Document Edo5098rQXkxz1zxdNREO6mo4

QUALITY ACTION NEWS A PUBLICATION FOR THE COMMUNICATION, PROMOTION AND INVOLVEMENT OF EVERYONE IN THE TOTAL QUALITY PROCESS PPG INDUSTRIES, INC. CHEMICALS LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA VOLUME 2 NO. 3 MARCH 1989 REMEMBER THE COMPLEX START UP QAT The team members from L to R ara Tom Nartolt, Wilton Wallaca, Bob Kovatlch and Bob Jacobi. Communications are a very important part of each task we try to accomplish. Very little can be done where two or more parties are involved and communications are lacking. Im agine trying to start up the Lake Charles Complex without the ability to talk to anyone outside your own control room. The results will be mass confusion and surely result in spills, releases, and accidents. In the 1980's there have been at least three occasions where all chlorine production was stopped. It is hard enough to just coordinate the restart of these three units, but add in the complexity of the plant in regard to steam and power balances and you may appreciate the job of the Shift Superintendent. Everyone is concerned about his own unit and at times has forgotten to pass on vital information about his unit which may affect the order of the complex start-up. The Complex Start-Up QAT was formed as a result of a total complex outage in 1987. The goal of the QAT was to identify the necessary information that MUST be relayed through the Shift Supervisors to the Shift Superintendent. In dividual forms or logsheets were prepared for the chlorine and caustic control rooms. These forms were distributed to the Area Supervisors of each area concerned early in 1988. This information logsheet should be reviewed annually for changes that might need to be made. These changes should be made in a joint effort with the Shift Superintendents. If the complex were to be shut down right now, would your unit know what was necessary to tell and who to tell it to? Could that valuable communication link be established with the proper contact? If you are unsure contact your supervi sion. The members of the Complex Start-up QAT will be available if needed to help you. . --Tom Narblt TWO MILLION SAFE MANHOURS On February 18, 1989, the Complex Engineering/ Maintenance group achieved 2 million manhours, over 3'/j years, without an away from work injury. This achievement reflects a continuing commitment by the employees of this organization. CONGRATULATIONS on a QUALITY effort by a QUALITY group! --Jim Meadows 1988 A QUALITY YEAR FOR SAFETY 1988 has been recognized as a "Quality Year" in many ways. Sales and Production, for example, are areas that have justifiably received a lot of recognition and press, due in part to the fact that new records were set. There is no doubt (In my mind) that the Quality Process was a significant factor in achieving the level of performance that contributed to the setting of those records. I am per sonally convinced that Quality was also a major factor in another area -- Safety... 1988 was a milestone year for us in the Safety and Health area. A quick review of our statistical goals for the year versus actual performance: IMS Statistical 1M7 Actual Ocala ISM Actual R*cord*bi* Cam* R*cord. Cam Raw AWC Cam Raia AWC Cam* All Accident R*t* 94 5.94 .13 2 15.3 89 71 (29% Rcduc.) SJ 4.4 (29% Raduc.) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.9 13.03*119% Raduc.) As the above table shows, our 1988 performance was significantly better than 1987 and, in fact, was much better than what we had set for ourselves as improvement goals. What was different in 1988? To me, the simple answer is in volvement. Accidents can only be prevented by people who are personally involved in the process. Quality provides the mechanism and environment for people to be involved, either as QAT members, or individuals who decide that they can make a difference. Quality people produce quality results. We all know that Lake Charles HAS quality people and they can and have produced. Therefore, I know, that the people at Lake Charles will respond to the challenge our management has given us for 1989. 19M RccuHc IMS Statistical eoalc RecordAbl* Cams R. C. Rat* All Accident Rat* 71 44 13.03 3.49 11.64 57 (20%Reduction) These statistical goals represent a commitment to our true goal which is to achieve an Accident Free Work Place. They also recognize the involvement and quality effort of the Lake Charles People. --Bob McCorquodale MARK YOUR CALENDAR | MMAAJMtCCMM !! j 5 *\ T \ r \ r s\ P= nlriTTi ilifeiirt'jfojEilla! I .n .n ,n m *t yjTl 32 1 247] |S l JS 1 11 1 1 V1 -a~ir ~-1narIIr March7,8,9....................................... New Supervisor Training March 14............................................... ASQC Monthly Meeting March 14......................Supplier Audit of LaPorte for CPC Unit March 20,21,22 ..................................... Total Quality Training March 29 ............................Internal Quality Audit of CPC-WTU April 4,5,6......................Assertiveness Training for Managers April 11,12,13................Assertiveness Training for Managers April 