Spotlight on North America - Brenntag

Management NewsSteven Holland seesBrenntag in a good positionto grow despitethe challenging economicenvironment.Increasing momentumDear colleagues,With 2012 becoming a fading memory we are already intothe push forward to continue our growth in all regionsthrough a mixture of acquisitions and organic growth.The year brings a number of similar challenges to theones we saw in 2012. To a large extent organic growthis going to be driven by us working together as a groupto capture opportunities we are seeing in the marketsaround the world. We see these chances particularly withinternational customers and suppliers who increasinglysee Brenntag not only as an access to local markets butalso a channel, which they can use on worldwide basis.Safety continues to improve overall, however, we arestill unhappy with the number of slips, trips and falls affectingall regions. With extra personal care all of thesetypes of accidents can be avoided; it’s a major improvementopportunity for the group as a whole.Growing in challenging economic environments is noteasy but serves to demonstrate to all our stakeholdersthat Brenntag continues to develop as a world class operation.We double our efforts to increase the number ofproducts being sold to existing customers and to capturemore market share by winning new customers particularlyin our focused growth industries.Since our last together magazine we are delighted towelcome all our new colleagues from Altivia based inHouston, Texas, St. Gabriel, Louisiana and Marlow, Oklahoma.The new team brings a major expertise to ourbusiness in the area of water treatment and we are delightedto have significant new capacity for us to grow ina vibrant economic area of the United States.Finally, I would like again to thank everyone of you onbehalf of the Management Board for a great effort in2012 and look forward to an exciting year ahead.Yours sincerely,Steven Holland, CEO Brenntag Group4 BRENNTAG | together 01|13

PeopleThe market informationallows sales representativesto makeinformed decisions.The GSO and I-Kem team: Brian Bumpass, Andrés Lopera, David Núñez,Eugenio Benavides and Kimberly Long (from left to right)Midhun Somy generates and analyzes the market information before sendingit to colleagues around the world.ica’s immense logistics experience, the team is based inHouston even though it is chiefly concerned with Asianimports for Brenntag North America. The team acts as aninternal supplier that has access to almost 200 (predominantlyAsian) suppliers which offer 800 different productsand packaging variants. Brian Bumpass, Asia TradeOperations Leader in the GSO team, interacts closely withhis counterparts at GSO China and GSO India. His aimis to minimize freight costs for foreign imports. Amongother things, this involved reducing the number of destinationports in the USA. Rather than making deliveriesto five destination ports, as was previously the case, allcontainers from Asia now go to Los Angeles, where thehigher number of containers helps to push down unitfreight costs. Performance indicators – such as the ratioof logistics costs to sales or transport costs per container– were defined in order to gage the development of GSOHouston and to come closer and closer to the ultimateobjective of bringing about “top performance in the supplychain”. The success already being achieved since thestart in July last year has been recognized by the GSOCommittee who awarded the team with the GSO BestPerformance Award for Brenntag Latin America.Valuable market information is required to meet thisgoal – this is accumulated by the Market Intelligence(MI) team from the extensive data available from the individualcountries and external Market Information providers.In Latin America alone, a total of 26,000 customersprovide the pulse of local market conditions. MidhunSomy, a senior analyst with Market Intelligence (MI) saysthe whole concept of MI rests on four pillars: customer,product, competitor and supplier intelligence. Frequentmarket reports are generated that talk about directionsof price movements and global supply-demand fundamentalsof major chemicals. “Recipients of market reportsare spread across Brenntag in Americas, Asia andEurope”, adds Midhun Somy. All of the collected marketdata are consolidated, prepared and sent to colleaguesin Latin America to allow all procurement and sales staffto make informed decisions based on these reports. GermánTorres summarizes it like this: “Information is thekey to understanding the factors that influence the marketsand to making use of these.” With this knowledgeand the reorientation of the strategic sourcing he is onthe right way for Brenntag Latin America with his teamin Houston.Contact: Germán Torres (gtorres@brenntagla.com)14 BRENNTAG | together 01|13

