Quarterly internal magazineIssue 3, August 2012

OneWorld Magazine is published in Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Dutch, English, French Canadian, French, German and Swedish

7Page

Ton Büchner3 questions to our new CEO

My outfitWhat do we wear to work?

8Page

14Page

MagazineMeet colleagues from across the globe

Making safety work How they do itin Dammam

Saving big on energyCED’s the way

4Page

Turkey

Izmit

2

About Hande YavuzturkLocation Izmit, 100km from Istanbul.Position Pre-Sales Support Lead, Trade Business and Trade Marketing Department, Decorative Paints. Age 31.Education University degree in Business Administra-tion and Economics, Masters in Global Marketing. Lives in Istanbul with her mother, father and sister. Before AkzoNobel she worked as an import assistant with the international toy company Toys‘R’Us in Gebze.Best quality “I’m friendly, energetic and solution-oriented.”Worst quality Over-control. “I plan each day of my holiday before I go - very tiring!” Loves to travel, and practice Zumba; “I go to three classes a week.”

About TurkeyPopulation 74.7 million, around 75% live in towns and cities.Capital Ankara. Istanbul is the largest city and the financial, economic and cultural heart of the country.Economy One of the fastest growing economies in the world. Hit badly by the financial crisis, its growth rate slowed from 7% in 2002 to 1% in 2008. In 2010 it was back up to 8%. Turkey ranks 5th in the top ten tourist destinations in Europe (France is No. 1, Greece No. 10). Applied for full EEC membership in 1987 and has been in formal accession negotiations with the EU since 2005.Culture Its border position between East and West gives it a diverse culture, blending elements of Turkic, Anatolian, Ottoman and Western cultures.

AkzoNobel in TurkeyNumber of employees Approx. 785.Businesses Decorative Paints (main operations located in Gebze), Powder Coatings (business center in Izmir) and International Paints (in Istanbul).Started operations in 1998 with the acquisition of Marshall Paints and Varnishes Inc. Marshall is still the name of Decorative Paints’ local brand, sold in Turkey, as well as name of the factory where the paint is produced.

What do you do on a regular working day? “I start the day preparing reports and presentations and spend a lot of time with my team brainstorming – I love it! Our department was set up two years ago; our focus this year will be Trade Business and we will be setting up a web-based tool and a Color Team – the first in Turkey. Our Color Team will advise customers, from construction firms to end-users, on color combinations. For instance, a mother might send us a picture of her child’s bedroom and we will advise her on the best colors. We want to be unique in Turkey with these initiatives. In April I visited a Deco Color Team in England to learn best practices. They were really helpful. The hardest part of my job is combining all the different elements so they fit together, creating harmony between the internal

departments and external suppliers. I’m a bit like the conductor of an orchestra!”

What do you like most about your job? “The fact that I see results – that gives me great satisfaction. When I joined the Trade Business and Trade Marketing Team, we were managing the Wrestler project. Old traditional stores are often dirty and crowded so you can’t find our colors. We redesigned them into fresh bright places where it is easier to find our color cards. Whenever I walk into the stores it gives me a great feeling to know we achieved this with a fantastic internal and external team. And the project has now been passed on to other colleagues. I have been involved in so many aspects of the business in my career, including sales, finance and marketing, so I have opinions

about a lot of different aspects of my job. That’s energizing! AkzoNobel in Turkey is a dynamic organization, our figures are growing. Our colleagues here feel valued by the organization.”

You like to travel. How does Turkey compare to other countries?“My favorite country is Italy where everyone is warm and welcoming – not much different from Turkey in that respect, where people are hospitable and generous, they will always share their bread with you. I love the Mediterranean cuisine in both countries, but nothing can compare to Turkish kebabs! Turkey is a great place to live. Another thing I really like about my country is the difference between the regions. It’s May now in Istanbul and the weather is lovely and warm, but travel east and the mountains will be covered in snow. In the north, by the Black Sea it will be raining, and in the south it will very hot. And there are so many different cultures, which makes traveling around the country like walking around a fantastic museum.”

“We’re a dynamic organization here in Turkey”

If AkzoNobel was a village of 100 people,1.4 of us would be Turkish. Meet Hande Yavuzturk. She’s one of them.

One Village

3

40 yearsis the life span of most companies, who can’t survive the conflict between keeping their identity and evolving in the face of change. We’ve been going for centuries.

32,500That’s how many soccer pitches Powder Coatings could fill each year with their architectural powder.

