Investing for global expansion TVK

Central Industrial Services (Northern) Limited

Having served the Lucite International site here on Teeside for over four years o ering a full range of production, maintenance and waste management services, we are proud to be working as part of the “team”. rough development and investment in both new technology and personnel, together, we have helped reduce production downtime whilst also improving the safety culture on site. Operating under a number of “Key Performance Indicators” we strive to continually “Drive” the contract forward with plans in 2014 which will include new and improved catalyst handling techniques and improved employee competency. With a site based team managed by Mr Tom Southall and support from regional management and operations teams, the Lucite contract is one which we are very proud of and look forward to developing into the future o ering stability and security to our employees.

www.centralindustrialservices.co.uk

Parsons Brinckerhoff

Parsons Brinckerhoff is a global consulting firm assisting public and private clients to plan, develop, design, construct, operate and maintain critical infrastructure around the world. The Major Projects and Commercial Services business unit provides high quality project control and consultancy services. We specialise in annual maintenance programmes, overhauls, turnarounds and capital projects and are skilled in all aspects of an investment life cycle. Operating from Teesside, we provide a tailored and professional approach to meet the needs of North East, UK and international based clients via innovative, cost effective solutions. We are proud and honoured to be providing a wide range of consultancy services for over 8 years to Lucite International, and thoroughly enjoy working in the progressive and inventive working culture at Lucite International. With approximately 150 offices around the world, Parsons Brinckerhoff can provide in-country resources and expertise to clients venturing into new geographies, as well as a full range of services in the domestic market.

Cordell

As one of the three partners working with Lucite International within the Concord alliance, Cordell Group Limited provides mechanical, fabrication and E/I construction services.

Cordell believe that developing strong working partnerships combined with mutual innovative thinking is a key area in the continual evolution of the existing contractor/client relationship.

Reinforcing these principles, Gary Lawson, Director said, “The establishment and propagation of long term mutually beneficial partnerships with our main client base is fundamental to our business development strategy and the success of the Company moving forward.”

This collaborative approach has illustrated effective use of resources whilst delivering ongoing efficiency improvements and ensuring exceptional SHE objectives are achieved. The success of such innovative industrial partnerships as the “Concord Alliance” which benefit both manufacturer and contractor on a long term basis has assisted Lucite in maintaining their strong global competitive advantage.

Cordell are committed to the long term success of the alliance and looking forward to the continued success Lucite, to the mutual benefit of all members.

Strength in partnership brings benefits for Lucite

Hertel is a leading international industrial services company supporting customers in the oil & gas, process and energy industries, with a coordinated range of customised solutions centred around access, insulation, corrosion protection, mechanical and pipework fabrication.

Working throughout the entire lifecycle of customers’ industrial assets from new-build projects to maintenance, shutdowns, modifications and decommissioning, Hertel’s strength is its extensive experience of continuously improving safety, reliability and operational performance.

Hertel has worked with Lucite for 13 years and the last 11 have been under a strategic partnership known as the Concord Alliance. Specialist partners work closely together drawing upon, and sharing, their multi-skilled workforce to ensure the best team is available to work on the 8,800 annual maintenance routines, multiple mini overhauls to individual production units, capital project works, along with the tri-annual Site Wide Overhaul carried out at the Billingham site.

The flexibility of the Concord Alliance has delivered efficiency savings in fixed costs including significant reduction in management and preliminary costs. Crucially, the Alliance has also concentrated on, and aligned with, Lucite’s world-class SHE performance.

Paul Raper, the Concord Alliance Manager, comments: “In the Alliance we work as a team sharing best practice and delivering efficiency savings across all areas.”

lot more of our business in the future will be about growth beyond Europe. In terms of entering new markets and our next generation of products, we are moving ahead with more innovative R&D and have a number of new products in the pipeline. This will allow us to look at the wider medical devices market and explore how we can best serve the use of acrylics in the LED and 3D printing market sectors.”

Improving productivity and efficiency

For Lucite International, expanding its manufacturing capability is key to meeting its customers’ needs and to driving down the unit cost of production to improve competitiveness. Production output at the UK’s Cassel site, the largest MMA site within the MRC Group, has increased by more than 30 per cent over the last 15 years. In addition to this, significant reductions in the usage of raw materials and energy have been achieved resulting in continuous reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, productivity at the company’s cast acrylic sheet plant, which is responsible for the Lucite® range of products for bathrooms and a broad range of Perspex® products has increased significantly and the next stage of capacity expansion is currently underway.

