Interview: the New CEO at BTS Places Equal Emphasis on Flexibility and Focus

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PROCESS: How would you describe your management style?

Van Meirvenne: (laughs) Impatient. I have a tendency to get things on the move quickly. Of course I don’t do that without asking the employees for their opinion. It is important for me to know that the people in my organization enjoy their work. You will only get the performance you are looking for if the entire setup is right, just like a soccer team. I believe that getting things right on an international scale is one of my most important tasks.

PROCESS: Has the arrival of a new CEO at Bayer changed anything in terms of your responsibilities or ROI parameters?

Van Meirvenne: Our role in the corporation is technology and innovation driven, and we will have to continually improve within the defined framework.

Additional Information

Personal Profile

Dr. Dirk Van Meirvenne

Dr. Dirk Van Meirvenne took over as CEO at Bayer Technology Services on June 1st, 2010. Van Meirvenne was born on September 19th, 1963 in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) and he studied polymer chemistry at the University of Gent (Belgium). He joined Bayer Antwerpen N.V. (Belgium) in 1990 and worked in titanium dioxide production until 1997 where he rose to the position of Operations Manager. He then moved on to the plastics business and was responsible for polycarbonate production in Antwerp until 2001. His next assignment was in Thailand. Van Meirvenne was appointed Plant Manager in Map Ta Phut in 2001. During this period, the plant expanded to become the company’s largest polycarbonate site in Asia. A year later, he took charge of Polycarbonate Global Operations at Bayer Polymers in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany). When Bayer MaterialScience AG was formed in 2004, he was appointed Production and Technology Manager in the Polycarbonate Business Unit. From 2007 onwards, Van Meirvenne was the Isocyanate Production and Technology Manager at Bayer MaterialScience in Leverkusen, and his responsibilities included the construction of the MDI and TDI plants in Caojing near Shanghai (China). Van Meirvenne is married and has three children.

Additional Information

Leveraging global safety

Bayer pools its process and plant safety expertise

The Bayer Group is pooling its expertise in the process and plant safety sector under the aegis of BTS, and will offer these services worldwide. The technology company, which has regional offices in eleven countries, is to take over the Process and Plant Safety department of Currenta in Leverkusen in the context of a transfer of undertaking. The 53 experts in the department have become BTS employees effective October 1, 2010. The former manager Dr. Konrad Fischer will continue as head of the department, which will become part of the Process Technology Division. The related technology fields Materials Technology, Process Design and Reaction Technology also form part of this division. The functions performed by Process and Plant Safety include providing global support for safety analyses, designing safety equipment, controlling chemical reactions and ensuring explosion protection.

PROCESS: Where do you want to take BTS over the next three to five years?

Van Meirvenne: BTS will have a clearly defined portfolio, and it will be a global player — that is my ambition. The company will be focused on providing technology solutions for the corporation, and it will act as technology partner for industry, driving the development of highly sophisticated and differentiated solutions. The strategy includes true partnerships which are forged to develop top-class technologies that generate value-add for our partners and for us. Thanks to the work done by my predecessor, we are well on the way to achieving that.

PROCESS:Dr. Van Meirvenne, thank you for taking the time to talk with us.

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