insideSuggestions of questions? inside.dyneema@dsm.com

We’re halfway through the year 2014, heading at full speed towards the summer vacation. This is a good moment to take stock. As you know, our 2014 target is 10% growth. This, admittedly, is an ambitious target, for it is considerably higher than the market forecast, which ranges from 3 to 6%. Although for the time being our growth figures are a bit lower than hoped, I’m still convinced that our 10% target is not unrealistic. As long as we maintain our focus on our ‘three rules’.

Let me remind you of these three rules. The first rule is: better before cheaper, in other words, quality above all, which holds for the entire range of our services. The second one is: revenue before costs, which means: selling! And the third rule is: abide by the first two rules!

Making the difference Let’s get back to our growth ambition. As said, the first six months were a bit disappointing, though the picture fluctuates for the various segments. Commercial Marine/Sports is doing fine, even slightly exceeding the target, Life Protection is considerably below the target, and High Protective Textiles is slowly rebounding from a somewhat difficult start. The causes? I can think of many, but I realize that causes are no excuse. The 10% target is not something just dreamed up, we know that we can and must realize this if we want to continue to make the difference in the market. And after all, that is what we want! Standing out from the rest: in new product and new market innovation, in excellent service. Making this happen requires an ongoing effort, and for that we need the best people. The 10% growth will yield the cash we need. Lower growth thus means less money for innovation. And with less innovation it is more difficult to stay ahead of our competitors, which in turn makes it less easy to sell our product…

More freedom In this context it should be noted that selling is not the responsibility of only the sales organization! Everyone plays a role in the selling process, from account manager to operator, from customer services to quality, from new business to logistics. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so what we need is a company-wide strong perfor-mance. That’s our basis. Furthermore, it is of course essential that we continue to respond alertly to opportunities, which is possible only through good cooperation, within teams and between departments. A great opportunity is now presenting itself in the field of High Perfor-mance Apparel, which until recently was managed by NBD but is now a new DSM Dyneema entity. The HPA team, led by Noud Steffens, will be given much freedom in its market approach and will be less thwarted by procedures. We are thus abandoning our traditional way of working here and we will find out by trial and error if this new way of working is effective. Good (safe) vacationAnd finally there is this: so far our SHE performance in 2014 has been very good. I’m always wary of saying this out loud, for before you know it … However, for the time being we are well on track, so congratulati-ons are due! With the vacation approaching, safety always gets an extra dimension. In the organization the work has to be done by fewer people while safety still needs to be given the same degree of attenti-on. So please stay alert, even when this must temporarily be done in a different context. But we also have to be aware of safety when vacatio-ning, en route to our holiday destination, and on the return trip back home. I urge everyone to take your own safety extremely serious! I want to conclude by wishing you all a great vacation. Enjoy and make sure you come back well-rested!

Gerard de Reuver

Dear colleagues,

issue #03june 2014

DSM Dyneema – 1

DSM Dyneema – 2

“Five-S Factory Makeover” for DAP3

What is Kaizen? It is a Japanese word meaning “continuous improve-ment” that originates from 1950s era concepts given to Japanese manufacturing by W. Edwards Deming. The fifth of Deming’s 14 manage-ment points is “Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service.” Deming’s Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle is important in realizing continuous improvement. Our team, supported by coach and Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt Merwan Mehta, trained on the 5S process and its benefits. They were introduced to the stages of 5S: Sort out, stabilize or set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. Waste walkAfter this introduction, they conducted the first stage of 5S, Sort, with a waste walk and red-tag exercise to identify items that should be removed from the DAP3 production floor F-oven areas. There were three focus areas for the event: set-up, bus stop and F oven. They identified opportu-nities to improve area arrangement, tool availability and access, and they even installed a new blade-changing station.

Everything in its placeThe result: the area is now cleaner, more organized and orderly and everything is in its place. These improvements will help decrease exposures, improve efficiency and quality, enhance workplace control and reduce waste and cost. More Five –S Makeovers are planned for other DAPs in June to standardize all Fiber production areas. The improvements will be sustained as Fiber employees adopt the 5S princi-ples and provide feedback for even more improvements in the future.

