CASE STUDY:........................................................................................................................................................... MARKET NICHE

Rubber Manufacturing

........................................................................................................................................................... POSITION NICHE

Sales

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... JOB TITLE

Account Manager - Midwest

........................................................................................................................................................... CLIENT

Arlanxeo

...........................................................................................................................................................

Account Manager

LocationHome-based Office

8100 Opportunity DriveMilton, Florida 32583

850-983-4777ropella.com

Opportunity Marketing Piece

For more information contact:Eric Krause

Client Partnereric@ropella.com

850-564-2853

ARLANXEO

Account Manager2

STAGE 1 | SMART STRATEGY & LAUNCH

ARLANXEOARLANXEO is a world-leading producer of synthetic elastomers, supplying customers around the world with premium products from its 20 production sites in nine countries. Their core business is developing, manufacturing and marketing of high performance rubber for use in the automotive, tire, electrical, construction, and oil and gas industries, among others. ARLANXEO’s business operations are divided between two business units: High Performance Elastomers and Tire & Specialty Rubbers.

ARLANXEO was established in April 2016 as a 50:50 joint venture between LANXESS - a specialty chemicals company with worldwide reach based in Cologne, Germany - and Saudi Aramco - a fully integrated global petroleum and chemicals enterprise headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The goal of this venture was to enhance their development, production, marketing, sales and distribution systems to establish one of the best positioned suppliers for synthetic rubbers in the world market.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 9.6 billion in 2016 and about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 75 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the developing, manufacturing and marketing chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics.

Saudi Aramco is the nationally-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Their oil and gas production infrastructure leads the industry in scale of production, operational reliability, and technical advances. Their plants and the people who run them make Saudi Aramco the world’s largest crude oil exporter, producing roughly one in every eight barrels of the world’s oil supply.

ARLANXEO is derived from the names of both partners in the joint venture, combining one syllable each of LANXESS and Saudi Aramco. The ending “EO” refers to the products and stands for elastomers. Implicit in the name are the customer orientation and reputation of both partners.

More Information:www.arlanxeo.com

tsr.arlanxeo.com

Company Information

Click to learn more about ARLANXEO

ARLANXEO

Account Manager3

STAGE 1 | SMART STRATEGY & LAUNCH

Tires & Specialty RubbersARLANXEO is one of the leading global suppliers of synthetic rubber for the rubber processing industry. The Tire & Specialty Rubbers (TSR) business unit offers a broad portfolio of versatile rubbers primarily for applications in tire production. They are used in the inliners (the airtight layers) of tires as well as the tread, side walls and other tire components. Other applications include chewing gum, balls for golf and other sports, hoses and conveyor belts.

Tire Applications

Tire Inner Tubes

Regular Butyl Rubber X_Butyl® is used extensively for inner tubes.

Tire Sidewalls

Sidewalls are essentially the spring of a tire.

Truck Tire Treads and Retreads

The Buna® CB and Buna® Nd EZ portfolio contains high cis Butadiene Rubbers using both Neodymium and Cobalt catalysts. These rubbers impart a very low glass transition temperature and offer excellent abrasion resistance and reduced energy dissipation thus low heat build-up.

Tire Curing Envelopes and Bladders

Compounds based on Bromobutyl Rubber X_Butyl® and Chlorobutyl Rubber X_Butyl® are ideal for tire curing envelops

Against All Resistance

Tires’ rolling resistance counts for about 30 percent of a vehicle’s fuel consumption

Passenger Car Tire Treads

The product portfolio offers synthetic rubbers which allow the glass transition temperature of the tread compound to be adjusted in order to steer the end properties required by the application.

Business Unit Information

Forefront of innovation and production

A brand new family of highperformance solution styrene

butadiene rubbers

ARLANXEO butyl rubber

Effective protection through reliable material

ARLANXEO

Account Manager4

STAGE 1 | SMART STRATEGY & LAUNCH

Corporate Culture Information Company CultureSome 3,800 people work for ARLANXEO worldwide. They all share an aspiration to make ARLANXEO the world’s leading supplier of performance elastomers. They consider their competence, commitment and customer orientation to be among the main pillars of their success. ARLANXEO promotes a team-oriented, open corporate culture centered on three aspects:

Their strategy is geared towards finding the most talented employees, developing their personal potential to the fullest, and binding them in this way to the company long-term. ARLANXEO’s employees have access to diverse continuing education programs; including on-the-job and in-class training courses and seminars. Annual human resources conferences held regionally and globally significantly help to ensure that every position at ARLANXEO is filled with the most well-suited employees.

Team-oriented, open culture

Safe work environment

Open company-wide exchange

Listen & learn from partners

1. Everything we do, we do safely or not at all

ARLANXEO invests continuously in a safe work environment that protects the health of its employees. This is why we strive to improve our recordable incident rate (RIR) as every single incident is one too many. It therefore is our express goal to work our way toward becoming one of the leaders in occupational safety and health in our industry. Each and every employee is called upon daily to do their part in making ARLANXEO a safe place to work.