FactsWhat do we care?We talk a lot about sustainability, but do we always come up with the right answers? Last year’s sustainability report showed us where we’re doing well and where we can still improve. Here’s a spot check: some achievements we can be proud of and some challenges to inspire.

Number 2That’s what we are on the prestigious global Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the chemicals sector. Not bad. And we’ve been in the top three for the last five years. SAM, the renowned international company for sustainable investments, even ranks us ‘gold class’.

11% downbetween 2010 and 2011. That’s the reduction in total waste per ton of product we booked; from 13.1 kg to 11.6 kg.

First global partnerAn agreement between the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and AkzoNobel makes us their first global partner (outside FSC-certified products). The FSC certifies wood and paper from well-managed forests. A demonstration of our commitment to preserving natural resources.

30%of our energy comes from renewable sources, such as wind, water and biomass. But we’ve still got a long way to go – 70% to be precise!

8,000 of youfrom 50 countries have worked as volunteers on over 1,600 projects in our Community Program since it started in 2005. That represents approximately €11 million in investment!

€3.5 blnwas the total revenue generated by our eco-premium solutions in 2011. That is 22% of our total revenue. Some of our BUs’ figures: Specialty Chemicals 24%, Performance Coatings 15% and Decorative Paints 27%. That’s great, but there’s room for growth!

Freshwater74% of our manufacturing sites now have sustainable freshwater management.

Customers are key, we all know that. Powder Coatings’ customers have just been given a new, fun way to research their products. And if they own a smart device, they can do it anywhere. (And you can too.)

Global

Canada

Building siteA new website, interponbuildings.com, features

an interactive world map and just a couple of clicks can take you to any one of over 300 architectural projects protected with our powder coatings. Zooming in will give you all the product details and new projects are added each week. Many of them link to Google’s Street View so architects (the target visitors) can study a building from all angles and really see what our coatings look like at street level. These beautiful buildings range from the Divan Hotel in Istanbul to Petrona

Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Barry Tomlinson, Powder Coatings’ Global Marketing Director says he’s “delighted to be the first coatings company to feature our projects on Google Maps.” The site has been designed to complement the new-look Interpon Powder Coatings website that recently went live. In its first week it had over 3,600 hits and many posts on Facebook and tweets on Twitter. Check it out at interpon.com

Sico – on filmO n May 18 Decorative Paints North

America launched a video celebrating 75 years of one of

Canada’s favorite paints: Sico. The brand was bought by AkzoNobel in 2006 and the film, almost 15 minutes long, traces a history of innovative marketing techniques, enterprising individuals (it includes an interview with its 95-year-old founder) and surprising facts. Everyone says, for example, that Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon, but it was actually the legs of his lunar module – painted using Sico products. And did we think Let’s Color was a recent invention? Sico was doing exactly the same (old-style) back in the ’50s. Check out the film on YouTube: Sico the movie: 75th anniversary. Or scan this code:

A wall3.7m high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York, could be built with the office paper US citizens throw away each year.

Art direction & designGOOD Inc. — Luis MendoDTP Def. AmsterdamPrepress Plusworks

Photographers Tony Burns, Hideaki Hamada, Carlos Magno,Inga Mendelyte, Abduljalil Al-Nasser, Elsbeth Thijssen, Yilan YuenIllustrators Luis Mendo, Laszlito KovacsAdditonal imageryThe Noun Project

Publisher Akzo Nobel N.V. Contact oneworldmagazine@akzonobel.comEditorial addressAkzoNobel Corporate Communication, PO Box 75730, 1070 AS Amsterdam,The Netherlands

Editorial Board Peter de Haan, John de Munnik, Dieuwertje ten FeldEditorial TeamJulia Hart (Editor-in-chief), Fiona Meenaghan (Project manager), Linda Osnabrug (Project consultant), Hanneke Savenije (Editorial consultant), Linda Cook (Editor) and Florence Tonk (Contributor)

OneWorld MagazineIssue 3, August 2012

4

This needs less external support (two single visits by an OEE team), takes less time (three to five days) and still delivers considerable savings (€10,000 to €100,000 per year). It focuses on awareness, measuring and knowledge-sharing.

Saving big on energyOur sites consume a huge amount of energy, but they don’t have to – or at least, not as much as they do now. One of the most effective ways we are shrinking our environmental footprint is by carrying out a CED. Want to know what it is and how you can make huge energy savings at your own plant? Read on!