ExperiencesStephanie Rouse, Fiber Training Specialist: “I had not been involved in 5S and didn’t know anything at all about it. It was a good learning experi-ence and was actually fun. The DAP3 project gave us a foundation to build on; improvements that were made can be expanded to other DAPS and new ideas can be implemented. I think it gives the operators a bigger sense of ownership to be able to share their ideas and be involved in making decisions.“ Will Anderson, Fiber Technician I, who has been involved with Lean Six Sigma culture and multiple Kaizen events as a supervisor with a previous employer, participated in the 5S event and notes: “DAP3 was a good baby step. It got people involved and you could see by the end of day 2, everyone started realizing that everything does have a place, and it looks good. You have to change the way you look at waste and they could see it all around. The enthusiasm was great once people realized what the changes were doing for the appearance of the DAP and the ease of finding the right tool without having to search for

A cross-functional team of Greenville employees was formed to participate in a two-day Kaizen 5S event during May. The primary goal of this event was to apply 5S concepts to the DAP3 Production floor in a Kaizen event, with a focus on areas used by F oven technicians.

Project Champions: Jim Lawless & Scott Quinn ; Process Owner: Bobby Manning;

Event Coach & Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt: Merwan Mehta; Event Coordinator &

Greenbelt Candidate: Stephanie Sullivan

Participants: William Anderson, Herbert Conner, Susan Harris, Paul Hudson,

Walter James, Lee Keel, Tim McDonald, Stephanie Rouse, Libby Zwart

it for 10 minutes. I believe once everyone sees the benefits of 5S, everyo-ne will embrace it. This improves Safety, Quality, and Production.”

AFTER

BEFORE

DSM Dyneema – 3

DSM Dyneema Greenville receives “Prevention Excellence Award”

Lisa Watts, Strategic Communications Manager with NC Prevention Partners stated: “We are particularly proud of DSM Dyneema for pionee-ring efforts in the private sphere.”

Hannah Prentice-Dunn, Program Coordinator with NCPP states: “DSM is an incredible example of how a workplace can support the health of its employees, and we were thrilled to be able to recognize your work” The North Carolina Prevention Partners also featured Randy McGowan, former Site Director and DSM’s wellness program as part of their “Agents of Change” series for use in their e-news, social media, and other communica-tion efforts. View this video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kJ-3EjJl_o

The presentation on this day was so significant as it was Randy’s last week with DSM Dyneema Greenville. As Site Director, Randy had a passion and dedication for continu-ally improving all aspects of SHE, and especially our safety culture and processes. His passion and vision for our safety culture was a very influential force behind our improvement over the years. Being a leader in safety wasn’t just part of his job description - it was in his heart to keep every employee safe.

DSM was presented with the prestigious “Prevention Excellence Award” by the North Carolina Prevention Partners on June 8th. DSM was one of only eight individuals and organizations recognized for exceptional work this past year to support and champion wellness programs promoting employee health and well-being.

Pictured L – R: Michelle Edwards, Occupational Health Coordinator; Deb Mungal, Director of HR&Training, Jim

Lawless, Site Director; Jordan Baker, Exercise Physiologist

Dirk Dupper presents DSM Recognition Award to Randy McGowan On May 30 Dirk Dupper presented the DSM Recognition Award to Randy McGowan.

DSM Dyneema – 4

Dyneema® Force Multiplier Technology ‚wows’ end users in Asia Pacific

Officially showcasing products and life protec-tion applications with Dyneema® Force Multiplier Technology at Defexpo 2014 - a major defense exhibition in India - and also DSA 2014 - a high profile Malaysian and South East Asian focused defense exhibition - the team was able to attract much interest and attention amongst many military and law enforcement officials in the region.

Nicole Ng, Marketing Manager, Life Protection, Asia Pacific said: “These exhibitions have been highly successful in engaging various end-users from various departments, i.e. ranging from research & development institutes to defense forces, from the military, police, special forces… all eager to learn more about products and solutions with Dyneema® for enhanced protec-tion at similar or lighter weight.

