Operation Clean Sweep Newsletter December 2017

OCS Profile: Wylie Royce of Royce International

By Jacob Barron, Senior Manager, Communications, Plastics Industry Association

Not only is Wylie Royce, executive vice president of solvent, additive and colorant manufacturer Royce International, the next incoming chairman of the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), he’s also a committed Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) partner, putting the principles of the OCS manual to good use at all of his company’s facilities. Earlier this year we sat down to talk with Royce about his experience implementing OCS.

When did Royce first implement OCS?

It’s probably been about 4-5 years ago. We started looking at product loss and to us product loss is very costly because with additives the value of our pellets is a lot more than the value of just plain resin. Our employees had to realize that every little bit of pellets that they saw somewhere other than in a drum—that was money.

How did you measure the impact of implementing OCS?

We started to gauge production loss and seeing how much we were losing on average per month and per week and tracking that to see that those losses would continue to go down. We’ve probably reduced production loss by 25 percent, but you a have a certain amount of shrinkage in production loss anyway, so when I say we’ve shrunk loss by 25 percent, that actually a 75-percent reduction in actual pellet loss.

How did you engage your employees in the implementation process?

We have weekly meetings where we get together with the managers to address everything. We’re always looking for ways to improve so we started to tell our employees that there are a number of different issues that come up when you have pellets that end up in the wrong place. There’s money that’s going out the door, and the less money the company makes, the less it gives out for bonuses. And that’s just the start of it, so we began to tell our people that the most inexpensive thing they can do to have an impact on the company is to do it right the first time and operate as clean as they can.

Were there any other protocols or procedures that you implemented with OCS?

Basically the managers were made aware of it and they started monitoring it. You have to get them to come around to the fact that for a lot of workers, if there’s a pile of materials in the corner, they’ll notice it for a day or so and then after a couple weeks, they won’t even see it anymore and it just sits there. We had to communicate the fact that seeing pellets in places where they shouldn’t be was not acceptable. It was a sort of re-education on a very personal level for our employees, to get them to change the way they think.

Did you install any additional equipment to implement OCS?

We actually put some additional covering on the classifiers and the shaker tables, which vibrate and take the undersized and oversized pellets out of the mix. That action used to allow pellets to jump out of the table and onto the floor. We put removable covers on those in order to minimize any cross contamination and to minimize pellets falling out.

Over and under the shaker tables are drums that collect any of the oversized or undersized pellets. These are run through production again and they come back as good product.

How does your company continue to monitor and update its OCS program as new issues arise?

We meet weekly with our team and they all review cleanliness in the plant, which is a very important thing. Our main market is food packaging so we have to maintain a very clean environment. Now our employees know that when the plant manager walks through he’s making sure that things are clean and if they’re not, then that needs to be addressed.

If there was one thing you could tell companies that haven’t yet signed up for OCS, what would it be?

I would tell them that you sign up for it and follow the general protocol and then you’ll realize that pellet loss is money loss. It not only hurts the environment and hurts the industry, but it’s hurting you in your pocket too. For a company like ours that doesn’t make a huge volume of pellets, a one or two-percent loss is not a lot, but it’s still too much. A one-percent loss for a big company could be a lot of material, and a lot of money lost. If you take steps to keep pellets off the floor, you’re not only helping the environment; you’re helping your own bottom line. 

Some of you may have heard about the new US OCS VIP member level we are calling OCS blue. Recently launched on an OCS webinar OCS blue is a new, data-driven VIP member offering available to current OCS members. The new member level will act as a recognition for companies excelling within the existing program, allowing them to showcase data and basic metrics that will be helpful reporting tools as OCS continues to grow and gain broad industry support. 

This member level is in addition to the current partner and supporter member options and is deemed VIP as you have to be a current OCS member to apply for it and the application process does require some basic input of data and metrics. The application form is deigned to be simple to complete with 4 sections: Eligibility and contact information, commitments, progress reporting metrics and signature. This form will be live on the OCS website in January for you to review and complete, an email will be sent to all when it is live.

Benefits of joining the OCS blue club include: being recognized in an advertisement in Plastics News (ad will promote program as well as OCS blue members), recognition on the OCS website as well as in the OCS newsletters, a special OCS blue member plaque to display with pride and use of the OCS blue logo on items such as your website, emails, internal communications etc. 

To learn more about OCS blue and the OCS program in general please do visit the website opcleansweep.org.

We have been busy adding a few new features to the OCS website. Firstly we have added in OCS Around the World. This is a great tool to clearly show the international reach of the OCS program through our international license holding partners. The map is interactive, meaning, if you click on a highlighted country it will tell you who the license holder is for that region and link to their website (if they have one). Encourage your international colleagues to refer to this if they are looking for their regional programs. 

Under resources you will see that the print materials have recently been refreshed, so items such as the poster, fact sheet, brochure and manual have all had a face lift. Do print these or share them electronically with your employees to ensure the message of OCS is remembered and therefore good housekeeping practices adhered to. 

In addition to these print materials we have added a new item entitled transportation brochure. This has been designed for you share with your transportation partners, informing them of the pledge you have taken with OCS and encouraging them to adhere to the best practices the program outlines, and take the pledge themselves. As key members of the chain where resin could escape into the environment, engaging transportation companies is essential. Do utilize this brochure and if you have any suggestions for further focused brochures please do share with ebrumley@plasticsindustry.org.