Are there other ways to reduce our energy consumption? Of course! Depending on a site’s limitations and strengths in terms of people, costs and complexity, there are different tools available. A CED can book big savings (up to €2 mln a year) but is intensive and relatively complex to execute. It needs external support from OEE specialists, aswell as a lot of time from our own people, and it can take up to four weeks to complete. Other methods include:

A “quick-scan” method that takes just a few hours. The site itself identifies energy-saving opportunities and puts together an action plan. OEE shares knowledge and best practices.

SEM ESA

What?A methodology to help our sites identify potential energy savings, carry out improvements and deliver great results.

Who?CEDs are carried out by site engineers, supervisors, operators and mechanics together with AkzoNobel’s OEE (Operational Eco-Efficiency) specialists. Colleagues from other sites who have already carried out a CED may join them to share knowledge and experience.

How?The site creates a Fact Pack, containing information on, for example, how the site is operated, what its current energy consumption is and how much energy it needs. Once this is ready, three workstreams are set up:

• PMMB(PerformanceManagementand Mindset and Behavior), addressing the human aspect – the role colleagues play in a site’s energy consumption

• CON(Consumption),concernedwith the details of energy consumption in the production process

• PMT(Purchase,MakeupandTransport), focusing on how energy is bought, produced and distributed.

These teams take on the challenge of:• identifyingwheresavingscanbe

made• developingideasandplans• prioritizingtheseplanned

improvements• convertingtheplansintoprojects.

The OEE specialists are there to help them with a range of supportive tools such as training courses, and software tools to measure a site’s performance.

What arethe pluses?Alongside the tangible benefits of a cleaner environment and cost reduction, a CED raises awareness about energy efficiency and helps create a sustainable energy-conscious culture. It provides a framework for continuous improvement, and helps us make conventional energy as green as possible. And, of course, it is an excellent platform to see One AkzoNobel in action, bringing together colleagues from different sites and improving knowledge-sharing within our company.

Comprehensive Energy DiagnosticsCED

CED

Sustainable Energy Management

Energy Self Assessment

5

“We’re now helping other sites carry out a CED”

Catherine ChauTechnical Support Engineer and team leader of the Consumption (CON) workstream “Our workstream looked at how we consume energy at the site during production. How we utilize steam or nitrogen or electricity while making our products. The intention was to spend 50% of my time on the CED but I ended up giving nearly 100%. Because I felt it was worth it, with all the savings we could make and all the new opportunities we identified. We worked together with other sites, holding brainstorming sessions where everyone brought in their own knowledge and best practices. We prioritized the ideas and narrowed them down to the most feasible projects, the ones that generated the most savings and lowest payback time. The OEE specialists’ input was invaluable. They brought the fresh perspective we needed to identify the opportunities. Now we are helping other sites that are just starting out with a CED.”

“Listen to the operators”

Scott DrummondProduction Manager and team leader Performance Management and Mindset and Behavior (PMMB) workstream “People know we have to save energy. But they don’t always know how. Our workstream addresses that gap. For example, we train operators to understand how they impact energy consumption; they can really make a difference and we should listen to their insights into what is needed and what can be improved. Visualization is also important, so people can see on their monitors for example how much it actually costs to keep a big motor running. They are confronted with what the current costs are and what can be achieved. We’re only just realizing how important this visualization tool is and will incorporate it into our distribution and control processes. I really see a different mindset amongst colleagues since we carried out the CED. We’re saving in other areas as well, because we learned to do things smarter.”

“It was definitely worth the logistical headaches!”Sarah CarrigerSite Coordinator and member of the Purchase, Make up and Transport (PMT) workstream

“The nature of our site means that big savings can be made on

natural gas, electricity and nitrogen, and this translates into significant cost savings. We already had an energy team in

place that had identified some potential energy saving projects,

but a CED really looks in detail at the whole site. We did our CED in 2010, so we know the results – we are still uncovering savings that exceed everyone’s expectations.But a CED is very intense and fast-paced and the colleagues in the teams must be able to set aside a significant portion of their time to spend on it. As a member of the PMT team I studied the site utilities, looking at how best we could make our steam-producing boilers more efficient. As Site Coordinator I looked after our visitors, making sure everyone had the right information. Sometimes it was a bit of a logistical headache! But it was worth it. Our teams go into the site and talk to colleagues; we interview them, hold brainstorming sessions and let everyone know that we’re doing a CED. We brought the operators in who actually run the units and utilities and asked them what we could do better. A lot of the ideas for saving energy that were implemented came from the shop floor, not from the engineers. Actually, most of them!”

CED in practice Surface Chemistry is the first BU to carry out a CED at all its sites. At least six of them have now completed the process and have seen huge savings: Chattanooga, Houston, Fort Worth, Morris and Salisbury, all in the US, and the Itupeva site in Brazil. Here are three colleagues from Houston who have been closely involved with the CED process.

