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NOVEMBER 2011Ascend News
Importance of the Leadership
Dear Colleagues,
In one of his most important speeches
to the nation, Prime Minister of Great
Britain Winston Churchill, spoke to
the House of Commons after the fall
of France in the spring of 1940.
The situation was serious; the Germans
possessed air, naval, and ground
superiority. Deeply committed to
the survival of western civilization, Churchill focused his
attention and actions on building up and training British forces,
providing them with the weaponry they needed, and strategically
planning collaboration with British allies, to prepare for what
would come. He was honest and compelling as he called on
Britain to prepare to fight Nazi Germany.
“…the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of
Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends
the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends
our own British life... The whole fury and might of the
enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows
that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the
war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free
and the life of the world may move forward... But if
we fail, then the whole world, including the United
States, including all that we have known and cared for,
will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more
sinister... Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties,
and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and
its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men
will still say, “This was their finest hour.”1
We know the British Empire
did not last a thousand years,
but Churchill led Britain to
victory over Hitler, and is
recognized as one of the
greatest leaders of the 20th
century. The leadership characteristics Churchill exhibited
are relevant even today. Described as a courageous and
principled leader who stuck to his convictions, it has been
said that “...he never let a minute go by that he wasn’t
enriching himself, and thereby others.”2
We recognize the importance of good leadership at Ascend
and therefore, we have identified the characteristics we value
in our leaders. Whether you are a citizen of a nation at war,
or you are engaged in building a successful organization,
everyone deserves a great leader – one who sets the direction,
builds great teams, is credible and engaged, and gets great
results. My responsibility as the leader of Ascend is to
establish leadership standards, and then provide opportunities
for development so each of you has a great leader—one
who sets an example of excellence, invests time in teaching
and mentoring, and is deeply committed to our people and
to our business.
You play an essential role in building great leadership
through your engagement, and through your commitment
to your team and to the principles of A2E.
Be safe. Do great things. Have fun.
Tim
1 Visit www.winstonchurchill.org to read the complete text 2 Daniel Myers, Churchill Centre & Museum
Safety
Customer
ProductivityReliability
People
Great Leaders—
• Set the direction.
• Build great teams.
• Are credible & engaged.
• Get great results.
Great Employees—
• Take the initiative.
• Are great team players.
• Are credible and engaged.
• Get great results.
As a kid, you can probably remember
your parents asking, “What do you want
to be when you grow up?” What was your
answer? Mine was usually, “I want to be
an astronaut,” even though it was not
in the cards!
When you think of safety, what do you
want Ascend, and more specifically, your
work group to ultimately be? I want
Ascend facilities to be the safest in the world to work, and I don’t
ever want anyone to get cut, burned, bruised, or hurt in even
the smallest way.
How can we learn to keep our colleagues and ourselves safer
every day? Fundamentally, it starts with you. For example,
Pensacola recently celebrated identifying and correcting 5000
hazards in a creative way—with an ice cream truck road trip
through the plant! Keep
identifying hazards that
are important to your safety
each day. Let me start by
sharing what we have
done, in a broad way, to
help us move down this
“learning” road.
A Personnel Safety Core
Team is now actively
developing comprehensive personnel safety improvement plans
for Ascend. The team is made up of safety professionals from
across the sites, and is led by Chuck Clarke with Tom Boggs
as the Sponsor. Your input to this group is always welcome.
A2E Engagement teams have been chartered to facilitate
employees in identifying how to make their area safer, rather
than giving “top down” direction. After all, who knows more
about safety needs than the people working in the area?
They have begun work at Pensacola (Area 1, Nylon Manufacturing)
and Decatur (Boilerhouse & HMD/ADN Refining), and Greenwood
will kick off similar teams in the coming weeks. Time and resources
have been allotted enabling these teams to make their workplace
safer. Start your own!
Leadership at all levels have learned how to improve their
expectations around safety. There is a focus on the use of
data, establishing clear roles, incorporating safety into all
daily operations, being “safety visible,” getting employees
engaged in safety, and reinforcing safe behaviors. This is
a journey, and will be ongoing in 2012.
Learning to be Safe–Get Involved!
New IT Support Center to Improve Service
Houston Office Turns Pink
Leadership Profile: Andrew Ralston, VP and General Counsel
Improving Our Total Rewards Structure
New Ways of Learning at Ascend
Site Focus: Foley, The Can Do Plant
Foley by the Numbers
Foley Facts
I'm a Hazard
Otis Coleman
Business Overview
Pensacola Celebrates Expansion
My Job Rocks!