It is amazing to see the ‘unbelievable’ expres-sion on their faces when end-users witness the ‘ultra-lightweight’ of the vests and inserts based on product grades from Dyneema® Force Multiplier Technology. It’s something they have never seen or experienced before as they start to reminisce about using heavy and uncomfortable body armor made with traditional materials.

With increasing demand for higher levels of protection and larger protection area, lighte-ning the armor is a key priority. These end-users feel confident that Dyneema® Force Multiplier Technology will be the answer.”

In conjunction with the exhibitions, the team was also able to successfully engage and introduce Dyneema® Force Multiplier Techno-logy with the latest ‘Get The Facts’ video

In early 2014 the Asia Pacific life protection team carried the momentum of Dyneema® Force Multiplier Technology’s successful launch into the Asia Pacific region.

Introducing Life Protection applications with

Dyneema® to East Timor’s Chief of Defence Force

Introducing Life Protection applications with

Dyneema® to Cambodia’s Chief of Navy

Senior Officials from the Royal Malaysia Police Force

trying on vests with SB115

Indian R&D offficials trying on vests with SB115

created in APAC, which demonstrates the proof behind this latest radical life protec-tion innovation step change in ballistic protection. Shitij Chabba, Global Life Protection Segment Director said: “ The APAC region represents strong growth opportunities for our Life Protection segment. The Dyneema® Force Multiplier Technology platform has further strengthened our innovation leader-ship position globally ever since its launch at Milipol, Paris, in November 2013. Both DefExpo, India and DSA, Malaysia provided excellent opportunities to further enhance our customer/end-user engagements, using the Dyneema® Force Multiplier Technology

platform in APAC and educating the visitors at two of the largest regional tradeshows about the superior benefits of Dyneema® for life protection applications.”

DSM Dyneema – 5

Not so long ago the three groups were more or less doing their own separate things. “Knowledge sharing was not optimal. There was not enough exchange between the fundamental research performed by DSM Ahead and Manufacturing. As a consequence, the research projects yielded separate chunks of information that were not or inadequately connected to each other,” according to Joost. Ioana Urseanu, Manufacturing Technology Manager Heerlen: “DSM Ahead discovered great things, but there was little communication and alignment with Manufacturing. This led to frustration on both sides. DSM Ahead felt unappreciated and Manufacturing uninvolved. People at Manufacturing felt that a lot was thrown ‘over the fence’, but no answers were forthco-ming to the questions they really needed answered. Fortunately, things are now beginning to change.”

Communication and collaboration “Explore uses each group’s strong points,” Ioana explains. “Basically, Explore is about communication and collaboration. Our focus now is much more on where the needs of Manufacturing lie and we work together to fill these needs.” Joost: “It is a very complex process. Even though we have been making Dyneema® for some 25 years, there’s still a lot we don’t understand. As a result, many assumptions are made, which are not always based on facts. Improvements are then introdu-ced on the basis of trial and error, which not only costs a lot of time and money but often also fails to deliver the knowledge needed for fundamen-tal improvement. Fundamental understanding and improvement fits in with DSM’s Bright Science profile! Using trial and error only helps us delivering immediate responses to urgent problems. Moreover, this method slows down the development for new grades like Dyneema® MaxTech and Dyneema® Diamond Technology.” Explore therefore provides a new approach. Joost: “Explore is divided into twee main streams. First, combining all pieces of knowledge in models and second, gathering solid evidence for yarn ruptures in our plants.”

Explore modelling“Starting from the basic laws of physics we prepare computer models. This has the advantage that we can simultaneously measure different effects and perform simulations. The results are subsequently translated

The name ‘Explore’ says it all. This program is used to explore the complex Dyneema® yarn production process with a view to better understanding and optimization. “Of course we do not start from scratch,” Project Director Joost Heijnen observes. “The past few years a great deal of knowledge has been collected at Manufacturing, at R&D and at DSM Ahead and ACES. Now it is a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together so we can build on that.”

into practice. The model is validated using plant data, resulting in further optimization.” Ioana: “This way we gradually but surely build up true insight.”