TargetIn 2009 we set ourselves the goal of a 30% reduction in our environmental footprint by 2015.

20152009

A worthwhile investment? You bet!

INVESTED SAVINGS per year

Houston €365,000 €308,000

Chattanooga €415,000 €244,000

Morris €2.6 mln €1.1 mln

SavingsThe six Surface Chemistry sites that have completed a CED are making savings on their total energy bills of between

Houston and Chattanooga were the first Surface Chemistry sites to perform a CED, and their savings are becoming apparent. Morris is still investing, and expects huge savings. 17%

AND

38%

Larger projects at Houston are still being implemented. They include: replacing faulty steam taps and installing energy-saving valves to reduce steam leaks and installing variable speed drives so the plant can run the larger motors at reduced speed when possible.

Projects like these are expected to cut the cost of electricity consumption by almost €318,000 a year and cut our CO2 emissions by over 2,000 tons.

Things they did at Houston (that worked)

Insulated three reactors, saving almost €28,000 a year in natural gas costs.

Moved a boiler’s combustion air source indoors.Improvements (including the simple one of a warmer air supply) saved €13,500 a year in natural gas costs.

Recycled rainwater from an overflow pond back to firewater ponds (water reserved for use in case of fire). It didn’t save a lot of dollars but it did save on water.

1 2 3

6

Standardization and simplification are two important elements of Dynamo since they can lead to more efficient, cost-

effective operations. At Pulp and Performance Chemicals they have been applied to manage and process operational data at all their sites. Their Dynamo GMT project (GMT stands for Global Manufacturing Execution System Template) defines a single set of rules that are used to operate all of their manufacturing sites, making manufacturing processes

more transparent and efficient. “It’s simply not cost-efficient to have 50 different solutions,”

explains Industrial IT Manager Stefan Malmsten, “because we don’t want to produce things

in 50 different ways.” Standardization is not just cost-efficient but has other benefits too. “Openness and transparency foster greater collaboration and cooperation between plants,” says Stefan. “What’s more, it will make it easier to spot best

practices.” The GMT project is currently in its design phase. Rollout is expected to

start in 2013.

Digital nationSouth Korea is super-savvy when it comes to the internet; it boasts more than 100% fixed broadband penetration in homes. In rural India by contrast, less than 0.5% of homes have internet.

Women in overalls– they’re a common sight now, but in 1965 the first female trainee in Eka’s electric workshop made it into the staff magazine. “It all went well,” she explained, “my colleagues were all gentlemen.”

China

It seems that our coatings are so ‘green’ they can be used as body paint! This model showcased our newest coatings

at the 2012 Green Building China conference in Shanghai. ExCo member Marjan Oudeman (left) was one of the 40,000 visitors to the event and was clearly enjoying the show. The event’s main sponsor? You guessed it, AkzoNobel.

Painting Shanghai green

W hen Wood Finishes and Adhesives at Guarulhos, Brazil decided to replace the cabling infrastructure

of a Local Area Network, they didn’t just stop there. They also:•recycled628kilosofcable•reducedtheextractionofcopperore, afiniteresource,byalmost60tons

•savedthesameamountofelectricity that it would take to power 41 homes for a month

•stopped314kilosofcontaminatedmaterial from being deposited in industrial landfills.

And their colleagues at Packaging Coatings at Santo André were so impressed, they’re following suit with their own Green IT project.

Earth-friendly IT

Dynamo in action

Brazil United Kingdom

Global

Greek scholars may get their good ideas in the bath. Yacht Engineering Manager Andrew McNally got his in... the toilet. Or at least, that’s where it was put into practice.

By installing water-saving devices in the toilets at the Marine and Protective Coatings site in Felling, UK, he saved some 6.2 million liters of water a year. That’s enough to fill 2.5 Olympic swimming pools, or 10% of Felling’s total water consumption. By adding ‘save a flush’ devices to old cisterns, installing intelligent flush controllers in urinals and fitting pan urinals with waterless cartridges and maintenance flush timers, Andrew might just inspire other sites that want to cut costs and save water.

