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Houston and Brandenburg Expansion Efforts Pave the Way Toward Growth
September 25th, 2019
Business growth rarely happens by chance. It’s usually the result of seeking out and analyzing the right risks – and using them to your advantage. Pursuing these leaps of faith (even when they’re carefully calculated) can be risky – but in the fast-paced and competitive environment in which we operate, the status quo is even more dangerous! Fortunately, Monument is a company that thrives on challenging the status quo – and taking well-calculated risks to position ourselves for growth. The 2018 Bayport acquisition is an excellent example of this approach (and our resulting growth possibilities). Today, we are eager to share an overview of exciting expansion activities at both the Houston and Brandenburg sites that will allow us to transform a range of commercial opportunities into tangible growth.
The Houston Expansion
First, let’s cover the WHAT. Over the next 18 months, the Houston team will continue expansion efforts on two key projects. The first project aims to expand the site’s distillation capacity, primarily to create room for new custom manufacturing (tolling) projects. The second project is the creation of an entirely new unit with a high-pressure reactor that supports chemistries that are new to the site; this undertaking has enabled a successful new custom manufacturing partnership with a big industry player. These two projects easily represent about ten years’ worth of capital projects – so now, let’s focus on the WHY.
“The top reason for the expansion is simple: our growth opportunities were outpacing our site capacity and abilities,” said Umair Virani, Commercial Development Manager. “About 20% of our year-overyear growth has been organic, while about 80% is driven by new business – much of which has been sparked by former KMCO customers, who are in search of a reliable and high-quality custom manufacturing partner following the KMCO crisis in April 2019. Our excellent reputation in the industry is definitely growing, and now, we need to boost our capacity to match the demand.”
Given the significant nature of these expansion projects, Maria Kraemer Gutierrez, Plant Manager, Houston, is quick to point out that these efforts have required a massive amount of collaboration from all site functions.
“Every day, teams are partnering – across R&D, HSE, Supply Chain, Quality, Operations, Engineering – to put the many puzzle pieces together,” said Maria. “We’re also working with a range of contractors to support our efforts, and this requires a heavy amount of planning to ensure they fully understand our plans – and can tackle the work safely, efficiently, and flawlessly.”
“It’s an exciting time that feels true to our roots,” said Jason Dana, Global Engineering and Capital Leader. “Many decades ago, the Haltermann founders took a leap of faith to expand their German base with operations in the U.S., and that bold tradition of expansion – and commitment to growth – definitely continues today with our team.”
The Brandenburg Expansion
Again, let’s start with the WHAT. The Brandenburg team is leading multiple projects that will increase capabilities and capacity, and – as with Houston – are primarily intended to support new custom manufacturing business. As part of this expansion, key customer Afton has agreed to invest up to $2MM to enable the Brandenburg site to produce the chemistries Afton needs.
Other projects will replace, refurbish, or add new equipment and technologies, such as DeltaV™ automation, to ensure the site can deliver the highest quality chemistries in the industry.
The WHY of these expansion activities is similar to Houston’s story: the upgrades will mean more customers, more possibilities, and more growth.
“We’ll be able to produce more complex chemistries – ones that aren’t EO- or PO-based – which means higher margins for the business,” said Mike Purvis, R&D Director, Brandenburg. “We’re really changing the face of what we can do here at the site.”
As with the Houston expansion, the Brandenburg projects have relied on a heavy amount of cross-functional collaboration – and a shared commitment to a “can-do” attitude.
“When I first presented the commercial opportunities to the team, there were quite a few raised eyebrows because of the changes we needed to make,” said Deb Kovacs, Commercial Development Manager. “Fortunately, the Monument mentality is to shoot for the stars when there’s a good business case – so together, we worked to raise the bar.”
The Afton project launched in early September, and additional projects to support new custom manufacturing contracts will continue through the remainder of the year – with even more possibilities to be realized in 2020.
Diverse Efforts – Shared Lessons
The expansion projects may be different between Houston and Brandenburg, but there are definitely common themes and learnings. To start, the growth opportunities on the horizon have shined a spotlight on the important role custom manufacturing will play in Monument’s future.
“Our customers recognize that with Monument, they can have a custom manufacturing partner that is reliable, responsive, flexible, and responsible,” said Virani. “They don’t have to pick and choose – they can have it all. Our excellent safety and environmental record in particular is a big selling point, especially given recent industry events.”
These transformative efforts are also a reminder that no matter what changes we need to make to position ourselves for growth, our core commitment to safety will always remain the same.
“With all of these changes, we must be even more vigilant in our hazard reviews,” said Freddy Rivera-Diaz, Plant Manager, Brandenburg. “Yes, our deadlines are tight, but it’s critical to fully understand every activity before we make a move.”
And finally, the expansion projects highlight the importance of databased decision-making in everything we do.
“There was an incredible amount of discussion and planning before we moved forward,” said Deb. “We made sure to fully understand the opportunities in the market – and what we needed to do to capture them.” “These efforts are a huge undertaking – and Monument has placed a significant amount of faith in everyone supporting the expansion work,” added Maria. “Fortunately, we’re confident that our shared payoff will be just as impressive – in 2019 and well beyond.”