Explore Building Evidence: CSI in ManufacturingJoost says: “Yarn break is one of the persistent problems at Manufacturing for which we have long been trying to find a solution. We have now identified 117 causes of yarn break. Rather than selecting a top 5 on the basis of gut feelings, we now do this based on plant data that we connect to the laws of physics. We put the pieces of the puzzle together. For each cause we determine what are important parameters and what are not. What does theory say, and what data do we get in practice? This results in an evidence-based ranking so that in the end we know exactly where the problem lies. Compare it to ‘CSI’, finding the truth by studying and combing data. For several parts of the process teams start working with models. DSM Ahead, R&D and Manufacturing are represented in each of the teams, while the first line operators are also involved. And through Scott Quinn we also have a connection with Greenville.”“A few months ago we did something comparable with a multidisciplinary team. Important pieces of information were available in the different disciplines. By combining this knowledge, we fairly quick reached the conclusion

that we should better control the spinning process. On 9 July we’ll start working on this in the plant.”

Process breakdown as learning opportunity“That will be an important moment,” Ioana says. ”We will stage a process breakdown, using this as a learning opportunity. If we succeed we will have proof of this new approach which we will then further implement.” Joost concludes: “Explore is for the long term. It’s an investment in time and money that I expect will certainly be worthwhile. We only need to be given the time to prove this. If everything goes according to plan, we will soon be able to involve other parts of the production process and also determine the relationship between, for instance, raw materials and extruder. This way we will improve our understanding and controlling of our process. This will result in less waste, better yarn quality and lower manufacturing costs.”

EXPLORE: “From gut feeling to solid evidence”

DSM Dyneema – 6

Introduction of cut resistant gloves made with Dyneema®

spun yarn in China

That’s precisely what the APAC HPT team did in successfully introducing the new range of cut resistant gloves with Dyneema® spun yarn in China with our global partner, PIP – focused on delivering a good balance of performance and value in a high growth and cost competitive market.

In less than 1.5 months the team worked closely and swiftly with PIP in preparing the product and formulating and executing joint promotional plans for its introduction at the 88th China (Internatio-nal) Occupational Safety & Health Goods Exhibition in Shanghai, China, from 7 – 10 Apr 2014.

In a joint press release during the exhibition, Paul Tao, Managing Director, PIP, AMEA emphasized on China’s market needs to effectively protect the hands of millions of workers in various industries and the value of the close partnership with DSM Dyneema: “The Chinese market has evolved and now the automotive, glassworks, paperworks and other manufacturing/industrial sectors need cut resistant gloves that do not compromise reliable protection, comfort and cost efficiency. These new gloves are designed together with DSM Dyneema to meet China’s National

Market opportunities arise when we continue to persevere. What’s more important is how we can better capitalize on these opportunities with greater speed and effectiveness through stronger collaborations internally and externally, whilst paying attention to market needs.

Standard for Hand Protection, Protective Gloves Against Mechanical Risks (GB24541-2009), based on EN388 level 3 and 5 cut level standards. At the same time, they offer the key benefits of Dyneema® fibers in a cost efficient manner for the Chinese market.”

“This first joint promotion with PIP in Asia delivered positive results in reinforcing both our brands and product value and positioning in China, with more than 50 engagements with local end users. Moving ahead, we look forward to forging more successful co-operative marketing efforts together with key partners like PIP”, said Yang Xiao Tian, Business Development Manager, HPT, China.

