Narrative 1: Supervising Production of Rattan Bleaching Agent and other Industrial

Maintenance Chemicals
Introduction:
My work as a Production Supervisor started on May 1990 up to October 1991. The area was
located in the Province of Cebu, City of Mandaue, Barangay Banilad along A. S. Fortuna
Street. Island Tradewinds (Philippines) was the name of the company I was working for. At
that span of time, I was the Production Supervisor in charge of planning, organising, leading
and controlling all production activities.
Background:
Island Tradewinds (Philippines) manufactures and sells Rattan or Wood Bleaching Agents
and Industrial Maintenance Products.
The work involved the over-all management of the entire production area. This included the
planning of production work, may it be routine or special. Aside from Planning, I distributed
work and assigned specific tasks. And explained to workers how the work should be done.
Budget for labour and material requirement was part of the responsibilities in the office. I
had to ensure production was achieved according to schedule and at the same time
established production standards. My main goal in this scope of work is to prevent slower
speeds of production which was usually caused by neglected equipment and procedures and
sometimes low worker morale. My office also routinely checked all incoming and outgoing
materials. As the Production Supervisor, I can guarantee production through effective
delegation of job-related duties.
The manufacturing of chemical products should be examined if it is based on approved job
orders given by the end users. My duty also involved the updating of procedures and product
development. I conferred with the sales representatives for the establishment of customers
specification and standard requirement. Consultations and presentations to the customers
were also done to assist sales representatives. My responsibility in this case is to maintain
good relations with companys sales representatives, customers and customer service.
Meetings with outside consultants for research were also one of the tasks for the development
of existing products and procedures as well as for new product lines. These meetings will
keep me abreast with new technical developments.
The main objective of this work was to manage the whole production area according to
specified quantity, quality and schedule requirements at optimum cost. Generally my duty
was to supervise the working force for production. Quality Control was also one of my
duties as Production Supervisor. Developing and adapting effective quality control measures
on materials and products were taken to ensure customers satisfaction. For this matter, the
accuracy of work was guaranteed. Mostly by making certain that procedures are in place to
anticipate errors before it happen or to catch errors right after it happened. I also identified
ways to eliminate the causes of these errors. Therefore, all works done was conforming to
quality standards.
Considering the small volume of work in the production, maintenance of production facilities
was under my responsibility. Also my job is to ensure that all equipment will be maintained
at peak efficiency. Outside source was sometimes considered if production staff was short.
The implementation of safety procedures was also monitored by me to ensure safety of work
place. In this regards, it is my duty to enforce work and safety standards and taking
disciplinary action of necessary. Furthermore, it was also my responsibility to develop
efficient and safe work procedures to increase the speeds of production.



The entire business organisation of Island Tradewinds (Philippines), Inc. is shown in the
chart above. My department is the Production wherein I was the Production Supervisor. I
would report directly to the Manager. I would also coordinate with the entire staff of the
Sales Department for technical assistance.





