Interview
Klöckner Pentaplast GmbH / Germany
Marc Setzen Vice President Operations, Europe & Asia
Prior to the Global ManuChem Strategies 2014, we spoke to Marc Setzen, Vice President Operations, Europe & Asia, Klöckner Pentaplast GmbH / Germany we.CONECT: In your opinion: What are the main current challenges and trends regarding management and optimization of chemical production and what are the specific challenges related to your company? Marc Setzen: I would not call it a trend but it seems that people need motivation and empowerment to unleash their full organizational potential. To motivate and foster the working people becomes a growing challenge in management, especially in regards to retention and attraction of talents. we.CONECT: Looking to volatility in commodity markets, which role plays operations management, specifically S&OP and plant capacity management? Marc Setzen: Commodity markets are mainly cost driven as certain quality levels are given; hence if you want to be cheap you have to be cheap. Bearing this in mind it becomes even more crucial to do things “First time right”. S&OP does help to become more predictable and to gain reaction time, which is substantial for leveled production. we.CONECT: Do you use and / or plan to implement new technologies like MES, Big Data & Cloud Technologies? Marc Setzen: No, not up to now at Klöckner Pentaplast. we.CONECT: Do you use mobile technologies to optimize operator management and operator mobility? Marc Setzen: No, not yet. we.CONECT Which role plays the topic critical infrastructures in relation to cyber security in your plant?
Marc Setzen: Well, in the past years shop floor IT was not really a focus but it becomes clear that new measurement and control systems do require different infrastructure. This is why it is a growing topic for us. we.CONECT: According to your presentation “Getting it right – Use of Human Capital as a Competitive Advantage in Process Industries”, could you briefly introduce us to the project and what is important about this topic? Marc Setzen: The presentation is supposed to give a live example on how it is possible to create value with existing resources by managing the key driver of all improvement activities and value creation steps in the right way: human capital. An established learning organization is a sustainable asset to value creation and a source for outstanding results, but it is still pretty rare in the industry. we.CONECT: How different will the Chemical Operations/Manufacturing of the year 2020 be from today’s ones? Marc Setzen: I strongly believe that the current path of automation and control will have the same effect on operations than electronics had on cars and car mechanics. However, for me it will be more an evolution than a revolution. we.CONECT: Thanks a lot for this interview! Interview Partner: Peter Haack and Marc Setzen. Marc Setzen is currently Vice President, Operations Europe & Asia of Klöckner Pentaplast GmbH. He received his Chemical Engineering Diploma from University of Aachen in 1997 and his Executive MBA from the ESSEC-Mannheim Business School in 2010. He worked at Hutchinson Sealing Systems, Polyone, IAC and nkt cables in various positions and was Senior Vice President Central Europe before leaving to work for Klöckner Pentaplast in 2011.
Global ManuChem Strategies brings together industry leaders to discuss the current state of the industry, the impact of new regulations and the challenge to increase efficiency in chemical operations and technical assets. Information about the event and we.CONECT can be found at: http://production-chemicals2014.weconect.com
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