Andrew’s ‘Eureka!’ moment

7

3 questions to our new CEO

Age 46.Nationality Dutch. Has worked outside the Netherlands for more than 20 years.Is married.Before AkzoNobel he was CEO of Sulzer Ltd., a publicly-quoted Swiss engineering company with global operations.What drives him? “Grabbing complex challenges and solving them with a diverse team of people. It’s my passion.”What should we know? “I’m a practical person. I don’t have a ‘hidden persona’. What you see is pretty much what you get.”Loves snowboarding. “I’ll probably be going back to Switzerland for that. It’s a bit too flat in Holland!”Dislikes discussions driven mainly by history as opposed to active forward thinking.Spends his leisure time with his family and running around with an Alaskan Malamute dog.Personal dream “Together with all of you, I would love to make AkzoNobel the even greater company it has the potential to be.”

On April 23 Ton Büchner succeeded Hans Wijers as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AkzoNobel. Before he took over, he spent the first few months of this year getting to know the organization. He has talked to hundreds of employees all over the world to find out about our products, our processes and our people. And he’s also been meeting our customers to discover what they think of us.

1What are your impressions of AkzoNobel so far?

“Let me first say how proud I am to be CEO of AkzoNobel. On my travels, I have met a lot of inspiring and enthusiastic people. Customers are happy that we work so closely with them, but they are also clear about improvements we can make – in on-time delivery and quality, for example. Colleagues in some of the high-growth markets – China, India and Brazil – have underlined my impression that we have strong strategic positions in different businesses, giving us enormous potential. And many people talk about sustainability; they are clearly working together in their commitment to move forward. What’s clear is our history of acquisitions and culture of local accountability. Some businesses and locations still operate as independent entities and, while this can be good for accountability, it comes at a cost – and it’s not so good for creating a global company.”

2What will your priorities be?

“I’m now working on a strategy update that I will communicate in October. I won’t be reinventing the wheel but will build on what is already working well. For example, we’re doing a good job when it comes to our focus on safety, which is extraordinarily important for this organization. But as I travelled around the company and visited many of our sites I saw things we can do even better. And, while Dynamo is very important for this company and will continue, I may adapt some elements to reflect the current 2012 situation. Last but not least, I will be working on cash generation and improvements needed in our company’s operational performance.”

3What is your message to colleagues?

“There are three things I’d like you to do: the first is to keep serving customers as well as you can. After all, it is our customers who drive our organization. The second is to stay agile. The world’s economies are changing continuously and we need to move with them. Finally, be open and transparent about everything you do, so that we can work together to take this company forward. I too will strive to be open and transparent in my communications, letting you know what is expected of you. Once we have the right structures in place, I am confident that, on the basis of what I have seen so far, we can drive this company to the next level.”

Who’s Ton Büchner?

8

Stylisheco-friendly and ethical. If only our favorite brands were ‘all that’. At fashioningchange.com you’ll discover alternatives that are.

Our World

71%of managers consider flip-flops to be the worst ‘faux pas’ in a summer work wardrobe.

My outfit

The clothes we wear to work are as different as the jobs we do. Some of us dress for safety, others go for glam. Some just want to be comfortable. But one thing is clear: our outfits are as diverse (and as colorful) as our company itself. 

256.6gallons of water are used to make one cotton T-shirt.

Bangkok, Thailand. Chitthummawong

Charankorn swears by her ‘one-stop’

outfit: the dress. “It makes life so easy!”

Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Jeroen Sleutelberg likes the Italian ‘cut-to-the bone’ style. “You won’t see me wearing a tie unless I’m meeting our CEO!”

Dormelletto, Italy. ‘Elegant’ and ‘professional’ are key words for Luca Ceccherini.

Chicago, US. Owen Faloona likes fashion

because, “it is an excuse to acknowledge co-

workers individuality and build a bond with them”.

Malmö, Sweden. Petra Rapp loves colorful clothes. “They make me happy!”

xxx xxxxxAdios doluptae conse aspic tecabo. Ita ipit laciis volupit aquibus tisse

9

For DadA necktie is still the most popular gift on Father’s Day, all over the world.

1 in 10Americans admit they once bought an outfit with the intention of wearing it one time and then returning it to the shop.

My outfit

Do we agreewith Coco Chanel, who claimed: “Not one man I have spoken to likes a woman in mini skirts”?

Bitterfeld, Germany. Victor Salet and his colleagues in production, engineering and logistics all wear protective workwear.

Balashikha, Russia. Elena Yatsenko prefers quiet shades. “But we

have a tradition of ‘Bright Fridays’ when

we all wear colorful clothes to work.”

Montataire, France. Fifteen years a fireman, Bruno Ferron is known as safety protector and

‘guardian angel’.

Chicago, US. Yvette Williger loves jewelry and shoes. “They make an outfit complete.”

