Document 2Jn0zXpDddYYBNrQ1VQ7EY0Ob

April 6, 1994 Monsanto The Chemical Group of Monsanto Company 800 N. Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis, Missouri 63167 Phone: (314) 694-1000 FAX NO. 314-694-1585 TRANSMITTAL PAGE MESSAGE FOR: Russ Sackett TELEPHONE NUMBER: LOCATION: NUMBER OF PAGES BEING SENT: 3 (excluding transmittal page) PLEASE CALL/DELIVER TO ABOVE INDIVIDUAL UPON RECEIPT MESSAGE FROM: Kevin Cahill TELEPHONE NUMBER: 314-694-7518 LOCATION: Monsanto - G4WF Russ, this is final copy scheduled for publication in the spring edition. Please comment by first thing tomorrow morning. 136047 STLCOPCB4036016 .V u m i t r 1 , 19 9 4 cut Kj Employees at Krummnch Turn Their Plant Around fo Art Hoffman Employees atW.G. Krummnch clearly remember the announce ment ofthe 90percentprogram. "You could almost hearjaws drop ping when Dick Mahoney send, toe'd cut emissions 90percent, " recalls one "People-were asking, `How can they do this tou$?'" AS:I P6, A0 add he rubber chemical plant's 4NDFA depart mentwas already faring serious challenges. "We simply weren't competi tive, and we had a lot of catching up to do," says Stephen Robinson, then manufacturing directorfor Rubber Chemicals. (He is now director ofcorporate planning.) There were other problems. The plant had gone through year afteryear of downsizing. Peoples' spirits were down. Also, there was a customer-versus-suppher mentality, "We really needed to look at ourselves in the mirror,'' Robinson says. With all that - out ofthe blue - came the 90 percentair emission reduction program. Business unit leader Russ Euttenkuler remembers the feeling in the plant "We were behind the eight bafl. We knew we were critical to meeting the corporate pledge, because we had reported 830,000 pounds ofxylene air emissions in 1987.' (Xylene, a volatile organic, is used as a solvent throughout the 4NDPA process. 4NDPAis an intermediate ingredient used in making hundreds ofrubber products, from dies to hoses.) "We'd neverfocused on recoveringxylene," Kuttenkuler explains, "because it's rela tively inexpensive. So we were pretty ner vous. Therewas a lot oftension." Kurt Martin, a process engineer who started work at Krummrich thatyear after getting his chemical engineering degree, had to hit the ground running. "The first week I walked in, everyone was saying that ifwe didn't come through with xylene reduction, the whole corporate effortwould fail. I thought, `Great. That's CM] DSN 136048 T00-d 9St?-l A0T-J WUICD ddOO OINdSNOW AS9P69PT 2AS9P69PIC STLCOPCB4036017 Mansaitta Magazine what I reallywant to hear.' I wanted to do environmental work--that's why I came to Monsanto-but I had no idea of the scope ofthejob we had to do. Itwas a lot ofpressure.'' The pressurewas shared throughout the unit As mechanic Gene Mauer puts it, "We knew this couldn't be done overnight. Andwe knew no one person couki do it. It would take lots ofpeople sticking it That attitude was key to our eventual success." Dozens ofpeople, at ail levels, contributed in a variety of ways, large and small, to the successful reduction ofxylene and, in a larger sense, to Krummrich's turnaround. Electrician Virgil Keller, who maxis his 30th year at Krummrkh in 1994, noted a dear turnaround in manage mentapproach-and employee involve ment Tt changed tremendously. In the *808, management realized thatworkers had good ideas and were capable of doing more than punchinga timecard and being toM what to do until they punched it again. Management decided to take advantage ofthat, and people have really responded.' Changes in management approach toot differentforms. Onewas organha- donah Each business was given responsi bility for its own focus and its own peo ple; unit autonomy was supported all the way up the line. "This allowed a real team feeling to develop," remembers produc tion supervisor Larry Cunningham. The creation ofnatural teams was fur ther supported by an unprecedented sharing ofheretofore confidential infor mation. "Managementreally opened up," Keller says. "We got information