PlantSuccess Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue 5
Dear Subscriber:
Last year’s PlantSuccess
in Houston was held just three weeks after the invasion of Iraq by US-led
coalition forces. PlantSuccess Gulf Coast 2004, also at the Hilton
Houston NASA Clear Lake, is 6+ weeks after the signing of an interim
constitution by Iraq’s Governing Council. The second event and its promise of
freedom to 25 million Iraqis were possible only because of the first event.
We are just a couple of
months shy of being able to celebrate the 217th anniversary of one
of the most important events in the creation of our own country – the unanimous
election of George Washington as president of the Constitutional Convention
almost 12 years after the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The US
Constitution, with credit going to James Madison, a deputy from Virginia, as
its primary author, was signed by 39 delegates the next September and ratified
by all colonies by the following June. After almost 216 years, US citizens
enjoy the benefits of history’s longest democracy; could there be a better
legacy to share?
PlantSuccess is building
its own legacy of sharing – the experience of managers and other decision
makers, from process industry leaders, addressing the successful implementation
of engineering IT and speaking to business drivers, work processes and
integration requirements. Over the past five years, 100+ speakers from more
than 50 companies have shared their experience with best practices that improve
project and plant operating performance. The “conference table” for this group
has been set by some of our industry’s most successful executives from DuPont,
Rohm and Haas, Bayer, Air Products, Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil.
We are continuing this trend
in Houston next month with Tom Jefferson, Director, IT Production & Technology,
Bayer Polymers, LLC and his presentation: Facility and Asset Management: Delivering
a Realistic Value Proposition. Jefferson leads another roster of outstanding
speakers.
Best Practices Driving Plant Performance Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake 22-Apr-04 Preliminary Agenda |
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Thu;
4/22/04 |
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7:30 – 9:00am |
PlantSuccess Registration – Grand Ballroom Foyer
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7:30 – 8:30 |
Continental Breakfast – Solutions Marketplace –
Grand Ballroom |
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General Session |
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8:30 – 9:30 |
Welcome – Carl Howk,
Chairman |
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Introduction: Kirk Wilson, VP of Engineering Services,
Bayer Corp |
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Keynote
Address: Facility & Asset
Management: Delivering a Realistic Value Proposition |
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Tom
Jefferson, Director of IT Production & Technology, Bayer Polymers,
LLC |
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Moderator: Joe Morray, President, Trinity Technologies
Corp |
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9:30 – 10:15 |
Site Management: A New Role |
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Tom
Bates, Site Manager, Degussa Corporation |
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Moderator: Dan Rivard, Principal, Rivard Solutions,
Inc |
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10:15 – 10:45 |
Beverage Break – Solutions Marketplace |
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10:45 – 12:00 |
Session A -- Operational Effectiveness from the
Platform to the Plant |
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Improving
Operational Performance in the Offshore Environment |
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Dave
Purvis, Business Planning Manager, Shell Exploration & Production |
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Presentation
4 |
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Speaker
4 |
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Moderator:
Charlie Gillard, Principal, C.F. Gillard & Associates |
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10:45 – 12:00 |
Session B -- Collaboration Works |
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Taking
Projects "Out of the Box" - Challenges & Successes |
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Sylvia
Rappenecker, Dow Design & Construction Product Manager, Dow Chemical |
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Presentation
6 |
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Speaker
6 |
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Moderator:
Session B |
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12:00 – 1:00pm |
Buffet Lunch – Solutions Marketplace |
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1:00 – 1:45 |
Right Risk -- Powerful Principles for Taking Giant
Leaps With Your Life |
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Bill
Treasurer, Captain Inferno, Giant Leap Consulting |
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Moderator
Presentation 7 |
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1:00 – 1:45 |
Strategic Planning Brings New Life to a Reliability
Program |
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Jay
West, Technology Development Manager, BE&K Industrial Services |
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Moderator
Presentation 8 |
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1:45 – 3:00 |
Session C -- MOC Across Divisions, Products and
Systems |
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E-MOC:
Electronic-based Management of Change |
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Malcolm
Reid, ESG Quality Manager, Air Products & Chemicals, Inc |
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IT
Systems Enhancement Using Stage-Gate Methodology |
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Kevin
Hunter, IT Business Solutions Manager, Lyondell Chemical Company |
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Moderator:
Bill Treasurer |
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1:45 – 3:00 |
Session D -- Improved Profits From Maintenance &
Reliability |
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Propagating
Best Practices through a Complex Global Organization |
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Tim
Jordheim, Manager, Plant Business Solutions, Cargill, Inc |
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Presentation
12 |
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Speaker
12 |
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Moderator:
Session D |
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3:00 – 3:30 |
Beverage Break – Solutions Marketplace |
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General Session |
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3:30 – 5:00 |
Sponsor Panel Discussion -- Solutions for Process
Industry Owner-Operators |
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Moderator:
Joe Morray, President, Trinity
Technologies Corp |
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5:00 – 7:00 |
Cocktail Reception – Solutions Marketplace |
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5:00 – 7:00 |
Visit PlantSuccess Sponsors ... Learn Their Capabilities
– Solutions Marketplace |
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7:00pm |
Wrap-up and Drawing for Raffle Prize -- Solutions
Marketplace |
Within a day or so, the
agenda will be complete and on-line registration will be open at www.PlantSuccess,com. We look forward
to having you join us and to another outstanding conference. If you have
questions or need additional information, please call 770-565-3282.