Olivier Boubeaud, Global Segment Director, HPT congratulated the APAC HPT team for their swift efforts: “This clearly demonstrates what DSM Dyneema is about – being With You When It Matters even in our business efforts. Continuously moving with speed and efficien-cy and collaborating in an externally oriented manner with our partners truly delivers greater

business value throughout the value chain in a high growth fast-paced economy. ”

PIP’s Latest Range of Cut Resistant Gloves with Dyneema®

Spun Yarn for Chinese Market

DSM Dyneema – 7

Matheus Scarpelli, Global Marketing Coordinator, explains why NPS was chosen. “In itself, customer satisfaction does not say all that much. What is important is loyalty and how people talk about you. If you have customers who are prepared to recommend you to others, that’s a huge boon. NPS measures this loyalty. Did you know that 78% of the consumers base their decisions on the opinions of friends and acquain-tances? Only 14% let themselves be swayed by advertisements. Although these figures cannot be applied directly to the B2B market, they do give an indication of how purchase decisions are made also in the business world. The figures prove there is a direct relationship between NPS and business growth. In that sense, NPS contributes to DSM Dyneema’s focused growth strategy.”

Simple methodNPS is a simple method with a structured phased approach starting with the survey, as Matheus explains. “The leading question to determine the NPS score is to what extent customers are prepared to recommend DSM Dyneema to colleagues or others on a 10-point scale. Customers rating 10 or 9 are considered Promoters, 8 or 7 Passives and 6 to 1 Detractors. To calculate the NPS score you take the % of Promoters minus the % of Detractors. The NPS score lies between -100% and +100%. The score obtained can be benchmarked with other companies worldwide, both in

It’s the customers who determine DSM Dyneema’s success. That’s why we have for years been measuring customer satisfaction. Also in 2014, but this time we wanted to find out in particular if customers are prepared to recommend Dyneema® to colleagues or others. We used the Net Promoter Score (NPS) for this.

your own sector and outside it. Next to the leading question the NPS approach focuses on getting insights on how customers perceive our performance on the most important value drivers like: Innovation, Product Portfolio, Product Quality, etc. We presented these questions to decision makers, influencers as well as users of our products at our direct customers. This way a much broader loyalty picture of the customer is obtained. Since NPS is a lean process it’s an excellent approach to reach and get feedback from our global customer base.”

From listening to acting“The survey was completed end of April and we had a high response rate of 52%. DSM Dyneema’s overall NPS score is 38% of which we can be proud and which is a good basis to further grow from,” Matheus reports. “By way of comparison: the average score for B2B companies is 22%. The first analyses of the findings have meanwhile taken place. On the basis of the results our account managers will contact customers to engage in structured discussion of points to be improved, which will be translated into improvement actions on account, region and/or segment level. This will be started in APAC in June, followed by the US and EMEA in July. By implementing these identified improvements the loop will be closed to further grow customer loyalty, making our growth ambitions more robust.”

Net Promotor ScoreFrom customer satisfaction to customer loyalty

Page 11

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

PrepareDesign & kick-off

AskQuestionnaire

UnderstandAnalyze

DeliverTake actions

2

4

5

1

Only interview

selected contacts

ListenInterview

3

• Inform contacts & schedule

interviews

• Perform NPS questionnaire

• Analyze questionnaire results

• Prepare interview

- Schedule extra interviews

- Prepare interview guide

• Conduct interview

• Summarize insights

• Do client follow-up

– Realize quick win

• Execute win-promoter

plans

• Analyze overall NPS outcomes

• Make win-promoter plans

– Company wide

– Account-specific

• Define objectives & accounts in scope

• Update client map & approach strategy

• Check tools & process infrastructure

– Update driver tree/ questionnaire

NPS CYCLE CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVES THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

DSM Dyneema – 8

Jeff: “We’re an international organization. The numbers of non-Dutch employees and managers in Heerlen and Urmond are increasing. Dutch employee participation practices differ from what people are accusto-med to, and there is often insufficient awareness of the Works Council’s role. A pity, really, as it sometimes leads to unnecessary spite.” For good measure he once again explains the Works Council’s tasks: “The Council represents the employees. At DSM Dyneema we use the consul-tation model, which implies that we are involved at an early stage in decision making about the company’s policy, for instance if there’s a reorganization. You do have to take care, though, that you’re not seen as an extension of the management.”

