Technology-Driven Efficiency!
As industries expand globally and technological advancements reshape traditional practices, Remote Operation Center (ROC) operations emerge as a strategic imperative to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and mitigate operational risks. Using advanced technologies such as automation, data analytics, and remote monitoring, ROC operations empower industries to oversee and manage critical operations from centralized control centers, irrespective of geographical constraints. This shift towards remote-centric operations cultivates a proactive approach to addressing challenges, ensuring continuous uptime, and maximizing operational performance.
Daniel Sliz, Senior Manager of ROC Region Eastern Europe and the Middle East at Linde is leading this operational evolution. With over two decades of experience in industrial gases and plant management, Daniel embodies a management style rooted in empowerment and collaboration. His leadership philosophy revolves around nurturing a culture of innovation and performance and moving his team towards industry-leading achievements.
Renowned for its unwavering dedication to safety and operational integrity, Linde provides the foundation upon which ROC operations thrive. Under the leadership of Daniel, the company fosters a culture of collaboration and excellence that flourishes, setting new benchmarks for the industry. As industry boundaries blur and global operations expand, Linde remains at the forefront, steering innovation and setting new benchmarks for success in ROC operations.
Let’s explore how Daniel is driving operational evolution:
Leading Efficiency and Automation in ROC Operations
As a Senior Manager at Linde, Daniel leads teams of specialists in ROC for Eastern Europe and the Middle East region. His journey to reach this position began as a production process specialist in industrial gases and then as a plant manager for a production plant in the Czech Republic in the early 2000s.
During his tenure as a plant manager, he developed a passion for driving plant efficiency improvement ideas and promoted a bottom-up approach to encourage his team to share their ideas. This approach yielded visible results. Once the decision to establish ROC in the Czech Republic was made, the next step in his career became natural.
He took on the challenge and has been leading the ROC team since then. Working closely with his team, they strive to drive production facility efficiency and automation in the region.
At the core of their activity, the team prioritizes safety; it is one of Linde’s core values. They aim for zero incidents in their daily operations and in everything they do, emphasizing a safe working environment for all team members.
Driving Cross-Border Cooperation in ROC Operations
As a Senior Manager of the ROC team, Daniel leads a team of over 60 engineers operating fully on an international level. Despite the team’s local origins in the Czech Republic, they are responsible for a broad range of critical tasks, including plant control, network infrastructure, cybersecurity, automation, and data science, all focused on continuously improving production facilities across the area of operations.
His primary challenge is to integrate this team into the international environment and establish a best-in-class cross-border cooperation mechanism that maximizes the company’s value. He motivates the team to be open, offer their expertise, and support other teams to achieve their goals.
Collaborating effectively at an international level is a vital component, and he works closely with other Linde regions’ teams, sharing their knowledge, experience, best practices, and lessons learned to optimize operations. Together, they have created a robust network of experts, which enables them to deliver industry-leading performance across borders.
Encouraging Excellence with Global Recognition
The approach to team development, coaching, and mentoring is centered around empowering team members through a corporate startup mentality and fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and performance recognition.
Team growth is fostered by giving team members the opportunity to participate and co-create strategies that support the overall company vision. This approach empowers them to be innovative collaborative, and take ownership of their work.
The team’s extra-mile performance is recognized and incentivized, with these achievements awarded globally on a broad scale. This is highly motivating for team members and encourages them to go above and beyond.
Cultivating a Culture of Cooperation and Support
Daniel’s preferred leadership style is leading by example. He consistently strives to support his team by providing them with the necessary information, tools, and promotion they need to succeed. He gives them the time to experiment with their ideas and provides them with new, interesting concepts for validation.
This approach has visibly created an environment of cooperation and support within the ROC and sub-teams, encouraging team members to develop ideas for improvement for others’ success. This positive culture has contributed to the ROC team’s success and has provided the highest added value for the company.