The "E" in ESSH
APEX 2011
Congratulations!
IT Corner
Customer Service
Learning to be Safe—Get Involved! by Dale Borths
Table of Contents ESSH
SafetyESSH
Customer
ProductivityReliability
People
Inside cover–1
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The Can Do Plant • The Can Do Plant • The Can D
o Pl
antFoley
Ascend will be exactly what we want
to be... the safest place in the world to work.
New IT Support Center to Improve Service by Matthew Toomes
On November 15th, the new IT Support Center went live.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, Ascend IT is committed
to improving your IT experience through faster, dedicated support.
The new center will ensure efficient use of IT support resources to
address your issue as fast as possible. As you stand in the line at
the grocery store and you see the line next to you moving faster
than your line, have you ever said to yourself, “Picked the wrong
line again?” Then have you noticed that at the bank you’re in
a different kind of queue? In the bank queue, you’re in a single
line, and the first available teller services you. The new Support
Center will operate in much the same way—your call will be
answered by the first available support staff. • Other benefits
of the new center include longer support hours, after hours
emergency support, and of course, a commitment to continued
improvement. • Be on the lookout for more information
regarding the new IT Support Center!
Dale Borths is the Vice President of Environmental, Safety, Security, and Health.
1
Houston Office Turns Pink
Houston employees turned the headquarters office pink on
September 30 in support of the Houston Susan G. Komen Race for
the Cure on October 1st. Employees were asked to wear pink on
Friday to support the race and the Team Ascend race participants.
Knowing that some folks might be a bit reluctant to wear pink,
the team asked for a voluntary contribution from those who did
not wear pink. When the day started, the team was nearing its
fund raising goal of $1000, with contributions from race participant
fund raising, on-line donations, and cash contributions in the office.
Then, at mid-morning the fund raising went to a new level when
Barry Penney declared he would match contributions dollar for
dollar until 4 pm. Barry’s challenge revved up the giving and
by the end of the day Houston employees supported the Komen
Houston Race for the Cure with $2,291.00 in contributions.
Team Ascend extends sincere thanks to the Houston employees
for their very generous support of the fight against breast cancer.
Team Ascend participants representing Chocolate Bayou
and Houston were – Cindy Barrett, Tom Barrett, Melissa Batig,
Kristine Bird, Jeff Bird, Marianne Cone, Jan Cook, Louis Cook,
Kelly Griego, Lisa Guzman, Laura Kelso, Melissa Kelso, Shannon
Kelso, Maria Martinez, Rhonda Navarro, Jenny Park, Allison
Roberman, Carol Whitlow.
Tell us about your fund raising activities. Send an email and
pictures to [email protected].
Matthew Toomes is an IT Senior Manager in Houston.
An excellent team of Maintenance, ESSH, and Quality people
recommended and implemented a new A2E tool—now
commonly referred to as “Think Reliability.” This tool provides
a consistent way of finding the causes of an abnormal event,
like an injury. Using a common and systematic tool, we can
now more easily capture all of the learnings from an incident
and put the right corrective actions in place. Getting involved
on investigation teams is a great way to understand how we learn
from all incidents and apply the learnings to our processes.
The good news is that there are many ways to get involved and
I didn’t even mention the various A2E Safety Teams and traditional
Safety Committees that are ongoing!
• Think Safe!
• Look out for yourself and others!
• Get involved to make your work area safer!
At Ascend, we want to be the best in everything we do. It begins
with you. With 3000 people engaged in learning to be safer, and
involved in activities to improve safety for everyone, Ascend will be
exactly what we want to be...the safest place in the world to work.
How can I help you?
Chocolate Bayou race day participants
Houston showing off their pink spirit
2
Leadership Profile: Andrew Ralston, VP and General CounselAndrew Ralston had some difficulty locating a copy of his resume
to provide the writer of this profile. “It just goes to show how much
I love Ascend,” he enthused, “that I don’t even keep a resume
anymore.” Truly, he does seem to be a man who loves his job,
perhaps because of the winding path he took to get here.
Having moved to Houston with his family in 1978, Ralston is closer
to being a native Houstonian than most. He’s happy to have spent
his entire professional career in Houston, and prouder still to
proclaim allegiance to the University of Texas (under-graduate
degree) and Baylor University (law school). He’s broad-minded
enough, however, to have married
an A&M graduate and another
lawyer. Wife Dianne is Deputy
General Counsel for Schlumberger.