Works Council restructuringThe current Works Council consists of eleven persons. “We have a great team, and the cooperation with the director (Dirk Dupper) and the management is good and takes place in an open atmosphere.” It’s a pity that the Council’s composition does not truly reflect the diversity in the workforce, as Jeff realizes. “Eleven Dutch males; not a single female and not a single non-Dutch employee. The only thing that is right is the proportion of members from Urmond and Heerlen. We can and have to do better than this. Next year there will again be Works Council electi-ons, and we hope we can then make a step forward. The coming period will be an exciting one for the Works Council. We now have a single Collective Labor Agreement for all of the Netherlands, and that also implies that the consultation structure in the Netherlands is to be revamped. In principle, two scenarios are possible. In the first one we’ll have a Central Works Council, with separate Works Councils for each business group, as in the present situation. In the second scenario there’ll be a Central Works Council with committees for the business groups. I prefer the former option; the decision will soon be taken. I’m one of the members of the sounding board that helps evaluate the scenarios and the entire transformation.”

Learning experienceJeff calls upon colleagues to stand as candidate for Works Council membership. “I can understand why people hesitate,” he says. “The Council work takes up a lot of time, and its membership is sometimes seen as an obstacle to career development. This is really a pity, for it should actually be the other way round. I myself find this work very rewarding. You can really make a difference for the employees and the organization. You are involved in important decisions at an early stage,

and you get a real insight into how an organization operates and into the considerations and dilemmas that play a role in certain decisions. In other words, it’s a great learning experience! In the past you had to be a union member, but nowadays you can also be a Council member without union ties.” Jess realizes that you do need to have a knack for the Council work. “Affinity with organizational issues is important. You need to be something of an idealist, be passionate about this work, but you must also be resilient. Last but not least, people should be able to trust you.” Anyone who’s interested can always contact one of the Works Council members for further information.

Topical issuesAbout topical issues on the Works Council agenda Jeff says: “DSM Dyneema’s position in the global market has changed. As a consequen-ce, our focus has been mainly on costs in the past few years. In 2012 the reorganization took place, and now we’re in calmer waters. In such a reorganization you can really make a difference, in my opinion. You can take responsibility, particularly for the people who become redundant.” Things are quiet now, Jeff says. Topical issues are age-conscious HR policies as well as work pressure, and of course the new-style Works Council.”

Jeff Simmelink has been a member of the DSM Dyneema Works Council for about twelve years, acting as its chairman in the last four. He is also a member of the DSM Netherlands Central Works Council. “The Works Council work is rewarding,” he says. “Moreover, it’s a great way to learn. I do find, however, that the Council’s visibility is decreasing and that its importance is not always appreciated. Therefore I want to make a case for the Council’s work and its value for the DSM Dyneema workforce and management.”

Works Council in the Netherlands“Making a small difference”

DSM Dyneema – 9

Four new tape technology applications thanks to crowd sourcing

Josse: “Our aim was twofold. In the first place we wanted to find out if and how crowd sourcing would work for us. And in the second place we hoped to generate new tape technology applications. Both aims were comfortably achieved.” Hans explains: “Crowd sourcing can take various forms. Usually it is done through the internet, for instance via LinkedIn or other social media. Having already used LinkedIn before, we now wanted something on a grander scale. We decided to cooperate with InnoCentive, an organization specializing in open innovation. You can see InnoCentive as a knowledge broker with almost 300,000 members, called solvers, from almost 200 countries. Via the InnoCen-tive website a Challenge was initiated in which all members could participate. This enables you to tap into a huge source of knowledge and skills.”

Depth and originalityDSM Dyneema started the Challenge anonymously. “Although the perceptive participant could guess who we were,” Josse says. “It was also crucial to formulate a stimulating question without giving away too much. InnoCentive helped us do this. After the Challenge went online, the solvers had four weeks to send in their ideas.” The result surprised us,” Josse claims. “Both in terms of the number of ideas and in their depth and originality. Fifty proposals were sent in, and after a first selection by InnoCentive we received 45. Of these, we thought 37 merited thorough study. Eventually we selected one winner and three other ideas that we can use.”

