So much has changed since I joined West 20 years ago?

I am?a Process Engineer at the Horsens site in Denmark. I joined back in 2003. Because West has?done so well over the years,?they’ve?been able to invest in our facility and in new equipment and?technology, which has enabled us to make big improvements.?

Back when I joined, we were a small?team of engineers. The site has?evolved greatly over the years with?many improvements to the buildings?and interior. Today, we have much?better manufacturing standards, a?cleaner and well-organized?environment that is nice to work in,?enabling us to produce top quality?products and meet our customers’?requirements.?

Over the years,?I’ve?worked on many?different process optimization?projects. At the beginning because?we were quite a small team, I?worked across a wide variety of?different processes. Today I?specialize in our mixing and milling?process.??

Rubber is such an interesting?material. It keeps turning up new?challenges that we need to?investigate and evaluate to find the?possible root cause. Our customers?have also been key in keeping?Horsens on our toes. Customers?always want us to improve our?processes and products to provide?them with better quality.?It has?never been boring.?I’ve?always had?something new to learn, something?new to study and figure out.???

I’ve?had a couple of stand-out?achievements over the 20 years.?One was back in 2006. We had a?rotocuring process directly curing?laminate to the heating drum?surface. We were able to validate?and implement a new material called?Conweb.?It’s?a conveyor belt used on?both sides of the laminate during?curing (laminate in the middle).?It’s?a?much easier process. There is less?adhesion to the drum, and the?product became less sticky. So, it?also helped our customers – they?were very happy. What we?developed improved both our?process and our product. It was?great.???

In 2021, we invested in a mixer with?new modern technology. I was part?of the validation and?implementation process. The?engineering studies were so?interesting, we had to test and set?up the mixing programs for each?formulation working together with?the operators. This interaction is so?important. I rely on our operators to?give me insight, so we can make?things work in the optimum way.?Now?it’s?up and running we can see?it reduces variation in the process?overall. Which is wonderful.??

It's?been fascinating to see how?things have improved in the 20 years?I’ve?been here.???

As part of our 100-year celebrations,?I would?like to say to my colleagues,?to keep up the good work and the?cooperation between all our?different plants.?It’s?very important?to have a positive spirit – because it?makes work so much easier and?more fun for everyone.??

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