Andrew and Dianne Ralston have
two daughters, Reagan and Peyton,
ages 11 and 6. They divide their time,
year round, between dance recitals
and multiple athletic events—and
savor, particularly, this time of year
and the return of college football.
He provided no clue, however, to
how (or how gracefully) they settle
the inevitable cross-school rivalries.
Andrew began his legal career
with the noted Houston firm, Baker
Botts, LLP. In his years with the
firm, he got a broad introduction
to corporate law, handling mergers
and acquisitions, securities and real
estate transactions, joint ventures.
His next employer was Condea
Vista Company, a large German chemical manufacturing company,
where Andrew began to get a feel for the practice of law on
behalf of one client/company, and a chemical company at that.
The primary employer of note on Andrew’s resume, before
Ascend, was Enron Corporation. “I was there for the good, the bad,
and the ugly,” he says. It was surely some of the most fascinating—
and challenging —work he’s ever done. Work that, clearly, left him
with a skill set that is rare and highly prized. In the early years with
Enron, Andrews’s concentration was on the development and
acquisition of international energy assets and in providing services
to large-scale commercial users of electricity. Many of his customers
were chemical and manufacturing companies similar to Ascend.
Having survived both the layoffs and any taint from Enron’s
missteps, Andrew was in a sound position to assist Enron's
massive divestment of company assets, and settling claims.
In many ways, he loved the skill-sharpening that came as a result
of having to adapt and respond to each new development,
each new roadblock or crisis.
After Enron, Andrew moved around for a couple years, working
another stint as senior counsel for a chemical company and then
doing regulatory and energy work for two large law firms.
All that changed in 2009 when he was contacted about a position
with a new company. In joining Ascend, at the very outset of
the company’s formation, Andrew feels he and the company
came together at the perfect
time for both of them.
“It is so exciting,” Andrew tells us,
“being there with a company
that’s been given a totally blank
slate to invent itself and go in
any number of fresh, exciting
directions.” So often, he says,
you join a firm with a lot of
ingrained habits or traditions.
Or, a company comes out of
bankruptcy still carrying a lot
of “baggage” such as outmoded
policies or procedures.
In the case of Ascend, Andrew
feels that everyone throughout
the company really appreciates
the chance to learn from
previous experience without
being impeded by it.
His workday is incredibly varied
and, as he tells us, “I never know what to expect when I come
to work, but it’s always a surprise and it’s always interesting.”
He handles trade compliance issues, drawing on his vast
previous experience in international law, but also gets to handle
new challenges such as patent applications and assisting in
setting up a new internal auditing system.
What does Andrew like most about his work with Ascend?
Number one would probably be the energy and enthusiasm of
the company, at all levels of the work force. “We’ve come a long
way since 2009,” he says. “In a lot of ways, we got thrown into
a ‘sink or swim” situation and found we were actually pretty good
swimmers. After being sort of a forgotten or under-appreciated
division of a larger company, now we ARE the company.
And everyone seems to really appreciate the opportunity
we have to make something really great here.”
On September 7th, the Houston Business Journal hosted an event honoring
the best and brightest in the legal profession. Andrew was named 2011 Best Solo
General Counsel.
In the challenging and dynamic Ascend environment, employee
knowledge and capability represent a significant part of our
continued business success. The Learning team’s mission is to
ensure that all employees receive learning opportunities that
increase their skills and professional development.
New Learning Offerings & Advanced Curriculum
In addition to Operator boot camps, Safety, A2E, Lumina,
Engagement, and Front Line Leader workshops, we are partnering
with business leaders, and moving forward on new 2012 learning
offerings including; Project Management, Team building,
Leadership, Executive Education, Ethics and Compliance, Sales
and Strategic Account Management, Communication for Leaders,
and Finance offerings. Also, we have added a new robust A2E
On-boarding program for new hires that will enable them
to get up to speed immediately with A2E tool sets. We will be
delivering new Instructor Led Learning offerings including A2E
2012 and new Front Line Leadership workshops. We will bring
more professional and skills development workshops in the coming
months. We are building developmental learning that enhances
your job knowledge and skills. Focusing on your success and
creating a learning framework that not only helps you manage
what you do, but helps you manage what you want to be.
Ascend Learning Team:
Steve Coletti Sr. Manager, Global Learning
Matilda Reeder Manager of Learning, ISC
John Nelson Learning Lead, Greenwood
Curt Thompson Learning Lead, Chocolate Bayou
Chris Wilson Learning Lead, Pensacola
New Ways of Learning at Ascend by Steve Coletti
Improving Our Total Rewards Structure
At Ascend, we aim to pay competitively in each local market and
nationally. We also aim to promote equity across the company.