Paula Tinkler, Lucite International’s Global Procurement Director commented, “Improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness at all levels is key to our ongoing success, and because we operate in every region in the world we have many options. This can be in terms of lower labour costs at some of our facilities and now with shale gas in the USA we can also benefit from this market dynamic. Another key area for us is risk management and whatever happens, our priority is to protect our customers’ interests and supply of products.

“We need to be prepared at all times to manage the many factors that may create distortions to the market, caused for example by natural disasters or political unrest. We also need to strike a balance between lowest cost and lowest risk. An example of how consumer trends can also dramatically influence our raw material markets was experienced by the polycarbonate industry when the market collapsed a few years ago due to the demise of the CD market and the rise in the number of younger people downloading their music.

“Twenty or thirty years ago there was not much changing in the marketplace, but today the pace of change has accelerated and can quickly impact our markets. We are the MMA world’s largest consumer of acetone and we use a lot of gas, electricity and oxygen in our manufacturing processes; we are working intensively to reduce our consumption and to meet the targets we have set ourselves in our global environmental management plan.”

People and values

Lucite International has a simple philosophy, which embraces the concept of continuous improvement. It is embodied in its brand promise of ‘Going Further’ in all that it does. This single-minded determination to achieve excellence means that the company sets itself the highest standards in safety, health and environmental performance, resulting in a positive contribution to its customers and partners, its workforce and the industries and communities that it serves.

As Phil Bailey observed, “It all comes back to the people who make all of the above possible. We continue to invest in our people, building on the great legacy of experience and wealth of knowledge that exists in the organisation – the average service of employees across the European business is more than 20 years. Attracting and retaining new talent, developing people and generating personal growth is essential to building an enthusiastic, diverse, multi-skilled workforce and successful business.” n

For further details of Lucite International’s innovative products and services visit: www.luciteinternational.com

INVESTING FOR GLOBAL EXPANSION

A part of the MOL Group, Tisza Chemical Group Plc (TVK) is the largest petrochemical complex in Hungary. In recent years the company has been seeking out new investment opportunities to strengthen its position in Hungary and in the foreign markets.

TVK is an integral part of the Downstream division within the MOL group, a leading central European oil and gas corporation. The segment’s integration has been significantly enhanced in recent years through the optimisation of the group’s refinery and petrochemical production processes along the complete hydrocarbon value chain in accordance with the group’s philosophy: ‘from crude oil to plastics’. TVK produces ethylene and propylene from naphtha and gas oil, then processes these products using world-class technology to supply low-, medium- and high-density polyethylene and polypropylene products.

TVK is producing commodity polymers in competitive qualities for the plastics processing industry, which products are fundamental for a wide range of industrial application and for production of a huge number of consumer goods that are essential to our everyday lives. The agricultural sector is the main user of their various types of foil products whilst they provide stateof-the-art packaging materials for the food industry. They also supply a wide range of pipes for the construction industry and moulds for car manufacturers.

Flexibility is key

TVK continuously follows the new market requirements and the changes to the reprocessing trends in order to maintain its constant product development process and to complete its product portfolio. The most successful development of the past 10 years was the Tipplen K 850 bimodal, a high molecular weight impact copolymer polypropylene grade for extrusion. Following its launch in 2010, the sale of this product accounted for 6 per cent of the company’s total polypropylene production. This innovation also enabled TVK to become a long-term supplier of the largest European corrugated pipe manufacturers in Germany, Poland and Austria. The Innovation Award received in 2012 from the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce was the crowning glory at the end of this successful development process.

TVK exports over 70 per cent of its production, mainly focusing on central and eastern Europe, although there are some important markets in western Europe too. The largest quantity of products is distributed in Italy, Germany and Poland. “In this critical market all polymer producers are looking for new, profitable segments. Manufacturers in eastern and western Europe – as experienced in the last two years – are able to maintain and even build their market position by taking advantage of their geographical position,” said a company spokesperson.

“We intend to supply our partners with a continuous, reliable service. So their production forecast and efficient stock management are guaranteed. We review our sales strategy to meet the domestic market requirements year by year, and try to adjust it. This means we can meet the needs of the widest range of customers in