about our unit's financial picture, competitors' producti, customer problems - you name it It used to be we'd read something in the paper about Monsanto and hear about itat the planta month later. Now. any question you have, you get an answer." Another highlyvisible change involved overseas traveL Formerly, only higb-Ievel managers traveled to Krummrich's two sister plants in Antwerp, Belgium, and Newport, Wales. But in the late`80s, that changed. Operators, mechanics and others now travel overseas to inspect equipment and processes and to foster relationships with their counterparts. "Before 1989 an oper atorwouldn't pick up a phone and call an operator in Antwerp abouta problem. Xylene Emissions 934 8:T ti6, i0 add 200--d 92f-l A0T-J UIWCD ddOD OINdSNOW 2iS9E69ET STLCOPCB4036018 Number 1 , 19 9 4 RodLacy, Bob Wahlgren anifirrsEsmors dude the clarity ofaprocess uater sample ottheW.G. Knamarish float m Sougd, EBtuis. Teammork at sheplant has helped employees increase production, improve quality, reduce costs and achieve remarkable emamnmental Product Improvements iiy Reduction ot Key lirciiirity (TtywipttAraflic afPndaeX) Itjustwasn't done," says plant manager Russ Sackett, who in 1989 was general manufacturing supervisor. "Since then, we effectively started aworldwide teefanical exchange." The same thinking-was applied to Krummrich's customer. Whereas before only managers visited customers, now employees at ail levels tour customer sites to see how 4NDPAis used and to learn how Krummrich improvements can help customers. The result of these changes is "a trust relationship,11 says Cunningham. "Trust came out Of sharing and the team feeling ofthe business unit" Ideas on ways to reduce xylene emis sions began to flow. Many ofthe best came from weekly meetings ofa Safety and Environmental Committee that included engineers, first-line supervisors, operators and mechanics. The complexity ofthe 4NDPA process - and die ubiquitous presence ofxylene throughout the process - meant that no single "fix" would work. Many different projects, which could take years to design and implement, would be required for success. Projects were prioritized in three tiers: reducing, recycling and treating xylene. First tier individual projects resulted in reductions that ranged from 2,000 to 200,000 pounds. Taken together, these projects cutxylene by more than 600,000 pounds. The second phase of projects - recy cling- involved linkingvents and installing condensers to trap and recycle xylene. That achieved another 160,000pouad reduction. This phase actually made operators'jobs harder, but no one complained. "We had excellent coopera tion," Kuttenkuler recalls. After redudng and recycling as much xylene as possible, the team pursued the third phase - treating xylene vapors by burning them in a thermal oxidizer. The Oxidizer, installed inJanuary 1903, was a "has towork'' project, says process engi neer Carrie Alspow, Tfit hadn'tworked as well as it did, we couldn't have met the 1993 objective." Underlying all three phases was anotherimperatire-tighter preventive maintenance on all equipment to pre vent breaks and leaks. This was critical Even after all the various projects were accounted for, 100,000 pounds ofxylene reduction "could only be attributed to improved maintenance and increased environmental awareness," Martin says. Bottom line, Krummrich is a different plant today than it was in 1988. Krummrich people have reduced xylene emissions by a stunning I million pounds per year. They have increased produc tion 40 percent. They improved quality so much that their work was cited as one ofthe top four performance improve ment projects at The Chemical Group's 1992 Conference ofChampions. Krummrich employees continue to hring down costs, with xylene-related savings alone accounting for $400,000 per year. Cunningham says it best "We've got a good dung going, and everyone's partici pating to keep it that way." [16! DSw 136050 00:til *6, 2,0 ddU 00-d 9SP-1 2,0T-d UIWCO ddOO 01NWSN0W 229ti69til STLCOPCB4036019