Ascend Total Rewards, which includes pay and benefits, offers
a competitive package to attract, motivate and retain our employees.
Earlier this year, we introduced a new salary grade and job title
structure to ensure market competitive pay, and create consistency
in our job titles around the Company.
Why did we change salary grades and job titles?
Since Ascend started, we have reorganized existing departments,
and we have established whole new departments and new jobs.
We had 1,300 job titles for 2,000 Ascend employees! What may
have made sense in the past, no longer made sense at Ascend.
The new structure helps up develop our people plans. For example,
having a common description for Senior Engineers or Operator III’s,
gives us the ability to develop career paths, create better training
programs, and have more meaningful performance discussions,
just to name a few.
What does this mean for me?
You have a new salary grade -- one of three new salary grades –
Hourly, Individual Contributor, and Leadership. You may even have
a new job title. In creating consistency across the Company we
moved from 1,300 job titles to just over 300.
Maybe most important to you, the new grade and job title structure
also allows us to get more accurate market pay data so we can
evaluate and ensure competitive pay for each employee. It also
helps your leader make contribution-based pay decisions where
you are rewarded for your contribution to the success of Ascend.
If you have questions about your new grade and title, please don’t
hesitate to discuss it with your leader or your site Human Resources
Business Partner.
How does Ascend get competitive pay data?
In our aim to provide competitive compensation in pay and
benefits, we regularly review local and national pay surveys from
a number of industries, including chemical, oil & gas, utilities and
manufacturing. We may find our
compensation to be higher than
other organizations in one area
and slightly lower in other areas,
but we continue to strive for
competitive compensation for all of
our employees. Our new grade and
job title structure helps us do just that.
Our promise to you, as a member of the Ascend team, you will be:
enabled to succeed • empowered to take action • engaged in
getting better • and excited to be part of a successful team.
Steve Coletti is the Senior Manager of Learning and Development.
Ellen Chin is the Senior Director of Talent and Rewards.
3
by Ellen Chin
• We recognize that you are our key asset.
• We know that our people represent not only our current performance, but also our future potential.
• We want to support your efforts to excel at Ascend.
WHY?
Site Focus: Foley, The Can Do Plant
Foley Facts
4
Known as “The Can Do Plant,” Ascend Performance Materials in Foley, Alabama is a group of people who have
reinvented themselves, and in doing so, they have changed the future of the Foley plant. Founded in 1961,
originally to process waste fiber, the plant changed ownership and product over the next 50 years, but the spirit
of the workforce endured. Faced with a severe decline in the demand for staple carpet fiber due to the housing
market downturn and a trend toward hard surface products such as hardwood and tile, carpet fiber processing
dropped from 500 million pounds per year to the current 30-40 million pounds and a critical reduction in force.
The people of “The Can Do Plant” were undeterred —they saw an opportunity to shift the focus to compounding.
Production shifted to expand the compounding operation and cross-train the entire workforce. According to plant
manager, Tom Boggs, “we broke down all the silos in the plant in order to ensure we had the ability to cover all
the jobs with our existing staff. This cross-training has been embraced by our employees and the engagement
in the process has improved all aspects of the plant—from safety to quality to our path toward entitlement.”
Resin produced in the Ascend Pensacola plant is trucked to Foley and blended with additives to produce
compounds customers use to make other products; for example, automotive suppliers use Ascend compounds
to make injection-molded parts. With an expansion in the existing compounding line, and a new extruder coming
online in December, the Foley plant expects to make 50 million pounds of compounded material in 2012, and
will be a significant contributor to the long-term growth of Ascend and its reputation as a reliable supplier.
• The Foley Plant began operations in 1961 and is celebrating its 50-year anniversary.• The plant was originally built as a waste fibers facility under the name of Hale Manufacturing.• Later names were Fovil Manufacturing, Solutia Inc. and today Ascend Performance Materials.• The facility sits on a little less than 40 acres in the heart of Foley, AL.• The plant produces both nylon staple and nylon compounded products for external customers.• The facility is known as the “can do” plant due to its adaptability and flexibility to run various products.• The Foley plant has been a VPP Star Site since 1999.• The people of the Foley plant are committed to the community: The United Way of Baldwin County Board of Directors, volunteer firemen, EMT’s, YMCA.
