes. The complexity of the role fuels my need for continuous learning, and I appreciate the autonomy I have in deciding which improvements we will pursue to improve our competitive edge.