19,20..................................... Quality Facilitator Training If you are interested in attending any of the training sessions, contact your supervisor, Tom Hatfield or Charles Winstead. CTL018191 oer CELEBRATION & RECOGNITION QUALITY ACTION TEAM OAT members from L to R are Amy Thibodeaux, Ben Reynolds, Bill Schwarzauer, Mary Thierry, Bob Green, Rickey LeBlanc and Robert Waggoner. Members not pictured are Charles Winstead, Lottie Boilotte, Estelle Doyle, Emily Hider and Lionel Schexnayder. Last year, the PPG Lake Charles Complex celebrated Quality with a week of events designed to increase awareness of the Quality Process and recognize the impor tance of individual contributions to the process. Other Quali ty Celebration QAT activities included two all-employee din ners at the Habibi Temple, distribution of the official "Quali ty Celebration Week" sweatshirts, appearances on the local television station KPLC and the second level Recognition Banquet for QAT's. Members of the 1968 Team are pictured above. A new QAT for 1989 has been formed to plan recognition activities. The new team is C. A. R. II, which stands for Celebration and Recognition II. Members of the new QAT are pictured below. The team members of the CAR II QAT from L to R ere Wayne Pappillion, Jan Tenney, Sid Brisco, Bob Pfost, Harry Simmons, Lottie Boilotte, Charles Winstead, Peggy Denton, Amy Thibodeaux and Bob Haden. A QUALITY FEAT AT POWERHOUSE "C" On Wednesday, January 11, 1989, at 5:30 PM, the #2 gas turbine at Powerhouse "C" tripped off the line with high ex haust temperature. After several attempts to restart the tur bine, the decision was made to inspect the internal turbine combustion components. Thursday, at 7:30 AM, preparations were made by Maintenance and Operations personnel to perform a com bustion inspection. With extraordinary cooperation of all in volved, the fuel nozzles and liners, cross fire tubes and re tainer clips and the temperature control card in the Speedtronics control system were replaced. The Unit was back on line by 7:45 PM. in consideration of the fact that this outage was unplan ned and no tools, equipment or materials were on the |ob site, this is indeed an extraordinary feat. This effort could have only been accomplished through TEAMWORK. A SAFE and QUALITY effort was exhibited by all persons involved. The attitude of safety, quality and teamwork that was prevalent throughout this outage is what we must maintain. This attitude should be maintained, not only during emergen cy production cuts, but also during our routine assignments as well so that we can remain competitive in today's world of ever changing economics. --anonymous 4, Quality Corn r THE QUALITY PROCESS By: Tom Hatfield As I travel through the Plant in my new job as Quality Coor dinator. I have been looking for signs that the Quality Pro cess is working. Although there are still a number of things that need considerable effort, there are many more en couraging signs than a year ago. In virtually every area, employees can point to significant changes that have occur red in their department over the past year. The training effort in the area of Quality is continuing. A three day TQ course is available for new employees. Facilitator training is available for anyone wanting to learn more about the quality process; in particular how Quality Ac tion Teams should function. During the fall, nine operators attended an advanced SPC course taught by John Young. Future SPC training courses are now being planned. If you are interested in attending any of these courses, notify your supervisor. The best way for you to get more involved in the quality process is to participate on a quality action team or to use the quality opportunity form to suggest an idea for improve ment. There are many QAT's working on problems throughout the complex that directly affect their own job. In May, those teams that have completed their assignment, will begin competing for the recognition awards. In 1988, the for mal recognition system was a big success, and this year's will be even better. The 1989 Sharing Rally will be on September 19 and 20 in Pittsburgh. If you have been a member of a QAT since June 1, 1988, be sure your QAT is registered so you will receive an invitation to the banquet. The second way an individual can be actively involved in the Quality Process is by making quality improvement sug gestions. These suggestions should first be made informally to your supervisor, then if needed through the use of the for mal quality opportunity form. The suggestions made on the form are tracked to be sure the employee receives a satisfac tory answer. If the forms are not available in your area, ask your superivisor to get some from me. For the Quality Process to be a total success, everyone in the plant must get involved. It is easy to sit back and say "I'm waiting tor them to change." But, if you think about it, the "them" is really you and I for someone else. Let's all do our own part to keep the Quality Process going and making the Lake Charles Plant a better place to work. Although we want to make it better, PPG Lake Charles, is already an excellent place to work. CHEMISTRY 1) TRIVIA When he was born in 1833, his family was in such financial distress that his father fled his native land to avoid prison. But when he died in 1896 he was one of the richest men in the world. Each year the interest from this man's vast fortune is divided into five equal parts and conferred upon that person who has made the most important discovery or invention to his field. Who is this man, how did he achieve his wealth and fame and what is the award bequeathed to his will? 