Foley by the numbers
50 years in production 50
million pounds of extrusion in
2012
84 empl
oyee
s +
cont
ract
ors
100%employees engaged in A2E
$1200saved per truck load by using recycled boxes
Decatur
•
The Can Do Plant • The Can Do Plant • The Can D
o Pl
antFoley
Pensacola
miles from Foley to Pensacola siteyears of service as a shuttle driver
5
The Hazard Recognition Team developed and implemented a program to support Ascend’s
and Foley’s hazard recognition and correction efforts for 2011. Team focused on a system
to get employees to report hazards where the individual was the hazard. Program is not
punitive, and is designed to get employees engaged in thinking about how their behavior
can be a hazard. The system is easy to use and all plant employees are using the program.
Program has been recognized as a Best Practice for Ascend. Foley has realized
an increase in hazard reporting from 2010 in a large part to this team’s success.
Team members: Jimmy Cooper, Paulette De La Garza, Don Dinish, Francine Dinish,
Derrick Foster, Jeff Gardner, David Garza, Cora Heard, Oreanthia Jackson, David Nagel,
Peter Parker, William Rundle, Craig Saget, Martin Stancliff, Tom Boggs.
I'm a Hazard
Pensacola
42Otis Coleman
Greenwood515 miles
Chocolate Bayou533 miles
Houston505 miles
N
S
EW
Decatur349 miles
Pensacola42 miles
Foley
Otis Coleman came to work on June 26, 1969. Every day he drives a truck between
Foley and Pensacola, an 84-mile round trip, hauling 40,000 pounds of product each trip.
Otis has been our loyal shuttle driver for 42 years and according to Tom Boggs,
“Otis can do just about anything in the Foley plant.”
87,360 miles 40 million pound of product
3,669,120 miles 2 billion pounds of product
Care
er
Ann
ual
A2E Team of the QuarterIn Foley’s compounding operation, only
recycled boxes are used for our finished
goods. We receive the raw materials from
Pensacola then reuse the boxes for our
product. We have expanded this team to
include shipping our excess boxes back
to Pensacola for reuse in their process.
This results in not only packaging savings,
but a savings of labor as well. Total value added
for the company is about $20k per month.
Recycled Packaging Reduces WasteFoley is recycling all super sacks, boxes, foil, and paper bags.
Business Overview
6
Plastics | Scott Rook
Key Successes
• Cable Ties: In 3rd qtr 2011, we finalized a contract with one of our
largest cable tie customers globally Hua Wei. They just recently
moved their plant from Shanghai China to Pattaya, Thailand.
Additionally we finalized contract extensions with Hellermann Tyton
and added a new contract with a cable tie molder in Brazil – Frontec.
• Compounders: In 3rd qtr 2011, we reached agreements to
increase our supply to several Korean compounders – Kolon,
Kopla, and Shinil by up to 25% so they could supply the growing
demand from Korean auto makers such as Hyundai/Kia and Daewoo
• Auto: we successfully reached a deal to supply Delphi China two
compounded products (one with glass & impact modifier; the other
only impact modifier). Both products are being produced in Foley,
AL. (We are exporting to China!) The annual volume will be greater
than 4 m lbs and Delphi will use the products in a variety of appli-
cations including fasteners and tanks. Additionally, we completed
contracts with Century Mold, GMCH, Kongsberg and MPC in North
America as well as with Novatech in Europe.
• Consumer & Industrial: We closed a new Rail Insulator application
in Thailand through Pandrol/Railtech; and reached a 3-month
supply agreement with Graco—Wonderland for baby stroller parts.
• EE: We signed a new contract with Lights of America and reached
agreement with TE Connectivity to expand sales by 3+ m lbs in 2012.
New Products in 3Q 2011
• Cable Ties: We have continued growth of our Phase I Next
Generation Cable Tie product(s) (21 SPC1 and 21 SPF1) and
began selling to KSS, KST and Hua Wei in Q2.
• Auto: Launched 2 new compounded products for Delphi
China - R413H (black and natural) and 49H (black and natural).
• Consumer & Industrial: Obtained approval from Technoform
Germany to supply R550…a 50% Glass Filled Resin compounded
product. (Thank you to Foley for figuring out tough processing!)