Mini business planHans describes the winning idea. “It involves the use of tape to protect wind turbine blades. The funny thing is that we have come up with the exact same idea in the past, but we never worked it out. Thanks to the Challenge we now practically have a mini business plan.” Josse: “As coincidence would have it, General Electric recently contacted us about a similar application. We can now start talking with them much sooner because practically all the basic knowledge is already available.” The second idea concerns the use of tape to protect hockey sticks. “This, too, is not entirely new for us. The tape will have to be provided with an adhesive layer for this application. We’re going to contact Reebok and hope we can soon develop this further.” An entirely new idea is the use of tape in the sand bags with which roads are reinforced, for instance in Africa. The polypropylene or polyethylene bags currently used do not

Early this year DSM Dyneema took its first cautious steps in the field of crowd sourcing. “Crowd sourcing gives access to a huge amount of knowledge outside our network,” says Josse Kunst, Global New Business Development Director. Ideation Manager Hans Plug adds: “It gives you a chance to generate new ideas quickly and efficiently, which is why it is an excellent fit within our Ideati-on program.”

have a long service life. Josse: “This idea had been worked out in meticulous detail, even including a design for the bag production machine. A fine example of thinking out of the box, very inspiring and well in line with DSM’s ‘Bright Science’ concept. We are going to contact the idea originator, a Russian. The fourth proposal related to ballistic glass and came from India. This originator will also soon be contacted.”

Positive energy Josse concludes that crowd sourcing is a good tool for DSM Dyneema and that the exercise is worth repeating. “This method works fine and has yielded excellent ideas, at a relatively small investment. An added advantage is that the process has generated positive energy around tape technology.” It should be noted that crowd souring is not a method to be used lightly,” Hans observes. “The theme must be suitable and you should formulate a clear question. In this case we’ve formulated the question very broadly, but questions can of course be much more specific. In any case this proves that crowd sourcing excellently supplements our Ideation approach.”

Inside Dyneema® is a DSM-internal digital newsletter primarily distributed among DSM Dyneema employees. All content published in or made accessible via Inside Dyneema® is for internal use only. Dyneema® and Dyneema®, the world’s strongest fiber™ are trademarks of DSM. Use of these trademarks is prohibited unless strictly authorized. All rights reserved. © 2014 DSM Dyneema Communications

Heerlen Site injury free for one year!

The ongoing SHE efforts are bearing fruit. This is the result of consis-tently paying attention to safety over the years. Ronald: “Systems, processes and procedures have been adapted to meet the SHE require-ments. In the last few years we have focused on behavior through the Alert training courses. This, too, has made a huge contribution. In any case we can conclude that 220 people have consistently made the safe choices, day after day, in the past 414 days. It makes me immensely proud.”

Brain skills“Now we have to hold on to this great result,” Ronald realizes. “We have to make the next step. The improvements we can make are getting smaller and smaller, so we must get more creative all the time. In Heerlen we have been organizing the safety days for some years. At first we did this together with Intense, the consultancy that also supervised the Alert training, but gradually we have come to rely increasingly on our in-house organization skills. This year we opted for an original angle: the brain skills days. In two times half a day the entire workforce will be given an awareness training that focuses on the way our brain works and what this means for safety.”

Not too complicatedFor the future Ronald expects that more attention needs to be paid to systems and procedures. “At shop floor level we regularly hear that too much is embedded in procedures. This stifles thinking, but it especially means that things sometimes are much too complicated. You are thwarting rather than promoting. Bottom-up improvement is needed, but this is something that has to be facilitated. I hope and expect that everyone will be happy to contribute to this. But for now, let’s just enjoy this wonderful success we’ve just achieved!

“The 220 employees of the Heerlen site deserve great praise for their safety performance,” Site Manager Ronald Hoenen says. “Such a wonderful achievement is possible only when safety is a top priority for everyone – both at individual and team level. In April we celebrated working 365 days without accidents. The score now stands at 414 days, which means we have broken the old record.”