When you’re general manager of The Lubrizol Corporation’s Texas plants, it requires the ability to manage multiple priorities. But Tanya Travis, who has held the general manager position since January 2014, makes this juggling act look easy. Travis manages the operations of Lubrizol’s Deer Park and Bayport, Texas, manufacturing sites, which are part of the company’s lubricant additives segment. Her role includes articulating a vision and working with her team to develop an action plan that is supportive of Lubrizol’s business initiatives, and at the same time ensures the needs of the more than 800 employees she oversees are met.
Travis is focused on developing and leading a learning organization that values a continuous improvement philosophy. Finally, she is responsible for routine functions of capital/expense budgeting, managing employee safety and health, and ensuring the Deer Park and Bayport sites comply with the ever-changing regulatory spectrum.
“I balance between commercial and operational needs, which means you have to look at the longer-term facility decisions while maintaining a perspective on short- and long-range business needs and financials,” Travis explained. “You have to set the picture that makes the challenges and approach of your team one it can understand and support.”
Travis started her career as a process engineer with Lubrizol in 1981 where she was trained by working on shift with the operators.
“This proved to be very beneficial in my longer-range career as it gave me the best viewpoint and perspective of what was involved to operate a manufacturing facility around the clock,” Travis said. “From there, I was fortunate to move on to positions of increasing responsibility. Before taking over as general manager of the Texas plants, I spent five years in our advanced materials segment where I served initially as director of manufacturing for our performance coatings business unit and then finally as the general manager of manufacturing — North America. My first experience as a plant manager was at Lubrizol’s Painesville, Ohio, plant in 2004.”
Expansions and industry upgrades
Travis explained Lubrizol is continuing a 10-year investment plan, which was announced in 2008, to upgrade its facilities by reinvesting in infrastructure and increasing global capacity where needed.
“Our facilities here in Texas serve as a major hub in Lubrizol’s global supply chain,” she said. “In addition, we play a key role in introducing the manufacturing capability for new technology. We will continue to debottleneck and expand units as needed to support our global markets with high-performance chemistry that will deliver efficient lubricants.”
With headquarters in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. According to Travis, Lubrizol is currently preparing for the next industry upgrade for engine oils, known as GF-6. New engine technology with lower emissions standards and higher fuel economy requirements are driving the demand for efficient lubricants.
“We believe higher-performance lubricants are required for higher-performance engines,” Travis said. “That creates opportunity for us as we add customer value through our technology offerings.”
Travis is head of two major facilities, which produce material that contributes to products that support more than 60 percent of the volume sold worldwide. The products from the two plants are used in fluids for transportation and industry including lubricant oils and greases. The product lines include engine additives, driveline additives, industrial additives, fuel additives, energy and water treatment technologies, and other specialty fluids.
Industry challenges
Over the years, one challenge Travis has faced in her career is learning to operate in what historically has been a male-dominated environment.
“As in any situation, you have to meet people where they are and focus on building relationships,” she said. “I have found you might not get to the point that you are fully accepted, but over time people begin to see you are competent in what you do, and more importantly that you are working to make their work experience better.”
Travis emphasized a significant challenge facing the Deer Park and Bayport facilities is loss of institutional knowledge due to employee retirements.
“In the past five years, we have turned over half of our operating population,” she said. “The result is we are bringing in new employees at a time when we are also significantly reinvesting in our infrastructure, building new technology and improving our overall operating efficiency. Success will require our initiatives are appropriately prioritized, understood and we do an exceptional job of identifying and onboarding new talent. This is an exciting time at the Lubrizol Texas plants.”
According to Travis, the chemical industry will continue to remain a staple in the U.S. economy. In Texas and throughout the Gulf Coast, there’s a large concentration of this kind of industry, making it more important than ever to work together.
“If one site has an incident, it becomes an issue for the entire industry,” she said. “The need for us to work together in organizations like the Texas Chemical Council (TCC) and East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA) is critically important to ensure people outside the industry understand the value and positive impact we provide to the region and to the country.”
Safety above all else
With the influx of new employees, Travis said the Texas plants have focused on getting back to the basics, and it has proven to be very successful.
“In 2014, we had record safety performance as a result of our focused effort on training especially with regard to work procedures,” she said. “We are working to ensure a unified plant approach to HSE and security management where we have sustainable systems and solid practices in place.”
As a result of the plants’ efforts, TCC honored employees at Bayport and Deer Park with awards related to safety and environmental practices. The awards included:
- Distinguished Safety Service (Deer Park).
- Distinguished Safety Service and Zero Incidence Rate (Bayport).
An obligation to the community
Travis believes effective community relations begin with operating safely and being environmentally responsible. That is the obligation to the Texas plants’ employees and their surrounding neighbors. All of the sites are active members in the community advisory councils and local emergency planning committees where they are located.
“We engage through the direction of our public/governmental affairs manager with citizens, elected officials and key local leaders to help us understand community interest and concerns,” Travis said. “Lubrizol is a strong supporter of educational programs in our area. We partner in education with Deer Park and La Porte Independent School Districts. We also support the education foundations in our outreach area including San Jacinto College. We provide educational scholarships to students pursuing technical degrees at the college and university level, including providing over 30 scholarships each year for technology students at San Jacinto College.
“We also strongly encourage our employees to support the community through volunteerism. Some examples of their volunteering efforts include Bay Area Houston Habitat for Humanity, mentoring programs, American Red Cross blood drives, Breast Cancer Awareness Month activities and United Way. Lubrizol also has a companywide community engagement initiative designed to nurture efforts at the site level that add value to our extended community. This includes our Matching Gift program.”
Travis currently serves on the boards for TCC, EHCMA and Houston Regional Monitoring. She formerly served five years as a trustee of The Lubrizol Foundation, actively working on the gift committee. She is also a 2008 graduate of the Cleveland Bridge Builders, a program designed to develop civic leaders.
Travis considers family and faith to be essential cornerstones of her professional success. She hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and has a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
For more information, visit www.lubrizol.com or call (281) 479-2851.