Supporting Cross-Border Collaboration and Goals
From Daniel’s perspective, a critical factor for driving success in the chemical industry, as well as other industries, is having motivated and competent people. As digitalization becomes more prevalent, it is essential to avoid a “digital paradox.” Digitalization has the potential to lift people’s productivity if applied correctly, but it can also diminish motivation if mandatory utilization is too high.
It is beneficial to digitalize existing processes, including decision-making processes, to make them more efficient. However, it is important to avoid creating new processes solely because new digital tools are available on the market if they do not provide added value.
The region his team is responsible for is very diverse, and respecting that geographical diversity is a key factor in success. Supporting each other and helping colleagues in other countries with their targets and challenges while showcasing competencies to solve them is essential. They utilize the unique diversity and synergies within countries to help achieve common goals.
Inspiring Excellence through Leadership
As a senior leader in a multinational corporation, Daniel’s approach to managing competing demands and responsibilities is to prioritize using the 80/20 Pareto Law methodology, which has been his leadership mantra throughout his career.
He always strives to understand the company’s highest organizational-level strategy and targets to better align his team’s mission with the organization’s broader goals. This alignment allows him to apply the best 80/20 strategy to meet all expectations with maximum productivity.
He firmly believes that providing teams with a broader overview of the company’s strategic targets enables them to be more productive and apply their creativity and ideas effectively. By continually aligning the team’s mission with the broader company strategy, they can contribute to the company’s growth and progress towards achieving its goals.
Building a Supportive Environment
To inspire and motivate his team members, Daniel leads by example and demonstrates to them that he is committed to the company’s goals and values. He encourages open communication and offers support and resources to help his team members achieve their goals.
He believes that fostering a positive, supportive work environment that encourages continuous learning and growth is the way to achieve excellence.
Sustaining Innovation in Remote Plant Operations
Throughout his experience, Daniel has always believed in promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst diverse teams and geographies to achieve common goals. To do so, he follows a Pareto law mantra where a win-win strategy is applied, and the benefits of such collaborations are offered to all contributors.
He prefers a change management approach from the bottom, which promotes trust and the natural onboarding of diverse teams rather than imposing strict top-down targets. However, he ensures that top management sponsors the project to ensure alignment with the organization’s goals.
Overall, he believes the key to promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing is to embrace a people-first approach that instills trust and naturally leads to onboarding diverse teams towards working towards common goals.
Adapting Strategies for Growth
Innovation is at the core of Daniel’s approach to managing operations and teams. He and his team have always focused on driving innovation and new process controls. Over the years, they have established a culture that encourages innovation and flexibility. They select team members who are not only skilled but also creative and demonstrate the willingness to excel.
As the Linde global remote plant operation strategy has grown and met the company’s expectations, its innovation DNA has developed naturally. Over time, they have updated their organization and capabilities to better align with their strategy. They identify bottleneck areas and develop competencies to overcome them, keeping innovation at the forefront of their thinking.
Redefining Success in the Chemical Industry
To foster a continuous improvement and excellence culture within his organization, Daniel focuses on building a sense of community within his team. He encourages his team to feel valued, respected and appreciated for their contributions beyond their designated roles. He emphasizes that continuous improvement is essential to succeeding in a rapidly changing world and discusses real-life examples of how such improvements have impacted their success.
It is also vital to apply the continuous improvement culture not only within the organization but also beyond it by integrating and adopting new generations.
At his company, they engage in several activities, such as charity runs, Earth Day events, town clean-ups, school lectures, and more. These activities foster a sense of community, pride, and support for continuous improvement within their team.
Strategies for Success in the Chemical Industry
His advice to aspiring leaders in the chemical industry who aim to redefine success and make a significant impact on their careers is to be agile and think beyond individual targets. He advises prioritizing how one can contribute to achieving the overall company targets instead of just focusing on personal goals.
He also emphasizes the importance of challenging the status quo and questioning the validity and effectiveness of any outdated rules or orders, considering the industry’s continual evolution. Embracing continuous learning and striving to stay ahead of the curve is essential for making a significant impact on one’s career and the industry.