PeopleBrenntag North AmericaA life devoted to qualityWith a smile and aheavy heart, JackThorne is retiring after25 years at BrenntagNortheast.After 25 years as head of Quality Control at BrenntagNortheast in the USA, Jack Thorne embarkedupon a well-deserved retirement at the end oflast year. A brief look back:It was at the end of the 1980s that Jack Thorne took overresponsibility for Quality Control as chemical distributorTextile Chemical, before the company was taken over byBrenntag a few years later. A trained quality engineer, herecalls the early days with a smile: “So much has changedin the field of quality control over the last 25 years. Essentially,we didn’t have any properly coordinated qualityprocesses to begin with.” In the 1980s, the US automotiveindustry gave an enormous boost to the perceived importanceof quality controls, which had a domino effect onScaling new heights with “Job 7”After the focus of quality processes continued to shift towardscustomer satisfaction, Jack Thorne applied BrenntagMid-South’s “Job 7” program to the Northeast region as well.This required Brenntag to monitor and carry out every orderin accordance with the “Job 7” principle. Specifically, thismeans that Brenntag North America is obliged to deliver therequired product to its customers at the correct time, at thecorrect price, at the correct level of quality, with the correctdegree of safety and with impeccable documentation. JackSite employees work in three shifts around theclock.The Reading site is the nerve center for BrenntagNortheast.Wagons can be unloaded directly on the site.other sectors. The upshot of this was that Jack Thorne – initiallyentirely on his own – was required to develop workprocesses for a quality laboratory: “It was a massive task– particularly since the first audit was scheduled to takeplace just two months after my first day at work.”In 1994, the further development of the ISO 9000 certificationpushed quality processes up to the next level.Brenntag was also awarded the ISO 9000 certificationat an early stage, something of which quality laboratoryveteran Jack Thorne is still justifiably proud today:“In 1994, the main focus of quality control was still onoptimizing processes, but over time this shifted moreand more towards customer satisfaction.” The numberof employees at the Brenntag Northeast quality laboratorycontinued to increase in line with the ever-growingnumber of regulations for quality processes. The laboratoryhas adapted to the subsidiary’s shift system, withsix employees now working in shifts around the clockthroughout a five-day week.Thorne recalls the impact of the successful national program:“Job 7 became a key area in our everyday work andone that we also used to gage customer satisfaction.”He has already anticipated the next trend: certification in accordancewith the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Thisinitiative aims for more effective monitoring of the supplychain for products that are used in the food industry, thus increasingconfidence among consumers. However, this trendis one that Jack Thorne will only be able to watch from thesidelines. Nonetheless, the fast pace that he loved so muchin his work is still very much in evidence in his retired life.After spending so many years in the laboratory, he now hasthe chance to indulge his great passion – go-karting – farmore often than he used to. This is another area where qualityplays a key role – after all, this is a trend that has its rootsfirmly in the automotive industry.Contact: Scott Leibowitz (sleibowitz@brenntag.com)BRENNTAG | together 01|1315

PeopleCarmen Chapmantook part in the puzzlefor the first timeand won the Kindleat once.Employee portraitLucky winner from New ZealandCarmen Chapman, Account Manager at Brenntag in New Zealand wasthe lucky winner of the Kindle e-reader. She is one of the new colleaguesthat came to Brenntag after the acquisition of ISM/Salkat. Get to knowher a bit more in the short interview.What are your tasks at Brenntag and how long haveyou been working for the company?I have been working for ISM/Salkat for almost eight yearswith the past six months being under the Brenntag banner.We sit in the Health and Nutrition business unit andmost of our products are some sort of functional ingredientrather than chemical or additive – for example: fibre,protein, enzyme, flavor, nutritional fats, antioxidants…you get the idea!What was your best experience in connection withyour work for Brenntag?Winning a Kindle E-Reader! Great prize, very useful andtotally unexpected.Which country, that Brenntag is operating in, wouldyou like to visit and why?I’d love to visit Italy because of the countryside, the cultureand of course – the food!What should colleagues definitely visit if they everhave the chance to travel to New Zealand?There are beautiful places throughout New Zealand andso many you really shouldn’t miss. Being from the SouthIsland originally I am slightly biased – both the MarlboroughSounds and Central Otago (Queenstown, Wanaka)should always be on any travelers list.18 BRENNTAG | together 01|13