Gurgaon, India.Loose ‘kurtis’ help

Kavitha Sriram and her colleagues

beat the heat in summer.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ibrahim Shahbhai chooses Saudi traditional outfit as his “absolute favorite”.

Balashikha, Russia. Yulia Alenina prefers a casual style and likes to remember she’s part of AkzoNobel’s ‘color people’.

10

Walkto work – it’s good for you! That’s why the US has a National Walk to Work Day in April, Australia in October, and the UK has a whole week – in May.

Rembrandt painted The Night Watch in 1642. Now, in 2012, our Sikkens products are being used to help restore the original ornamental frieze above it. The painting hangs in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.

Sharing solutionsThe Netherlands and United States

R ecognizing this, a group of Dutch colleagues set up the Plant Integrity Network to exchange knowledge,

solutions and experiences in the fields of engineering, building and installation maintenance. Members come from different BUs’ manufacturing plants. At regular Network meetings, facilitated by EOS (Engineering and Operational Solutions), colleagues might discuss the different maintenance philosophies in BUs or how sites deal with document

management to fulfill regulatory demands. In a response to the network’s aim to expand globally, the US has joined the online Plant Integrity SharePoint site and the network has also linked up with the Maintenance and Materials Network Meeting in the US. The network is especially keen to attract colleagues where AkzoNobel has a large manufacturing base, such as in China, Germany, Sweden and Brazil. Just send an e-mail to michael.turner@akzonobel.com

A well-maintained plant is a safe plant. Or at least a safer plant. And regular maintenance makes it more cost-effective and boosts productivity too.

Global

➔ “Great talk by Tex Gunning, AkzoNobel. We definitely need different business models to achieve sustainability. #wwfnext”

➔ “Tex Gunning, #akzonobel: ‘environmental problems don’t need environmental solutions, but a change in leadership culture’. #wwfnext”

➔ “AkzoNobel’s Tex Gunning: look at the next generation instead of the next quarter! So true! #wwfnext”

These were just some of the tweets sent out during Tex Gunning’s speech at the WWFNext Conference organized by the World Wildlife Fund in Rotterdam,  the Netherlands on May 8. Tex, ExCo member responsible for Decorative Paints, is known for his inspirational speeches, as well as for promoting sustainable business.

Hot on Twitter

TAT Award crosses borders

T he theme of this year’s competition was cross-boundary cooperation. The CPCP not only reached out to other parts of the company to fill what it called

a ‘knowledge gap’ in corrosion and corrosion protection processes, but also to top universities in corrosion science, developing a five-year program with the UK’s University of Manchester. The CPCP consists of representatives from BUs and function teams all over the world and its work now means that all BUs working to develop and improve corrosion protection products can draw on knowledge from both inside and outside the organization. According to the jury this was “an exciting example of the broad cooperation that stretches across AkzoNobel. It demonstrates how having Fewer, Bigger, Better projects that deliver solutions Faster will help us develop Tomorrow’s Answers Today.”

The Corrosion Protection Community of Practice (CPCP) may be a bit of a mouthful, but that didn’t stop them from walking away with the 2012 Tomorrow’s Answers Today (TAT) Award.

Woof!Post-war families in Britain looking for a pet were often influenced by the ‘Dulux Dog’. This popular advertising campaign triggered a huge surge of interest in the Old English Sheepdog.

Our protective coatings were used for many buildings at Shanghai’s World Expo 2010, including its distinctive Cultural Centre. Nicknamed the UFO, the building is now a multifunctional indoor arena.

Speak up!

What’s goingon in ?

11

“However well we are doing, we can always do better. There is potential throughout the organization, but we must be committed to realizing it.”

Sung HuhProject Director Complexity Optimization

Complexity Optimization has two main aims: to simplify our raw materials portfolio and to develop projects across all BUs that deliver complexity optimization.

D espite the fact that women often occupy high positions in India, they can still be subject to a variety of social issues. That’s why International Women’s Day was such a huge event at AkzoNobel in India. Women from all levels and business units got together on the big day, March 8, not just to celebrate

women’s achievements in India and around the world (and have some fun with it!), but to educate women in local communities about health and hygiene. In all, some 80 female colleagues took part in the health program, part of a broader spectrum of year-round activities organized by AkzoNobel Bangalore’s Women’s Welfare Association.

We’re on top of the game, literally, when it comes to coating sports stadiums.

In May, AkzoNobel won the contract to supply coatings for three projects in Brazil: the roof of Maracanã Stadium which will host matches in the 2014 World Cup soccer championships, the mezzanine of the Grêmio Arena in Porto Alegre and a third stadium in the northeast of the country (achieved through cooperation with Powder Coatings in Spain). All contracts were secured thanks to a local team, supported by Global Solutions, which is committed to providing One AkzoNobel solutions for large infrastructure projects.