'punjueui o) XoeSei sm si azud laqoH aqj. saAiso/dxa ui aunjjoj pue auiej paASiqoe aj-i yeqox/ pajfiv si uousanb ui Xued aqj_ Taken from Chemistry Trivia, Book I History . Sylvia Tascher, Utarvan Literature, Arvada, CO, 1985, pp 31-32. CTL018192 i I 1989 -- WASTEWATER REDUCTION IS IMPORTANT In 1988, a lot of effort was put into reducing the amount of wastewater sent to the Waste Treatment Unit for treatment. Many jobs were completed to reroute, reduce or eliminate this tremendous volume of wastewater. Who is responsible for this super effort? Everyone who works in the Derivatives area! Operations came up with ideas and Maintenance built the piping, etc. to make them a reality! Maintenance cut back on washing pads and firewatch water usage! Every gallon reduced was an improvement over past history! Are we seeing results? Yes we are! The total water flow to the WTU has dropped from 900 to 600 gallons per minute. This is a 33% reduction in the total flow. Putting it another way, this is 157,680,000 gallons per year that we don't have to treat! Several projects are underway in 1989 that will reduce the wastewater flow to WTU even more. Tri-Ethane II has just in stalled a segregated drain line for the MC chlorine vaporizer condensate stream. Other streams, including freeze precau tion water, will be rerouted to this line. This clean water will now go to the Pigments ditch, which is not treated. The EC unit is rerouting their cooling tower blowdown water away from the storm sewer and is installing a condensate line to take care of condensate tank overflows and divert the metals removal reboiler condensate flow. EDCI is studying reducing or eliminating the well water injection stream from the VDCM reactor bottoms stream. They are also looking at rerouting the EDC chlorine vaporizer condensate away from treatment. A follow-up wastewater survey is being made to "take another look" at all water sources in the Derivatives area. This should lead to further reductions. What can we do to help? Each of us can look for sources of water to the lift station or storm sewer systems that can be eliminated, reduced or rerouted. Shut off water hoses when not needed. Sweep pads instead of washing them. Use water to firewatch safely but efficiently by using only what you need. A lot of good work was done in 1988! Let's continue the im provement in 1989 by reducing total wastewater to WTU even more! --John Shamburger Editor's Note: The problem of treating such a large volume of water at WTU existed for many, many years. Until the Wastewater OA T was formed in 1988, efforts to deal with this problem were not successful. The team, composed of 6 Operators and 3 Supervisors, was one of those selected for the highest level of recognition at the Sharing Rally in Pitts burgh in October, 1988. The team members are pictured below. The team members from L to R are (sitting) John Shamburger, Mike Huber, Leon Murray, (standing) Ben Trouard, Larry Mason, Duke Washington, Lindsay Aquillard, Jim Istre and Joe Miller. P-E-P SQUAD RECOGNITION AWARD Project Engineering Productivity Squad, the "PEP Squad" Is the name adopted for Derivatives Project Engineering Group's QLT. The members of the QLT are Brian Comeaux, John Garza, John E. Jordan, Vivian Matthews, Vern Morgan, Don Savoy, John Sigmund, and Johnny Stephenson. We are very proud to support PPG's quality effort as we help repre sent the Derivatives Plant. In the Quality effort, everyone Is, as expected, cooperative and supportive of each other. We have seen several in stances of people going beyond that required to assist the "B" Technical Project Engineering Group. With this in mind, we will begin giving some special recognition for these ef forts. The name of the award will be: PEP SQUAD RECOGNI TION AWARD. This award will be given quarterly and will be a small token of our great appreciation. We thank you all for your help and look forward to recognizing those who con tinue to stand out. --Don Savoy These are some of the Sharing Rally Winners. See if you can SEARCH out their names, They may be found horizontal ly, vertically, diagonally, top to bottom, right to left, etc. Lindsay Aquillard Eva Bourdier Mike Huber Jim Istre Larry Mason Joe Miller Wayne Moreau Leon Murray Power Punchers John Shamburger Homer Smith Bob Talbot Ben Trouard Duke Washington Wastewater OA T T C N J O N S R EH C NU P R E W O P K Y E M V n S F W C U GN F P P M O K X R O A D T I D B EM N DI Q R B X S N V B P Y M R P D F Y E L WH C D L E K T J O H N S H A H B U R 