Listen to Victoria and Alina’s Conversation Here:
Explore the extraordinary journey of Alina Green, from growing up on a post-communist Romanian farm to becoming a Market Segment Specialist at WIKA Group, transforming energy and chemical processes with innovative automation solutions. Alina chats with Victoria Meyer about navigating tough environments, leveraging her engineering background, and the pivotal role of small, high-return projects in addressing decarbonization and sustainability in the industry.
Victoria and Alina delve into WIKA’s 75-year history, discussing how this family-owned company has thrived in the instrumentation space. They reflect on how strong customer relationships and in-depth market knowledge drive impactful innovations, no matter the company’s size. Highlighting a successful collaboration with Chevron, Alina demonstrates how simple projects, like optimizing an amine unit, can achieve significant cost savings and carbon emission reductions.
Join us to learn more about the following topics this week:
- Origin story of both Alina Green and WIKA Group
- Identifying market trends and opportunities to connect to customers
- Digitization and digital transformation as a tool to expand and go deeper into markets and opportunities.
- WIKA’s key differentiators in helping customers find solutions
- Sustainability as a driver of requests and opportunities with customers
- Challenges and opportunities to being women in a very technical market
Killer Quote: “One of the most impactful things I heard from BASF CEO Michael Heinz on your show was his advice to ‘always take a job that you’re able to grow into.’ It’s a principle I’ve carried with me throughout my career.“ -Alina Green
Additional Links:
The Chemical Show Episode: BASF CEO Michael Heinz on Sustainability, Energy, and Leadership
Watch this Episode on Youtube Here:
How Efficiency Drives Sustainability with Alina Green of WIKA
Hi, this is Victoria Meyer. Welcome back to The Chemical Show, where chemicals means business. Today, I am speaking with Alina Green from the WIKA group. She’s a market segment specialist, and she helps clients and companies across the industry optimize their processes and implement strategies to achieve their business plans. Doing it in a way and in fact, this is an interesting angle from what we often talk about bringing in automation instrumentation, and really tying it into the core operations of chemical companies and energy companies.
So that’s a little bit of what we’re going to be talking about today. Really hope you enjoy this conversation. Alina, welcome to The Chemical Show.
Thank you, Victoria. I’m a big fan of your show, so I’m really excited to be here.
Thank you. Glad to hear that. Let’s just start with your origin story. How did you get interested in engineering and then instrumentation and valves and ultimately energy and chemicals? You’ve had quite a lot of experience and really technical in-market related experience.
I’ll have to start earlier in my life. I grew up in post communist Romania. That’s where I went to school. I grew up as an only child, in a family where both my parents were agricultural engineers. We had a little bit of land and I spend most of my summers helping out at the farm because we used to go to a farmer’s market quite a bit, and you’re going to ask, why is this relevant to what we’re talking about, but I’m getting there. So that kind of helped me, it did two things for me. One, I was actually pretty good during COVID when everybody was starting their own vegetable gardens, I actually got the envy of my friends and neighbors. I was pretty good at that, but also it helped me be comfortable with tough environments, working outside and just being able to do things with my hands. My parents also put a big focus on schooling. So schooling was important. There was absolutely no way I wasn’t going to go to college.
But going to the second thing that did for me, after I graduated from chemical engineering, I got an opportunity with Schlumberger, to work in a field, to work on oil rigs. Which is one of those things that you think about it, oh, it’s cool. But when you’re there, it’s cold and it’s wet and you’re outside for 12 hour shifts.
You’re a little bit isolated. Yeah.
Yep. That wasn’t a challenge that I was afraid of. I thought I could do it. And it provided me with the opportunity to travel and meet people from all over the world.
You had on your show, a few weeks ago, the BASF CEO. And he said something that stuck with me and I really liked that. I think that’s what I apply in my career. Always take a job that you’re able to grow into. And I’ve done that with every role that I’ve taken throughout my career. So I worked in the field for a couple of years, then moved to Houston and worked in the lab, I was the lab manager, I did some project management before moving to WIKA in the instrumentation manufacturing work. So everything was, a, hey, there’s a new challenge. Can I do it? I’m not sure. Let’s try.
I love that. And I think that’s right. By the way, I grew up on a farm myself. I understand how that ties into not being afraid of hard work. It gives you this whole mechanical sense, which ties very well into engineering. And then there’s a whole lot to be said with seeing the fruits of your labors, right? Which also, I think links very well to engineering and to what you do today. That’s really cool. When did you move from Romania to the U.S.?
2012, it was an intercompany transfer, here in Houston.
Awesome. That’s really cool. So tell us a little bit about the WIKA group. People may not be fully familiar.
So WIKA has been in business for over 75 years. it’s still a family owned company, third generation. The current owner, his grandfather started the company as a gauge company. So he put together a company that was very good at selecting different materials and welding techniques. So that’s how the company grew, it’s a German company. It was founded in the West of Germany, after World War II it offered a prosper environment for growing a business.