E missions at the site make up some 20% of our company’s total discharge of sulfur

oxide, something that Oscar Badella, Operation Director Business Support, was determined to change. “But to succeed, we had to meet two challenges,” he explains. Not only did they have to find a way to reduce these sulfur oxide emissions but they also had to find a business partner that could use sodium bisulfate, produced by the chemical process involved in reducing them. Thanks to teamwork between Manufacturing and Sales & Marketing, they found that customer, and that makes everyone a winner, including the environment.

India

Celebrating women

Winners all round

Have you ever been the victim of sexual harassment at work? Or suspected a manager of ‘cooking the books’? However unlikely it may seem, these things can happen. And we need

to tell someone if they do. But who? Did you know that our company has a toll-free helpline you can ring? You can talk to the Speak Up! helpline in your own language. There’s also a Speak Up! website akzonobel.ethicspoint.com where you can find information on how to report unethical behavior, criminal offences or other breaches in our code of conduct. And if you don’t know what our code of conduct is, you can read it online, in 27 languages at: akzonobel.com/coc So there’s no need to stay silent if you have a problem at work.

Global

BrazilArgentina

World Cup coatings

The energy saved by recycling one glass bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes.

Achoo!Next time you reach for a tissue, its bulk and softness might be down to our very own Eka Soft T series. Bless you!

Hair conditionerwas first created for men. In 1900 ‘Brilliantine’ was exhibited at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris. More than a century later our products make hair even shinier!

Cutting our environmental impact? Saving money? Forming a multi-year partnership with a key customer? It’s all in a day’s work for Functional Chemicals in San Lorenzo.

1

2

3

4

12

All in a day’s work

1 This team has one coordinator and six merchandising assistants; here, one of them checks everything’s in place before hanging a promotional ball.

2 Rio’s Trade Marketing Team. Standing (left to right): Leandro Aquino, Marcos Freitas, Fábio Barbosa, Klingher Souza. Sitting (left to right): Givanildo Ferreira, Wilson Baptista, Anderson Santos.

3 Campaigns are recorded digitally. Here the team checks out the day’s guidelines before it gets to work.

4 Leandro paints the storefront a bright, sunshine yellow. The team negotiated exclusive rights to paint the front of this store with its products – a great win for Rio!

5 During 2012 Decorative Paints is rolling out the same ‘flourish’ logo, clearly visible on these flags, across all its brands worldwide. Brand names remain unchanged.

6 Negotiations between store owners, the AkzoNobel sales team and the Trade Marketing Team in which they will agree on issues like product mix, price and merchandising activities.

7 A customer looks on while Givanildo demonstrates how our paint repels any liquids that come into contact with it – a definite bonus! The team will train the store’s sales staff to carry out these demonstrations themselves.

8 It’s important that our products have the greatest visibility in the store – the essence of a Trade Marketing Team’s work.

9 Before they go into a store, the coordinator explains what goals have been set and how to make sure they are achieved. That way, everyone is on the same page.

This Decorative Paints Trade Marketing Team in Rio de Janeiro is one of many around the world; 12 of them are in Brazil. Functioning as a bridge between sales and marketing, each team is responsible for promoting the local brand in retail outlets across a particular region. After negotiations with a store owner, the team will equip an outlet with our products and promotional items. Here you can see how prominent the local brand is in this small Rio store. And that’s all down to these guys.

The shopfitters

8

6

7

5

9

13

14

Safety

We can always improve on safety, but how? In recent audits, colleagues at the Marine and Protective Coatings (M&PC) site in Dammam, Saudi Arabia scored significantly higher on safety- related issues than AkzoNobel’s required minimum. Six colleagues from the site tell us what they have learned from working in a culture where safety is part of the DNA. What are the everyday things that make the difference?

Making safety work

Hussein’s tipMake sure everyone on the site is aware

of the risks and hazards in their workplace

and receives safety training.

Hassan’s tipAlways work as a team, because

everyone then takes responsibility.

2 Hazardous materials are classified 0,

1 or 2, indicating the protective clothing that must be worn to handle them.Hassan Al-Amer works in the warehouse, offloading raw materials and is not afraid to tell suppliers if their goods are not packaged correctly. He is responsible for labeling raw materials according to this classification system.

1 We introduced air hoists so

operators don’t need to shift so many heavy bags of raw materials by hand.