Personal Workplace Activity:
The large volume of all production activities was the production of bleaching chemical used
for whitening wood or rattan. This was at the height of the popularity of rattan Furniture in
the Philippines. The product was composed of two components, which was branded as
BLEXOL A and BLEXOL B. In BLEXOL B, it was hydrogen peroxide with a concentration
of 50% which was extensively used as bleaching agent. It was found to be most effective and
non-polluting. I supervised the repackaging of hydrogen peroxide which was classified as
hazardous substance. It was repackaged to one-gallon containers from the original package
size five-gallon carboys. On the part of BLEXOL A, I am in-charge on its production.
Formulation should be adjusted according to customers requirement. But basically
BLEXOL A was composed by weight of 0.8% Calcium Hypochlorite, 11.6% Trisodium
Phosphate, 0.5% Soda Ash, 53.33% Sodium Silicate and 33.3% water. The primary
bleaching agent in this formulation was the Calcium Hypochlorite and the remaining
chemical components were responsible for treating the water for absorption into the surface
of the rattan wood. The most important requirements for successful peroxide bleaching are
alkaline conditions to ensure adequate supply of perhydroxyl anions and the presence of
peroxide stabilisers. In this case, the main source of alkaline which provided alkalinity and
buffers the bleach solutions in the proper pH range is the Sodium Silicate component that was
used as mentioned. Sodium Silicate also inactivates metal cations present and reduces
peroxide decomposition
I conducted experiments in order to adjust existing formulation to meet requirement of
customers mostly regarding the level of whiteness for its furniture. Periodically, I conducted
test after production to ensure consistency of the bleaching power considering changes of
quality of rattan. Colour in rattan is produced by certain chemical configurations in the
individual chromophores reacting to light. Chromophores are specific electronic bonding
arrangements between atoms and oxidative bleaches in this case the oxygen and chlorine
based agents to work by distrupting this bonding that it will no longer produce colour. Blexol
B was the oxygen bleach and the two components were mixed before application or Blexol A
will flooded on followed by Blexol B. These tests also showed the importance to emphasise
that alkali and peroxide levels must be properly balanced to ensure that small amounts of
their residues are present towards the end of the bleaching process. If total alkali is
completely consumed, perhydroxyl anions will not be produced and no further bleaching will
occur. On the other hand if peroside is totally exhausted while alkali is still present, the
cellulose material loses its brightness.
The company also produced maintenance chemicals; I monitored its production of contact
cleaners, penetrating oil and boiler descaler.
Contact cleaners were packaged in aerosol cans. At the time of production, Freon was used
for pressurising aerosol which was still permitted. I conducted research for the substitution
of Freon to carbon dioxide in consideration of the restriction for environment regulations. I
considered using dry ice as carbon dioxide component. The main cleaning material of the
product was dichloroflouroethane. I supervised the crimping of aerosol cans and checked if
quality in pressure and leakage was met.
Penetrating oil was also aerosolised and still using Freon gas to create pressure inside aerosol
cans. Petroleum oils available at the market at that time were used in the production.
Although Freon was to be eliminated, I did not conduct any test for its formulation change.
Only tests to its penetrating ability to common industrial usage were taken by me. Some little
adjustments to its formulation were done to meet customers specification.
I also monitored the production of Boiler Descaler which was primarily composed of
Hydrochloric Acid. This chemical component was responsible for removing scales from
boilers which as usually carbonated from water usage. Additives were used to improve its
descaling ability and inhibit corrosion. Chromic acid as well as biodegradable surfactant was
the additives employed. This product was packaged by using 20-liter container.
I had regular meetings with outside consultants to make discussions on existing production
problems. New scientific approach would be thoroughly conferred to its viability and also
for the development of new product line in order for me to make new outline for my research.
I made regular production reports to the manager indicating production output, materials,
labour costs and status of equipment used. Research reports were also done to indicate
outline of status work and recommendation made for the establishment of new procedures
and product line. I attended meetings together with manager and sales supervisors to
coordinate plans and budget the whole operation in manufacturing. Recommendation and
advises from the manager was discussed on these meetings.
As the production supervisor was also work team leader that will motivate team members. In
my experience the work team will be successful in achieving goals if workers are empowered
to do their individual jobs. Workers had high level of commitment and performed
satisfactorily with enthusiasm for both quality and productivity. I conducted regular
meetings with workers for decision making and management participation. In this experience,
I consciously using my social skills to effectively lead production. In particular I handled
conflict with tact and diplomacy, manage negative feelings and developed team consensus.
Summary:
Island Tradewinds (Philippines) manufactures and sells Rattan or Wood Bleaching Agents
and Industrial Maintenance Products. The work involved the over-all management of the
entire production area as a Production Supervisor. The main responsibility of a Production
Supervisor was to plan production works, organise and lead production people and control
manufacturing activities according to specified output, quality and schedule requirements at
optimum cost. Furthermore, it was also my responsibility to develop efficient and safe work
procedures to increase the speeds of production. Research and development of established
procedures and new product lines were also involved. Consultations and presentations to the
customers were also done to assist sales representatives. My responsibility in this case is to
maintain good relations with companys sales representatives, customers and customer
service.