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Inviting the Customer Along
Best Practices Workshop Held in The Andersons' Hometown
PotashCorp's sixth annual Best Practices workshop in Toledo, Ohio included special guests as the company opened its process improvement meeting to one of its customers, The Andersons.
It was the first time a customer was invited to participate in the workshop. The Andersons, Inc., headquartered in nearby Maumee, is a large, diversified ag retailer with operations in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.
The Andersons Plant Nutrient Division President, Denny Addis, above, was on hand for most of PotashCorp's 2007 Best Practices Workshop — the first such meeting to invite a customer to join the dialogue.
"We were very excited to bring a respected business partner into our discussions," said PotashCorp Chief Operating Officer Jim Dietz.
"The whole idea of a workshop like this is for people at different facilities to explore how others deal with issues such as safety, communications and operating efficiencies," he added. "By including The Andersons' outside perspective, both they and we were able to see what works, what doesn't and share the kind of ideas that can help a facility constantly improve operations."
Denny Addis, President of The Andersons' Plant Nutrient Group, thanked PotashCorp for choosing his company to be the first customer invited to a Best Practices Workshop.
"I'm so impressed with the quality of your presentations," he told those gathered at the workshop. "From a customer's perspective, PotashCorp has always meant quality. During this workshop we've also seen your commitment to an outstanding safety culture. It's one we want to emulate."
Workshop Included Presentations from The Andersons
About 20 employees of The Andersons attended different sessions of the workshop. Division leaders from the company gave two presentations as well as participated in group discussions.
Rasesh Shah, President of The Andersons Rail Group, presented an overview of his company's railroad services that included a discussion on railroad efficiency and the regulatory climate in the US. It was a relevant topic for PotashCorp attendees as the company leases hundreds of railcars from The Andersons in the Midwest.
A second presentation gave participants a detailed look at The Andersons' ethanol operation, which now includes three plants. With ethanol, and the correlated demand for fertilizer to support ethanol corn crops, a hot topic, those at the meeting were keenly interested in the presentation by Neill McKinstray, Vice President & General Manager
for Ethanol.
PotashCorp plant mangers and operations supervisors seemed to welcome the chance to learn the ins and outs of this fledgling industry as McKinstray took them step by step through the process of turning corn into ethanol.
Tour and a Ballgame
The 2007 Best Practices Workshop ended with a tour of The Andersons' flagship Maumee, Ohio plant. With employees from The Andersons acting as guides, more than 40 PotashCorp employees toured their customer's fertilizer and grain storage operations. The meeting was capped off by a trip to see the Toledo Mud Hens beat the Syracuse Chiefs 5-2.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
While safety, operations and human resources issues usually take center stage at Best Practices workshops, an exploration of leadership and ethics was added this year. BST, PotashCorp's safety improvement consultant, presented the leadership seminar on ethics.
"In addition to safety, BST is now providing more training in the area of business ethics because it is a direction that all companies will be taking in the coming years," said Thomas R. Krause, the company's co-founder.
Paul Voss, Ph.D., BST Practice Leader in Ethics, provided a look at ethic models of behavior and leadership through the ages, from Plato to Machiavelli and beyond. Participants explored different scenarios that presented potential ethical challenges.
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