Business Outlook
We saw numerous customers reduce their inventory levels in Q3
in anticipation of a slowing global economy. In some segments
(such as appliance & computer production) production levels were
cut by 30-40% during Q3. On a brighter note, auto production
levels globally are forecasted to remain relatively strong…and we
hope that will true. We have concern over a possible double dip
recession; however, we are committed to working very closely with
our partners during the tough times. We’re talking daily with our
customers and at the same time we’re looking for new opportunities
to continue to expand the business. Polymers & Fibers | Dick Prinstein
Key Successes
We renewed and extended our sales agreement with Suntex,
a specialty textile fiber producer in Taiwan. We added 18 months
to the agreement and negotiated a 30% increase in volume for
textile polymer.
New Products in 3Q 2011
At TWD, a German textile fiber producer, we have conducted new
product improvement trials on our new textile polymer, 41SD1.
Preliminary results are encouraging, and the customer has
complimented our spirit of cooperativeness and technical support.
(Thanks to the European and US Technology team for that!) We
have launched an innovative new bcf carpet yarn. (‘Ombre’ made
at Greenwood.) It features variable denier and variable dyeability
to allow carpet mills to produce a striated look for commercial
carpet applications. We’ve teamed with J&J Carpet Mills to
introduce this new technology.
Business Outlook
In general, demand from our customers has been very variable
recently for a slew of reasons.
• Japanese auto production has restarted after the earthquake
and tsunami damage earlier this year which has strengthened
our polymer sales for airbag yarn.
• The Chinese government has been putting policies in place
to moderate inflation. An out come of that has been a slowdown
in the Chinese auto market, which slightly decreased our sales
for tire cord polymer in China.
• On the other hand, worldwide demand for our polymer for
industrial uses (airbag, tire cord, etc.) has been relatively strong.
• Textile customers have felt the effects of global economic
uncertainty as everyone in their supply chains has become
very sensitive to inventory levels.
We expect that Industrial demand will remain strong in the next
quarter. Carpet demand will stay relatively stable, since our customers
tend to service the commercial market, which has recovered more
than residential, which is so tied to housing. The fourth quarter is usually
the strongest quarter of the year in Textile. This year that upsurge
will only offset the softness from worldwide economic conditions.
On October 11th, the Pensacola Bay Area
Chamber of Commerce hosted a celebration
event and symbolic ribbon cutting ceremony
at Ascend to celebrate jobs creation and
capital investment, associated with the
Enterprise Florida grant. Tim Montgomery
kicked off the event with a warm Ascend
welcome and introduction of honored guests,
including Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward,
Matt Lowell from Enterprise Florida, Donnie
McMahon, Chamber Board Chairman, and
Wilson Robertson, County Commissioner. Barry Penney delivered the keynote message in which he paid tribute to the rich heritage of
experience at Ascend, as well as our dedication to the community. • Other guests included community business leaders and site leadership.
Our heritage of experience was illustrated in the attendance of one particular guest -- Jim Brumley, the original director of research and
development at the plant, and the namesake for Brumley Lake. • Each of the dignitaries gave brief remarks, all with a similar theme of
acknowledging Ascend's history in the community, and its contribution to the Pensacola Bay area. In speaking of Ascend, Mayor Hayward
said, "We have a global player right in our backyard....the city of Pensacola is committed to Ascend."
Pensacola Celebrates Expansion
ISC Scorecard | 3Q
Major Achievements3Q11 represented a return to full operations across the chain after the Decatur tornado outage. Of particular note is the significant breakthrough of ADN electrode package life. As a result of several technology and A2E projects, these packs are lasting 10 times their historic levels, leading to a significant increase in capability. Additionally, CP22/23 started up uneventfully increasing our Polymer Chip capacity to over 1 billion pounds per year
Major OpportunitiesWith our significant increase in ADN capability, HMD has now become our biggest challenge. The good news is we have a strong combination of Technology Project, and Operations initiatives underway to push our capabilities further in this area with specific efforts on catalyst performance being tested during the 4th Quarter. In Chocolate Bayou we need to understand and address our recent rash of AN trips to set us up for 2012 operations.
AOP ACT
Percentage of SIOP
100% 95.15%
Customer Promise OTD
97% 92%
Quality defects parts/million
N/A* 23,464
Meeting Customers Needs
* This was not previously measured/not available Ascend wide.
Chemicals | John Ferguson
Key Successes
We successfully negotiated new sales contracts with:
Solvay (HMD for PPA High Temperature Nylon). Significant
contract term extension for one of our key HMD customers.
ITWC (AA for Polyurethanes). Extended term, increased price.
ArrMaz (BHMT for Asphalt Chemicals). Gained new business.
External Events
Acrylonitrile demand and margins continued to weaken during
Q3 due to poor demand for the three major AN derivatives (Acrylic
Fiber, ABS, Acrylamide) resulting in a shortfall to AOP vs. plans.