Carl Howk, Chairman
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Current Links
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It's Time to Talk
Sense about Outsourcing
A
presidential election year guarantees that one of the most divisive topics –
outsourcing – will get little, if any, realistic coverage from the press. Knowledge@Wharton
has contributed a meaningful, comprehensive article to what should be a
discussion. An extract:
” Politics apart, the reality is that
outsourcing is as old as the corporation. One business arranges with another to
make a widget or provide a certain service that it cannot do itself, or does
not wish to do, so that it can focus on the parts of the business it does best.
The sourcing arrangement is normally seamless, and it matters little to end-use
customers who have been paid to perform the outsourced work.
“Flash-forward to today,
though, and it becomes clear that the phenomenon of outsourcing has taken on a
whole new dimension that companies even a decade or two ago would find
astonishing. Experts at Wharton and the Boston Consulting Group say sourcing is
no longer a tactical option that can help a firm save a few dollars here and
there. Rather, it has emerged as a strategic necessity in an era when
opportunities offered by “low-cost countries,” such as China, India or Mexico,
abound. Indeed, these experts say that the sourcing juggernaut will continue to
move forward, despite occasional missteps and retrenchment, and transform
national economies in both the developed and developing worlds in the process.”
READ MORE
Over
the past several years, most of the process industry has downsized, right-sized
and cut about as much cost as is practical. An improving economy will provide
growth opportunities to those who are prepared.
An
interesting article from Optimize Magazine with the subtitle: Sustained growth is always possible
if a company focuses on the basics and then risks trying something new. An extract:
“When
we asked executives to what extent they exploited their growth potential, more
than half said their company was reaching just 50% of its true growth
capability. Yet, only a handful know how—or where—to tap into their potential
for growth.
“The
fact is, growth opportunities are everywhere: in every business unit,
department, function, office, process, and region. So what's the secret to
realizing this ubiquitous growth? The truth is, there isn't one. Chief
executives who achieve superior growth don't possess a covert script that
others lack; they simply know how to map out a course for long-term growth for
all parts of the company, from the ground up, and then execute it flawlessly.
After building a strong foundation, they stretch their organizations and
product lines toward innovation and take risks that lead to breakthrough
growth.
“We discovered this after
conducting numerous studies on corporate growth and exploring both short- and
long-term growth strategies. Using a database that encompasses 98% of the
world-market capitalization, we examined 29,000 companies over 14 years and we
interviewed numerous CEOs. We found that superior growth is within reach for
all companies, in all industries and in all phases of the economic cycle.
Moreover, 70% of the growth opportunity available to any company lies in
internal factors that are under the CEO's control; only 30% is beyond company
walls.” READ
MORE
The Center for
Individual Freedom (CFIF) offers a series of interesting and sometimes challenging quizzes on
history and civics that is great to share. For both correct and wrong answers,
information is provided on the test results of different age groups – very
disconcerting. Even high school, students are not learning what is needed to be
effective citizens or employees and, for the most part, it’s not because of a
lack of money in the school district. READ MORE
The PlantSuccess Newsletter
generates a substantial number of visits to our website, we welcome the interest
and the access to previous issues of the Newsletter which are available there.
If you'd like to share this newsletter with a colleague, just forward a copy.
Subscribe or cancel by sending a request to Carl.Howk@PlantSuccess.com
Full
links to Volume IV, Issue 5 Newsletter articles:
2. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/939.cfm