The company was handed over to the original owner’s son, which, he actually lost his life in a tragic accident. I don’t know the exact details to share, but he was shot by one of his friends. And his wife was left with the business in an environment where, like you and I, it was a male dominated environment. And she absolutely exploded growing the business internationally, and opened several subsidiaries. She started a scholarship and WIKA still has an Ursula Wiegand scholarship fund that the employees can tap into for their dependents.
That’s nice. So I know a big part of your role at WIKA is identifying market trends and opportunities, and helping connect what WIKA can do and customers can do and driving direction there. What are the key industry trends influencing your business and your customers today?
My main focus is on the downstream market. There are several of my colleagues that focus on other markets. The way that WIKA has been funded as an instrumentation company, we have some traditional markets that we know we’re strong in, we’re strong in industrial gases, instrumentation for industrial gases, power generation, downstream market or upstream oil and gas, things like wastewater. So we know what markets we can serve, and we stay close to our customers and partners.
So that basically helps us as a company know which products we should be developing, which products we should be focusing on. What some of the gaps in our portfolio are that we should be probably investing R&D into, in a nutshell. We know what we’re good at and we try to stay there and grow in those fields.
Yeah, that makes sense. And, certainly I think you guys must be tied very closely really with this whole trend around digitization, digital transformation, certainly of manufacturing and operations, the industrial internet of things. Can you talk about that at all?
It kind of ties in with what I was previously discussing. So we have the traditional markets, but then from those markets, if you know your downstream markets you know that there’s trends. That there’s focuses on decarbonization, from a perspective of carbon capture from hydrogen, what are some of those applications that we could be supporting as a manufacturer? What are some of the challenges that we can help overcome? And that’s where we’re going with our strategy when it comes to the new trends.
Okay. So continuing to expand and go deeper with these markets and opportunities.
Exactly.
Can you talk about any examples? I know you work closely with your business partners and your customers. Do you have an example where you’ve really been able to help create a transformation with a company as it relates to being able to respond to some of these trends like digitization and decarbonization?
Yeah, actually I did a joint paper with Chevron with the Pascagoula refinery on a solution that they’ve implemented in their amine unit. Basically what they were looking for was to optimize their unit. The way that amine units work in a refinery, they’re utilized to clean acid gases, to capture CO2, capture H2S from the off gases. So it’s not really one of those units that produces revenue for the refinery.
But it keeps the refinery operating.
Exactly, but because it’s not linked directly to a revenue, they tend to be put to the side when it comes to investments. So the way that this started, we had a younger engineer that was interested in doing an energy efficiency project on this unit. So the way this unit operates, the amine circulates and picks up the gases, and then it’s being regenerated in a separate unit. That regenerator uses steam to clean up the gases and then it keeps circulating the amine. Long story short, not to go too deep into the process, they were able to optimize the way that the amine was circulated by having more temperature visibility in the unit. This is a exothermic reaction, so it generates heat. They can see exactly where that’s taking place and they can use that data to optimize how the unit operates, and can really have some significant cost savings by not utilizing as much steam in the process.
So just an example of a low hanging fruit type of project where the investment is minimum, below, 50K. Long term, it could produce significant savings for the plant and less carbon emissions. You’re generating less steam. you’re not utilizing your boilers, you’re not putting CO2 into the environment as much. I love this one because it’s so easy, so simple, so elegant, and it could be applied in other situations, just being able to see how your unit operates and use that to optimize it basically.
Yeah, I think it’s great. It becomes a cost savings, energy savings, and as you point out, really a sustainability story being able to optimize around that. What do you find is the key differentiator when you are working with customers and finding these solutions? What really differentiates it, what helps you figure out how to tailor these solutions and identify really projects, and solutions that have, what sounds like a pretty high return on investment?
I think it’s important to really know your applications in your market. It’s important to understand where the areas are that could be improved. Big CapEx projects will be there and they’re great. They’re big investments and they make the news. These little projects won’t make the news. But really understanding how you can optimize your process and what are some of the tools that are available right now. We’re not needing to develop new materials. We’re not needing to create new technology.
What can we do from a vendor-operator relationship to optimize the process? And for me personally, I attend so many conferences throughout the year because I really want to understand, what are some of the challenges and really understand the process very well.
Makes sense. Maybe you’ve already touched on this, but I think these ideas of identifying the challenges and incorporating some of the tools to optimize the operations to help digitize the operational interface is so critical, yet it often seems the companies that are the most able to engage are the biggest companies, with the deepest pockets, right? So Chevron is a great example, but it sounds that these solutions are actually in touch for a lot of companies of various sizes. Cause of course we know that something like 80% of the chemical industry is really small to midsize companies with smaller operations, and smaller budgets.
I guess the question for me is how do these companies utilize or access solutions such as what you’re talking about with WIKA?