The slowdown in the Chinese economy as the Chinese try to curb
inflation remains a contributing factor. Additionally poor consumer
confidence and lackluster consumer spending in NA and Europe
due to current global economic conditions continue to affect
demand. These factors are now also affecting market demand for
Adipic Acid, though our sales continue to be strong as we mitigate
reduced demand to North Amercia contract customers by selling
in the spot market globally.
One bright spot is that the EPA’s recently finalized Cross State Air
Pollution Rule should spur significant (and sustainable) increased
demand of AGS for use in SO2 scrubbing systems utilized in power
plants, thus increasing our profitability and taking load off our
Pensacola deep-well operations.
Business Outlook
For Q3, challenging economic conditions will continue to create
headwinds for sales of our Chemicals.
7
Being an extruder operator includes not only running the extruder,
but making pre-blends or batches and packing out the finished
product. Being on a shift that has a good supporting cast makes
his job, whether it be running the extruder or one of the other
jobs, fun and exciting.
Peter and his colleagues must work closely together. “We (Bill
and Mark, the other two extruder operators on the Shift) just click,”
he says. “We know what the other one’s going to do almost before
he does it. By functioning so well as a team no one individual
gets overwhelmed by the task or tasks at hand.”
Peter says his job is all about working safe, making a quality
product, maximizing our pounds per hour, and giving good
customer service to his internal customers, thereby ultimately
taking care of the external customer. He takes seriously his role
in making a profit, and expanding product lines to ensure job
security for him and his colleagues for years to come.
“Making a quality product while working safely, to make money —
that’s the bottom line”, he says. “For every minute of down time
there is a production loss on average of 60 lbs. which is equal
to a minimum of $75/minute.”
Peter grew up in Lillian, Alabama. Not only is Peter a certified EMT
since 2009, he also completed the 168-hour Alabama Industrial
Development Technology Course learning to build thrust reversers
for airplanes. In addition to keeping busy with two sons, ages 18
and 8, Peter enjoys power lifting and ice hockey in his spare time.
Peter started with Solutia in 2003 and officially joined the Ascend
team in March of 2010.
Peter primarily supports Vydyne operations but works with
other units as well, like logistics, lab, and maintenance, to supply
a good quality product to the customer.
The Vydyne operating area is comprised of three main functioning
tasks: extruder operator, pre-blend/ batch operator, and packout
operator. With each of these in a 50-foot radius, each one has to flow
well to make a quality product. “Each shift I may perform a different
function, but I must ensure good customer service to my fellow
workers, and they ensure good customer service in return.”
Peter says that by following this simple rule, they have managed
to improve their run rates from 3,400lbs./hr to around 3,900lbs./hr
on a consistent basis. “We take every increase seriously”, Peter says.
“If we can make just 25lbs. more per hour at the end of a 12 hour
shift that’s 300 lbs., and 600 lbs. for the day. That’s 18,000 lbs.
for a month and 216,000 lbs. for the year!”
“We celebrate the small increases”, he says. “As the new extruder comes on line, in the coming months, this will be an exciting time for not only me but for the whole Foley team.”
8
The "E" in ESSH by Don DuRivage
The acronym ESSH is as prominent as other company acronyms such as BUL or DRIVER. But what do the letters ESSH stand for? We’ll take one letter at a time—first letter first! The letter E is first for a reason. If you guessed E stands for environment you’re half right. It also means everyone. With environmental compliance more important than ever, everyone plays a vital role in keeping our plants compliant. Of course there are environmental professionals at each plant, but we should all be committed to sustainable practices that result in environmental compliance.
The Environmental Core Team is a great resource for ensuring compliance. Their work on environmental innovation includes studying ways to ensure Ascend is at the forefront of sustainable practices.
Team members are environmental professionals from the sites—Laura Aymet, Decatur, Sharron Crayton, Chocolate Bayou, Don DuRivage and Lori Napper, Greenwood, and DeAnne Sanders, Pensacola. In its second year, the team has already had success —
Responsible Care RC-14001 / RC-MSThe Chocolate Bayou or Decatur facilities have achieved re-certification of RC-14001, and Pensacola, Foley, and Greenwood are working toward RC-MS, and will be working toward certification throughout 2012.
VOC Minimization GuidanceAn engineering guidance document was created stating specific recommended actions to minimize Volatile Organic Carbon (VOC) emissions from pumps and piping for new projects.
ESSH
Peter Parker is an Extruder Operator in Foley.
