Last week, I was ordering something online and saw the delivery estimate was five days. FIVE DAYS?!! Did I travel back to 2010?

Let’s be honest…we’ve all become pretty ruthless customers. We want exactly what we want, and we want it fast. We want it to arrive in perfect condition – and be easy to send back if we no longer want it. 

And if any of that doesn’t happen, we notice immediately.

Because the bar has quietly moved. What used to feel like great service now just feels expected. And that shift doesn’t stay in our personal lives – it carries straight into how our customers experience us.

So let’s talk about Customer Experience – and why it’s going to be a big focus for us in 2026 and beyond.

But first, I want to clarify two things…

• First, “Customer Experience” is more than Customer Service (although that team absolutely plays a critical role). Customer Experience (CX) is the full experience of working with Monument, from the first conversation with our commercial teams, to how we plan and schedule, to how we run the plant, to delivery, communication, and how we respond when something doesn’t go as expected.

That’s why CX is somethingall of us influence and own – just like safety and quality.

• Second, this focus doesn’t mean adding more to our plates.In fact, it means the opposite. To deliver better CX, we have to be even more disciplined about what we prioritize – and just as importantly, what we don’t.

We talk a lot about being ruthless with our priorities. The most important work we do should be the work our customers actually feel—what helps them move faster, solve problems, and succeed.

When we deliver a consistently great experience, we become easier to do business with and harder to replace.

And in a highly competitive market like ours, that matters.

Our Shared CX Calls-to-Action

So what does this mean for us in Operations?

1. ENGINEER the Customer Experience

We engineer processes every day. We break things down, find the root cause, and improve them until they work the way they should. We need to take that same mindset and apply it to CX.

Where are we creating friction?
Where are things slowing down?
Where are we making it harder than it needs to be for the customer?

And then we go after those gaps the same way we would anything else – methodically, thoroughly, and with urgency.

2. Step into the “delighter space”

Even when our traditional metrics are green, that doesn’t always mean we’re where we need to be.

Because customers don’t experience our dashboards. They experience us.

And what they’re telling us is that we have the right capabilities, the right access, and the right people – but they want more partnership. Not just a company that makes and ships product, but a partner who helps them succeed.

We’ve seen this happen across Monument. Take the Brandenburg ChampionX effort as a great example; the team pulled together across functions, moved quickly, and helped ChampionX get to market in a way that made a real difference for their business.

3. Recognize. Rinse. Repeat.

The last piece is making sure we recognize what good looks like. We’re going to be more intentional about recognizing Customer Experience in action.

Not just the big wins, but also the everyday moments where someone steps in, communicates clearly, solves a problem, or finds a better way to get something done.

When we recognize those moments, we reinforce a stronger CX mindset.

Every Customer. Every Time.

The expectations around us have changed. That’s not going away.

The good news is, we’re in a strong position to meet them. The way we’re aligning as an organization – with clearer ownership and better coordination – puts us in a place to deliver more consistently.

So yes…we may be ruthless consumers in our personal lives. But we’re also ruthless competitors – and partners our customers count on.

We have the people.
We have the capabilities.

Now it’s about delivering the best customer experience in every interaction.

That’s what earns the next order, the next customer, and the next opportunity to keep growing.

Gulf Coast

Business Wins

• Several successful trials at Bayport in the first quarter 
• Improvement of Lyondell Acetone 
• Successful Flexsorb trial with collaboration of Houston and Bayport
• Lubrizol cycle time improvement without WFE – Bri Borders and Ted Olszanski
• IDD trial finished up in early Jan – Bri Borders and Yndalecia Martinez
• Bringing sample data into TrendMiner as part of Digital transformation – Ted Olszanski
• Engineering has handled several lingering MI and process safety issues (vessel ratings, RV sizing, failed equipment replacement) – Michael Woerner, Stephanie Gonzalez, Joel Griffin, and Hao Cui

Key Projects

• Fuji estimate
• CH28
• Waste water trial
• Complete Flexsorb trial distillation at Bayport 
• EEP as product

Key Focus

• Continue working on reactor optimization at Houston and Bayport
• Optimization of the assess between GC plants
• Successful ONB campaign

Oxides

Business Wins

• Site Production: 52m lbs. – Entire site: All Production units, shipping, maintenance, QC, Utilities
• Record Quarter of PRG production: 17.6m lbs. (previous record 10.6m lbs. in Q1 2025) – Gary Sipes, Michael Resel, Jordan Lindey, Eathan Peach, and the PRG/EDC Team
• Shipping: Over 50m lbs. shipped out in the first Quarter – Brian Vincent, Teri Gonzalez, drummers, floaters, PCH shipping, and EDC Shipping teams
• LOPC Reduction YTD LOPCs: 431 lbs. vs. 1,720 in 2025 lbs. – Entire site

Key Projects

• EDC #4 Capital Project Improvements: Allowing TPM WIP and EM WIP recovery that wasn't possible before upgrades
• Air Compressor installed and running since 1-8-2026
• EO storage PHA Improvements

Key Focus

• Maintain focus on reducing LOPC’s
• Continue site safety focus

• Disciplined execution on key priorities: Cost Control, PRG, Micro, Afton, Champion X products, Amination, Maintenance Excellence, and Sustainability

Specialty Fuels

Business Wins

• Accelerated transition from Detroit blending to Texas location – Angie Prazak and Bonnie Koechel
• By rethinking how we transition between feed streams, the team reduced changeover time from four days to one or less – eliminating extended steaming, improving efficiency, and increasing available production time at Port Arthur – Milo Duenez, production engineer
• Improved issue identification and action! Key example…By uncovering hidden weld quality issues that standard inspections wouldn’t detect, the team implemented a smarter, risk-based inspection approach—enabling targeted fixes, avoiding costly blanket testing, and establishing a long-term plan to strengthen system integrity and safety – Entire inspection team

Key Projects

• Continuing to produce RP crude at the Baytown site on a 4 day/week schedule.
• Achieving designed rates with reduced staffing with no safety incidents
• Concerted focus on unbudgeted ONB demand to meet large production volume vs. previous limited trial volumes

Key Focus

• Safe operation at the Baytown site on a day shift only operation
• Continuing to identify issues – and take action!

Europe

Business Wins

• Successful commercialization and high yield production of 2-Me-THF as important solvent for the European pharmaceutical market – Commercial team OP, Process technology, QA team, and Operations
• Several successful CP campaigns to support future growth as C12 and C13 distillation (Exxon project), and VMOX and AMIX1000 (both BASF-projects) – Commercial team CP, Process technology, QA team, and Operations

Key Projects

• Continue to implement operational excellence projects to optimize site costs (frequency drives cooling water pumps, condensate recuperation, QC/lab-projects, etc.)
• Safe and successful completion of Project Bridge to increase plant flexibility and support new business development for high-quality and CMR/odor-sensitive products

Key Focus

• Swift implementation new business opportunities – OP and CP to utilize spare capacity
• Drive cost‑efficiency and flexibility initiatives without compromising safety or quality