Yeah, I think that’s even easier for smaller companies because it’s such a small budget that they would have to allocate towards this project. It’s more difficult to get a big CapEx project passed through the different levels of approval than it is, “Hey, I’m having this project. This is what it’s going to do for my operation. And this is the ROI.” And being able to have that conversation at a one-on-one level, if it’s the process engineer reliability or whoever’s concerned in improving, I think that makes a big difference
Yeah and I think sometimes they don’t even necessarily see the big picture. So I think sometimes, engineers in the plant, managers, et cetera, are working to solve one problem and then they see the opportunity elsewhere, and a bigger picture way, let me solve my energy problem, but, oh, by the way, it also helps solve a carbon issue, or decarbonize.
Do you see that as well? Opportunities start in one point, but actually, you can help solve customers other problems and paint the bigger picture for that.
Yeah, absolutely. Just like I mentioned before, I think it’s a matter of having that relationship and that open communication, these projects don’t happen overnight. There’s discussions, there’s ideas that get passed around and that’s how these kinds of projects can be born.
Absolutely. So it’s that whole close customer relationship and understanding your customer’s needs.
Exactly.
Awesome. what role do you see sustainability playing? Is that a big driver of requests and opportunities that you see with your customers today and in markets, do you see that as a growing area of focus?
Yes. I think we’re paying more attention to, not just as a buzzword, but we’re paying more attention to some of the projects that we could be engaging in that have those sustainability effects. If it’s a product that lasts longer, or if it’s a project that will have some decarbonization benefits, I think this discussion is gaining more interest in the industry.
Absolutely. So let’s talk a little bit about leadership. So you’ve worked across many countries and cultures, Romania to the U.S., drilling rigs to chemical plants, what stands out to you in terms of effective leadership or even just leadership differences?
Anything that you see that you’d say, yeah, that’s really the difference maker when I cut across industries and companies and countries.
I love that question. I think regardless of what role I’ve had, I’ve tried to implement leadership techniques. If it was working on a rig, just taking the steps to be self sufficient and know which resources I can tap into. Working in the lab, knowing which projects can improve the work practices that we’re having, and that’s how the opportunities came to me as well. I think we all need to implement leadership in our day to day life. And that’s what creates more opportunities for us in our career and our day to day life.
So one of the things we talked about before we hit the record button was just about being a woman in a very technical business environment, when I think about what WIKA is doing with its instrumentation, your customers, particularly going into, heck oil rigs, but then also, operating plants.
What have been the challenges or opportunities or experiences maybe about being a woman in a very technical market?
As I mentioned, I think before you hit the record button, I’ve been on an oil rig where I was the only woman and depending on the culture, I think you can be a thorn in somebody’s back because they have to give you separate accommodation and all that. But I think it’s what you bring to the table, and most of the time you can forget you’re a woman. You’re a woman. You’re gonna bring certain things to the table and being authentic and being able to bring your whole self to work. With your strengths and weaknesses. I think it’s very important regardless of the job that you do. And I’ve had many opportunities to stand up there and the first impression that I get is, oh, what is she gonna say? But then you know what you’re talking about and I immediately gain the respect and that’s what did it for me.
Being young is okay, but then moving towards your life and having children and having a family and all that can come with the additional set of challenges, but I’ve kept things separated. It’s important to be successful in your career.
I think that the CEO of PepsiCo, she says, you cannot have it all. It’s impossible to have it all, but you can have things that you want at different stages of your life. And you’re going to give 110% in your work sometimes, and you’re going to need some help at home. And sometimes you need to put that 110% at home and take a little bit of a break at work. And that’s very important, regardless of your gender.
Yeah. I agree with that. I think there’s different phases that each of us fall in at different times in our life and different times in our career that required different levels of flexibility, different levels of, as you say, sometimes it’s 110%. Sometimes, that 110% looks different because it’s split, not just at the office, but it’s also split between office and home, and elsewhere. So it’s critical to know, I think that aspect of bringing your whole self to work, being authentic and just being clear at what your own priorities are is critical.
Absolutely.
So what’s next for you and for WIKA? What should we be looking forward to over the coming year?
I think we’re all waiting for the results of elections. We have a lot of projects that are on hold now. We know what our strategy is. We know what we want to see moving forward. We know we’re trying to develop more products that are fitted to the increase in digitalization trends from a company perspective.
So we’re waiting to see what happens from project perspectives, but we have our goals and we know where we want to be as a company.
Yeah. I think that’s right. I think everyone’s waiting over the next month to see the outcomes and then business will accelerate again once we get through the election cycle.
Hopefully. Yeah.
Awesome. Alina, this has been great speaking with you today. I appreciate you joining me on The Chemical Show.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. And thanks everyone for joining us today. Keep listening, keep following, keep sharing, and we will talk with you again soon.
About Alina Green:
Alina Green is a Market Segment Manager responsible for the US Market in the chemical industry. She has been in the industry for over 10 years, working in operations, project management and business development, providing technical solutions for major Oil & Gas operators. She has worked for Schlumberger and WIKA and is experienced in application and product technical support. Alina has published several case studies and has been a speaker at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Alina is a professional member of AIChE, Society and Project Management Institute (PMI).