6 ER N H I R P J N B Y D E J a U V S N DS X K R T V S P T H A N D H AOTflBUH B E Y S K R N A B T R M N E Y R I E KC L I B I M F O L R K B R n R O J T R WL F H J M J T T B U H D F u 0 S HH N IQ Z V L I Y M B O S T N X B H E OL M EI C D I J H I N T D P Y F c E N B E V EB 0 X N R P M I S R T L B V N D W V BR 1 O S F R I H R H O N C s YJOERNF S P Y F N K S K I O O H a A S I Q L OA H M R C X E A Q S P 1 E j N F R D Y MV D B N J T H M H D R A L L 1 U BA Y AS D N I L H U E O F S H N F T C E R E FJ S X 0 E D B K B C Y D O X O B R E I DR U O B A V E U P T A Q R E T A W E T SA W R D Y 6 R D S T R A Z O L I NC 6 FI B E O S I T By George Avery KOALITY BEAR AND FRIENDS CTL018193 PLANT `A" ELECTROLYZER RENEWAL PUTS QUALITY INTO PRACTICE Quality Is very important to the supervisors and 10 men working in the Plant"A" Electrolyzer Renewal Shop. Their job consists of applying a consistent diaphragm to the cathodes and the precision assembly of the electrolyzer. For the cells to operate efficiently, the cell repair work must be done just right. In both 1987 and 1988, this group reworked 31 elec trolyzers, each consisting of 11 cells. In December, the crew was about to install a newly assembled electrolyzer on one of the circuits, when a leak was discovered at one of the gaskets. Because the new elec trolyzer did not meet the quality standards, the new elec trolyzer was completely disassembled and the two bad elements were replaced. Without replacing the diaphragms the electrolyzer was reassembled and put into service. The electrolyzer has performed well since being installed. This job was completed in four days. If the quality of the work routinely done by this crew had not been high, this would not have been possible. For years this crew has had to work around an automatic wash machine that was very noisy. Robert Pouchie decided to do something about it. After determining the source of the noise, he worked with Charley Minter and Butch Heard, to in stall check valves in the water lines and to modify the flow nozzles. The noise level has been reduced from 120 to 85 decibels. Another problem recently corrected in that area was a reduction in the dust level in the sandblast bin. Vibrators similar to those used at PELS were installed on the chutes. The vibrators are used once a day to transfer the dust build up In the chutes into bags that can be easily disposed. The cell repair crew, Lawrence Pete, James Pickens, Adam Armstrong, John Guillory, Wllmon Bellow, Peter Carrier, Curtis Ceasar, James Goodwin, Chester Gobert, and Uylice Rougeau, can all be proud of their quality effort. Through the effort of their supervisor, changes have been made to Im prove some of the working conditions in their area. --Tom Jeffery QUALITY QUOTES Intellect distinguishes between the possible and the impossible; reason distinguishes between the sensible and the senseless. Even the possible can be senseless. --Max Born The salvstion of mankind lies only in making everything the concern of all. --Alexander Solzhenitsyn Do not take life so seriously. You will never get out alive. --Elbert Hubbard Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. --Howard W. Newton Q:air solution dado 'Pone, HOW DID CHOCOLATE BUNNIES FOR EASTER COME ABOUT? No doubt, the chocolate bunny was introduced for the same reason that candy corn was introduced for Halloween -- in order to make more money for the can dy industry. Chocolate bunnies date back to the 1850's in Germany. Along with bunnle, chocolatiers sold chocolate eggs and chickens. Switzerland, France and other European chocolate producers followed soon after. Most of the chocolate companies felt that the bunnies symbolized renewal and rejuvenation, and were intended to symbolize the "Rites of Spring", not strictly Easter. The chocolate bunnies spread rapidly to the United States from Europe. At present, chocolate eggs and bunnies help bridge the "chocolate gap" that befalls the confectionary in dustry between St. Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Maybe we can put this idea into practice for some of our products? How about celebrating 'Dry Cleaning Day' to increase the sale of Perchlor ?? Or maybe even 'Disinfecting Day' to boost the sale of chlorine? Article taken from Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise, David Feldman, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1988. EDITORIAL POLICY Letters to the editor are welcomed by this newsletter. Let ters containing information for the Plant are solicited. Let ters should be non-abusive and limited to Quality and Safety Issues. Letters containing negative themes should include supportive evidence and a course of positive correction ac tion. All letters must be signed in ink. Photocopies will not be accepted. Include your Plant location and phone number. Some letters may be edited for brevity and clarity. All letters are subject to the editor's discretion. QUALITY ACTION NEWS STAFF Editor - T. Angelin! Staff Reporters, Writers - J. Andrus, G. Avery, G. Bennett, C. Bias, L Gomes, G. Hill, H. Hank and C. Long Photographer - C. Bias CTL018194