PeoplePeople on the moveSince October 1, 2012Florent de la Fouchardière was appointed European ControllingManager for Brenntag Europe, based in Mülheim.He reports to Dieter Wöhrle, CFO Brenntag Europe.Since November 1, 2012Flemming Søderquist was appointed Managing Directorof Brenntag Chemicals Co., Ltd, headquartered in Taipei.He reports to Henri Néjade, CEO Brenntag Asia Pacific.Since December 3, 2012Thomas Cheah was appointed Managing Director ofBrenntag Pte. Ltd./Brenntag Singapore Pte. Ltd, based inSingapore. In his new position, he reports to Jouni Asikainen,President Brenntag South East Asia.Since January 1, 2013Knud Mohr was promoted to the position of Chief OperatingOfficer for Brenntag Asia Pacific, based in Bangkok.He succeeds Jan Dam Pedersen, who retired at the end of2012 after 43 years in the chemical distribution sector. Inhis new position, Knud Mohr reports to Henri Néjade, CEOBrenntag Asia Pacific.Clay Wade was appointed Vice President Operations ofCoastal Chemical Co., LLC. In his new position, he reportsto Jim Doyle, President Coastal Chemical Co., LLC.Since February 1, 2013Franz Lambert is the new Head of Controlling for BrenntagFrance. In this position, he reports to Jean-Yves Dumonteil,CFO Brenntag France.Yves Deconinck was appointed General Manager Exportat Brenntag Export, succeeding Frank Vercruysse, who isretiring. In his new position, Yves Deconinck reports toCarl Blomme, Managing Director Brenntag Benelux.Since February 4, 2013Géraldine Favre is the new Head of Human Resourcesat Brenntag France. In this function, she reports to YvesMérolle, Managing Director Brenntag France.Kim Korff was appointed Supply Chain Director, BrenntagAsia Pacific, based in Bangkok. He reports to Knud Mohr,COO Brenntag Asia Pacific.Vong Chiang Zu was appointed Business Process AnalysisManager, South East Asia, based in Malaysia. In his newregional management function, he reports to Jouni Asikainen,President Brenntag South East Asia.Florent de laFouchardièreFlemming SøderquistThomas CheahKnud MohrFrank Haven was appointed European Marketing DevelopmentDirector for Brenntag Specialties Europe. In this position,he reports to Jan Joop Alberts, Marketing DirectorSpecialties Europe.Kim KorffVong Chiang ZuFrank HavenDarren BirkelbachDarren Birkelbach was appointed Vice President Operationsat Brenntag Specialties, Inc. He reports to StephenBrauer, President Brenntag Specialties, Inc.Eric Haaijer was appointed Vice President Industrial Marketsat Brenntag Specialties, Inc. He reports to StephenBrauer, President Brenntag Specialties, Inc.Eric HaaijerJim DoyleClay WadeFranz LambertIn addition to his function as Executive Vice President,Brenntag North America, Inc., Jim Doyle has assumed theposition of President of Coastal Chemical Co., LLC. and reportsto Markus Klähn, President and COO Brenntag NorthAmerica, Inc. In this new role, Jim Doyle succeeds RandyKing, who retired at the end of 2012.Yves DeconinckGéraldine FavreBRENNTAG | together 01|1319

PeopleThe together puzzleIf you know your chemistry andhave been keeping up-to-date ondevelopments at Brenntag, thenthis new version of the togetherpuzzle is just the thing for you.With a bit of luck, you could evenwin a Kindle e-book reader.Use the specified letters from theanswers to the questions belowto form the solution word – thistime they spell the first and lastname of a prominent biochemistwho was awarded the Nobel Prizein Chemistry. Hint: Some of thequestions may refer to the magazinearticles.1234567Term for monosaccharides with a carbon skeleton of five carbon atoms(1st letter of the word)Name given to the process that leads to the transformation of one or more chemicalcompounds into other compounds(2 words, 3rd letter of the 2nd word)Term for the biological molecules of DNA and RNA(2nd letter of the word)Name given to the elements that are found between metals and non-metals in thePeriodic Table of the Elements(5th letter of the word)Chemical element with atomic number 5(1st letter of the word)Name of the online sales platform developed by Brenntag Latin America(3rd letter of the word)Term for compounds with the same total molecular formula but a different structuralformula(6th letter of the word)Please email your solution together withyour complete address and phone numberwith the subject “together puzzle” totogether@brenntag.de, or send a postcardwith the same information to the editors atthe following address:Svenja Schierer, Brenntag AG, Stinnes-Platz 1,D-45472 Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany.Deadline: April 29, 2013.Happy puzzling!8Name of the internal technical marketing and sales organization at Brenntag NorthAmerica(3 words, 1st letter of the 3rd word)Solution to the puzzlefrom the 4/2012 issue:Louis PasteurThe Kindle went to:Carmen ChapmanCongratulations, Carmen!1 2 3 4 5 6 7 820 BRENNTAG | together 01|13