Hussein Hulaili, the site’s Health and Safety Advisor, started work at the site 15 years ago, operators were handling a lot of heavy bags and boxes manually. Now, they don’t.

15

Andrew Lear, Operations Manager, explains, “Raising understanding of why accidents happen in the first place is key. We’re a small site, with around 100 people and there is a family feeling amongst the staff. This makes it easier. And, as in any close-knit family, there is honest and open communication between us all, ‘shop floor’ and management alike. If we see a colleague walking where they shouldn’t be walking, or not wearing the appropriate clothing, we will approach that person directly. And, once approached, there will be a strict follow-up. An agreement is made with the individual, on paper, to correct their behavior, and that is then monitored.”

It is investigated thoroughly and action is taken immediately. A Safety Alert is filled in, showing a photograph of where the incident took place and the answers to three standard questions: ‘What happened?’ ‘What did we learn?’ and ‘How do we prevent it?’ When the Alert has been filled in, it is put on a display board at the site, goes on the intranet to be shared with M&PC colleagues at other sites and, for those without access to the internet, a manager will convey the information verbally. The site also publishes its initiatives in a BBS newsletter that is sent to its sister sites in Felling and Angered.

How come everyone at the site is so involved?

What happens when an incident does occur?

4A colleague was caught driving one of our forklift trucks when he knew he shouldn’t. He’d already had one warning, so he

lost his job.The action taken here, ten years ago, is rare at the site, but does demonstrate

the site’s commitment to safety. Operations Manager Andrew Lear says

that managers must be prepared to makes hard decisions. Andrew believes

in action. If a colleague suggests an improvement that is acted on, it is

extremely motivating for the whole team

6 We changed the position of a manager’s screen,

keyboard and chair to reduce the risk of injury.

This was a result of one of Abdullah Al-Humailly’s observations. Like Hassan he works in the warehouse, and is also a member of the BBS Observation Team. Dialog between himself and an ‘observee’ brought about another change: labeling shelves in the warehouse to indicate the maximum weight they can hold.

Abdullah’s tipMake sure your observations sheets

can be read by everybody. Ours are in Arabic and English.

Andrew’s tipIt’s important to remove safety

barriers, both physical and in people’s understanding.

5 Levers that are difficult to reach are moved closer.

When Peter Isaacson, Assistant Operations Manager, moved to the site two years ago, he was struck by how everyone appeared to have safety in their DNA. Over the last years he’s seen big improvements in how quickly action is taken, either after an incident or as the result of a suggestion. Examples include altering the position of levers and giving operators more tools and better equipment so they can do their job more easily.

Peter’s tip Don’t accept it if you see wrong behavior.

Always correct it!

3 We make sure all colleagues hold the

handrails when they take the stairs.

Ali Khizeri works in paint production and is a member of the site’s BBS Observation Team. He monitors workplaces for potential hazards and asks colleagues for their suggestions too. On one visit he noticed that operators were not always holding the handrails on staircases. Thanks to a routine follow-up, he says it is now “second nature for everyone”.

Ali’s tipCarry out a minor risk assessment

of your workplace every day.

Stuff we make

The holiday’s drawing to a close, but some of us are determined to make the most of the long, hot days. Like these two little brothers in Japan. They’ve survived the summer without sunburn and are enjoying free-flowing water from the shower. And who can we thank for that? Our BUs of course!

Holiday fun

SwimwearOne size fits all! Well, maybe not quite, but thanks to stretchy Spandex this little boy can be sure his trunks won’t fall down in the water. Spandex contains Functional Chemical’s ethylene diamine.

SunscreenBet their mom (or dad) made sure the boys were covered in sunscreen before they went out to play. And let’s hope it contained Surface Chemistry’s Dermacryl 79 or Dermacryl AQF. These film-forming polymers help keep sunscreen on the skin even in wet conditions.

Water nozzlesNo ugly white scale on these shower nozzles! And no stray streams of water shooting out at odd angles either. Surface Chemistry’s Aquatreat polymers put an end to all that.

Flip-flopsClean flip-flops! His mom’ll be pleased. One of the reasons they’re so comfortable could be because they contain Functional Chemicals’ Perkadox that improves the performance of rubber.

Concrete floorYou don’t want them tripping up, especially not with all that bare skin to graze! And they won’t, thanks to Decorative Paints’ floor leveling compounds.

WaterEven if they do swallow a mouthful or two of water, they won’t get sick. Industrial Chemicals produces metal salts such as iron chloride to purify water, and sodium hypochlorite to disinfect it.

0599

2_03

0712