2. We cultivate and exploit the pooled competence in our organization

We are firmly convinced that the best decisions are made by those most familiar with an issue or problem. Instead of a management culture shaped by “top-down” requirements and decision-making, we call for personal responsibility, teamwork and an open, company-wide exchange.

3. We listen and learn from our partners

We will continue in the future to encounter major challenges in our markets. We can only master them if we listen closely to our stakeholders and continuously improve our understanding of their needs.

ARLANXEO

Account Manager5

STAGE 1 | SMART STRATEGY & LAUNCH

John Sawaya President & CEO, ARLANXEO USA LLCJohn Sawaya has lived in Lebanon, the United Kingdom, Greece, Egypt and the United States where he gained fluency in four languages (English, Greek, Arabic and French) and acquired a deep understanding of diverse cultures and history. He studied within the U.S. educational system and started his international business career in 1991.

He graduated from The American University, Washington, DC, where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majoring in Finance and Marketing.

He joined LANXESS Corporation in July 2004 and has held several positions within the Functional Chemicals (FCC) Business Unit including Market Development Manager, Director Phosphorous Chemicals, and Regional Head / Vice President North America. In September 2014, John was appointed as the North American Regional Head of the Business Unit Tire and Specialty Rubbers (TSR). As the North American regional head, John has responsibility for all manufacturing, sourcing, and sales activities in the region and is a member of the global management team. On April 1, 2016, John joined the newly formed Joint Venture between Lanxess and Aramco called ARLANXEO, continuing in the role of North American Regional Head. On November 1, 2017, John was also appointed North American Administrative and Legal Head of (HPE) Business Unit. On January 23, 2018, John was appointed CEO of ARLANXEO USA LLC.

John Sawaya is married and has one daughter. The family currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA.

Hiring Team Information

John Sawaya

ARLANXEO

Account Manager6

STAGE 1 | SMART STRATEGY & LAUNCH

Jay Capelli Sales Director Jay Capelli was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania. He graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with an Associate’s in Electrical Engineering Technology degree. He later attended Robert Morris University to complete Bachelor of Science/Arts degree in Marketing and continued on to earn a MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

He started his career with LANXESS Corporation (Bayer Corporation) in July of 1995 as a Production Associate in the Industrial Chemical Division. He later accepted a role as a Laboratory Technician in the Polyurethane business and eventually assumed various roles in the commercial segments of LANXESS beginning in 2000. In his commercial roles at LANXESS, he supported the Textile Products Business Unit as a Customer Service Representative. He later moved in to an internal Sales Support / Business Analyst within Functional Chemicals; progressing to Product Manager for Functional Chemicals leading to Regional Sales Manager for Functional Chemicals. In 2010, he accepted a role outside of LANXESS as the Head of Sales North America for Hughes Polymer Additives Corporation. Jay returned to ARLANXEO in December of 2017 in the role of NORAM (North American) Sales Director, TSR Business Unit.

Jay currently resides in the Pittsburgh area and has 2 daughters.

Jay Capelli

ARLANXEO

Account Manager7

STAGE 1 | SMART STRATEGY & LAUNCH

Account ManagerRoleManage global and regional TSR accounts headquartered in the NORAM region and those key accounts designated to having significant growth potential.

Responsibilities � Develop and execute sales strategies for assigned accounts in

consultation with Head of Sales

� Close coordination with Account Managers in other regions dealing with operational issues at global customers

� Facilitate strong relationships with customers’ senior management in all functional areas

� Lead annual contract negotiations with customers

� Identify and pursue growth opportunities for TSR products

� Achieve or exceed budgeted sales volumes and margins

� Gather, assimilate and analyze market and competitive supplier information

� Provide leadership towards the resolution of customer complaints and application issues

� Develop and update sales forecast - budget, outlook

� Participate in industry trade shows. (ACS, ITECH, regional Rubber Groups)

� Establish and maintain travel/entertainment budget

� Sales Responsibility ~ $ 50 million / Over 10 major accounts global and regional accounts, 50-100 KT sales volume

� Achieve sales volume and margin targets set by TSR BU, develop growth opportunities, coordinate pricing and contract negotiations

� Facilitate and jointly develop projects with Technical Sales and Development teams

Position Information

ARLANXEO

Account Manager8

STAGE 1 | SMART STRATEGY & LAUNCH

Qualifications

� 5+ years’ successful sales and/or account management experience (within the tire industry preferred)

� Global team experience in a multi-functional environment (preferred)

� Current and existing contact / interaction with key NORAM accounts (preferred)

� Experience in selling both Butadiene and Butyl Rubber product lines (preferred)

� Exceptional oral, written and presentation skills

� A team player with strong interpersonal and problem solving skills

� A self-starter with the ability to work independently and produce results with minimal supervision.

