Meet our Polymer Pro, Alan Maupin, Information and Digital Technology Manager. He’s a longtime member of the Shell family who is focused on implementing technology that provides convenience and value to our customers.
Information and Digital Technology Manager
As its new polyethylene plant in Monaca, Pennsylvania nears operation, Shell Polymers has been assembling a team of industry experts, aka Polymer Pioneers and Polymer Pros, with proven track records in polymers and their respective fields. In this article, we talk to our Information and Digital Technology Manager, Alan Maupin, to learn more about his role in setting up key customer-facing technology.
As Information and Digital Technology Manager at Shell Polymers, Alan Maupin’s job boils down to getting the right technology and tools into the right hands, including those of our customers and those of the operators responsible for running our new polyethylene plant in Monaca.
A Texas A&M alum and a member of the broader Shell network for more than 20 years, Alan’s current role puts him at the center of some nifty cutting-edge technology projects that are breaking new ground in the polymer industry.
“I get to work with cool technology all the time.”
Alan Maupin
For example, Alan’s team was involved in building the first release of the Shell Polymers Customer Hub, where converters can conveniently place orders, track resin shipments, and more.
And speaking of tracking shipments, his team was also instrumental in outfitting all 3,300 of our resin rail cars with GPS units. Those rail cars will depart from our Storage in Transit (SIT) Yard loaded with high-quality resin.
We’re the first in the polyethylene industry to make such a logistics investment, which will provide converters with real-time data – through the Customer Hub – about their shipment timing, bringing logistics transparency and also enabling both customers and our team to act to better mitigate potential impacts if there’s a delay.
Meanwhile on the Shell side, Alan and his team deployed a full technology suite to support our brand new commercial business.
They are also helping to support the commissioning of the plant and the start-up of various units within it, and they’ll continue to play a crucial role after we start producing polyethylene.
Our Customer Hub and railcar GPS units are both aimed at providing value to our converter customers, and that’s no accident.
When designing such technology with his team, Alan regularly reminds colleagues to ask themselves whose job the technology is making easier: Their own or the customer’s?
"I find this usually points us in the right design direction,” he said.
Alan views that focus on customer needs as a fundamental character trait of Shell Polymers.
“We are putting the customer first. This is evident in the tech we are investing in for our customers.”
Alan Maupin
While he enjoys designing and implementing technology projects, Alan’s excited to see this team’s customer-facing digital tools go live when the plant launches operations.
He’s going to be gathering plenty of user feedback, aiming to refine and tweak those systems where needed so that they provide even more value to the customers using them.
Our Customer Hub is designed to be a frictionless, always-on way for customers to manage their business with Shell Polymers. Here are some of the things converters will be able to do through the secure portal.