My Job Rocks! by Peter Parker
Don DuRivage is an ESSH Senior Manager in Greenwood.
As an extruder operator, every batch and every product has its own
characteristics so everyday can be different. But that’s why Peter Parker’s job rocks!
9
APEX 2011 On September 19, 25 delegates from 7 Ascend locations stepped
foot onto the beautiful grounds surrounding the New River Gorge
in West Virginia to celebrate A2E achievements, share best practices
and help lay foundation for speedier and better ways to achieve
breakthroughs. Those attending, either by individual merit or voted
by their A2E team to represent the team project were:
These individuals represent the highest ideals of A2E leadership,
engagement and ownership. Over three days they spent time
in teambuilding and brainstorming sessions to help find ways
in which the impact of A2E can be improved across the entire
Ascend organization. Fred Poses, CEO, made an impression on
the group as they dove in and presented their projects with pride
and passion on the first morning. Fred challenged the group to
think of progress in terms of breakthroughs, and not be satisfied
with incremental improvements – go for the big opportunities
to get the big results.
But it wasn’t all work and no play! APEX Delegates, along with
other members of the Ascend team acting as hosts to the event,
learned that flying through the tree tops wasn’t just for monkeys!
Several delegates quickly got over any fear of heights when they
had a chance to experience zip lining for the first time! Day 2 found
others getting over water anxieties. Rafting guides took the teams
up to the top of the Lower New River to begin the adventure of
a life time, as they boarded 8-man rafts and began a white water
journey that left many hearts racing. Team building skills learned
in the earlier sessions were key here!
The APEX delegates left West Virginia motivated to think not just
about how good they may be today, but to think about how good
they could be!
PensacolaAnnabella AndersonJeffrey CarreonAnnie DodsonLakelyn McIntyreJack MussellGeorge ThompsonDaniel TorrezWalter Woodfin Jr.
EuropeSigrid Christensen
FoleyKendall GoochPeter Parker
GreenwoodDevlin AmyxBobby DavenportGary PriceGerald Upton
Chocolate BayouJoe De La Rosa, Jr.Jason MerchantScott MoffattTerry UnruhBrandon WattsPaul Pathasema
DecaturDarrell EddlemanJoe FortonRay Halbrooks, Jr.Kevin Linderman
Don’t settle for incremental gains!
Go for the breakthroughs!
Speed counts!
Constructive Dissatisfaction
10
Congratulations!40 Years
Don Laster
35 years
Gregory Simmons
Gregory Zabrecky
Cora Jean Heard
Jesse Roakes
Kent Nesvik
20 Years
Robert Turner Jr.
Julian Bolden
Darleen Haddock
David McCullough
David Newsome
James Preston
Timothy Segars
Sheryl Aiken
Kathleen Broome
Nancy Siegler
Pensacola
Chocolate Bayou
Chocolate Bayou
Foley
Greenwood
Pensacola
Chocolate Bayou
Decatur
Decatur
Decatur
Decatur
Decatur
Decatur
Greenwood
Greenwood
Greenwood
Customer Service
IT Corner
Ascend celebrated National Customer Service Week October 3-7 with banners,
balloons, dinners, and gifts—all in celebration of our valued Customer Service
teams in Atlanta, Houston, and Pensacola! Started by the International Customer
Service Association in 1988, National Customer Service week is a national event
as proclaimed by the U.S. Congress. Each year, thousands of businesses celebrate
Customer Service Week to recognize the importance of customer service, and to
honor employees responsible for the taking care of customers. Thanks to Ascend
Customer Service team members for your customer focus and your professionalism
in representing the company to our customers!
Lisa Entrekin is a Customer Service Advisor in Houston.
Pensacola Customer Service Team
Houston Customer Service Team
by Lisa Entrekin
by Donna Luebbers
A common request we receive for I.T. assistance
is when Outlook 2003 users stop receiving new
email. It is most often due to users going Offline
in Microsoft Online Services. The email mode is
located in the lower right hand corner of the screen
and will appear as either Online or Offline (assuming
status bar is enabled). If a user stops receiving new
mail (or their email does not get sent out) that is
the first place to check. If it's in an Offline state,
use the drop-down arrow and uncheck the Work
Offline setting to put Outlook back in Online mode.
Ascend News Editorial Advisory Board wants your thoughts!Have ideas to share? Want to become a member of the Editorial Advisory Board? We would love to hear from you! If you are interested in contributing to Ascend News pleasecontact us at [email protected].