� Bachelor’s degree in science, engineering or business discipline required (technical background preferred)

Consider Us Your Executive Search PartnerLet us remove the delays and frustrations from

hiring hard to reach executives

For more information contact:

Eric Krause

Client Partner

(850) 564 - 2853

eric@ropella.com

8100 Opportunity DriveMilton, Florida 32583

850-983-4777ropella.com

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Skill Survey Account Manager

Name: Date:

1. Outline University Degree(s): (Please provide the Name and the Location of each Institution)

2. Provide an overview of your expertise, including years of experience, in sales and/or account management roles related to the rubber industry. Please highlight all experience related to synthetic rubber (particularly experience related to butadiene and butyl rubber products). What regional or global territories have you covered?

3. Provide an overview of the major customer organizations with whom you have a strong, current network of contacts and have experienced sales success. Highlight any relevant experience selling to customers in the tire industry. At what level and function are the majority of your connections within these companies?

4. Share an example that demonstrates your ability to drive sales and significantly increase customer base and/or market penetration and increase margins on existing volumes to existing customers without business loss.

5. Describe your experience in entrepreneurial roles which required a significant amount of self-direction. What are some tools and strategies you have successfully used to manage your time and drive your sales success rate?

6. Tell us about any non-compete and/or employer restrictions that you may have. Please provide these documents for our review.

7. If asked one of the following questions during an interview, how would you answer? Why are you considering this opportunity? (or) What motivated you to consider a job change at this time?

8. Have you ever applied, either directly or through a third party, for any role with Arlanxeo? If so what was the date of your most recent application (month/year)?

References Please provide three to six references. The first priority is current and/or past supervisors, then employees, then peers, then customers (where appropriate).

Example: Bob Smith, currently - Business Director at ABC Corporation 412-123-4567, Email: bob.smith@abccorp.com. Was Business Director, my direct supervisor, while I was a Manager at ABC Corporation.

We will NOT contact any references until after completing the

interview process and not without notifying you first.

1) 2) 3)

4) 5) 6)

Our Candidate Comparison Score Card is to be completed on every candidate you have now screened as a potential fit. If you can tell that some of the candidates are probably Low level (in a superficial overview) in comparison to others you set those aside now and just score the rest. The Score Card will help you objectively weigh all the Must

Haves and even the preferences in such a way that at the end of using the Score Card process you can be pretty sure who the High plus candidates are, who the High

candidates are, and who the Medium candidates are. Then we focus on scheduling for the High Potentials.

Candidate Comparison-Scorecard Grader's Name:

Candidate Name: Grade:

Client Name: Arlanxeo Hiring Mgr: John Sawaya

Position: Account Manager - Midwest

HR Contact: Ron Graves

Salary Range: 110K - 140K plus 10% bonus

Candidate Base: Bonus:

Communications: L = Heavy Accent - Hard to Understand M = Accent - Understandable H = No Accent

- Easy to Understand

Comment:

Attribute H/M/L Comment

1. Education H = Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (Science, Engineering, Business) M = No degree L = +1/2 Technical degree

2. Rubber Sales Experience H = 5+ years of experience in sales and/or account management roles related to the rubber industry M = 3-5 years of experience in sales and/or account management roles related to the rubber industry L = Less than 3 years of experience in sales and/or account management roles related to the rubber industry

3. Customer Organization Contacts H = Extensive active relationships at a variety of levels within the tire industry M = Some active relationships at several levels within the tire industry L = Few active relationships within the tire industry

4. Drive Sales H = Specific example that details success in driving sales, significantly increasing customer base and/or market penetration M = General answer indicating previous success in driving sales, significantly increasing customer base and/or market penetration L = Answer does not indicate previous success in driving sales, significantly increasing customer base and/or market penetration

5. Entrepreneurial H = Current role is highly entrepreneurial, and answer indicates specific time and performance optimization strategies M = Has worked successfully in an entrepreneurial situation previously and has developed time and performance optimization strategies L = Answer does not demonstrate successful self-directed role experience and/or does not indicate well developed time and productivity optimization strategies

6. Travel H = Road Warrior - open to travel at 50% or greater M = Prefers 30-50% travel L = Requires less than 30% travel

7. Non-Compete H = No relevant non-compete or non-disclosure in place M = Has a peripheral non-compete or non-disclosure in place - could limit some activities L = Has a strong relevant non-compete or limiting non-disclosure

Grading Point System: H’s = 4 M’s = 3 L’s = 2 Bonus Points = .5

Now add up the numerical value of each grade and then divide by the total number of grades

Total Points:

Divided by 7 grades =

Avg. Grade: