Michael “Mike” Harlan
Results-driven Chemical Engineer in specialty chemical manufacturing in Louisville, KY. Plant Operations Manager at a leading producer of industrial adhesives, coatings, and performance chemicals. Oversee all aspects of plant operations, including raw material blending, bulk storage systems, quality-controlled packaging into drums, totes, tanker trucks, and railcar loading. Responsible for optimizing production schedules, ensuring regulatory compliance with EPA, OSHA, and DOT standards, and maintaining the safe, efficient transfer of hazardous and non-hazardous materials. Under my leadership, the Louisville facility has achieved a 22% increase in on-time shipments while reducing packaging-related incidents by 35%. I enjoy leading cross-functional teams of operators, technicians, and maintenance staff to solve complex operational challenges in a fast-paced 24/7 environment. Committed to continuous improvement, actively promoting Lean manufacturing principles and sustainable practices, including waste minimization and energy-efficient blending processes.
No badges yet
Professional Background
14 years
PE, Six Sigma Black Belt, PSM & HAZOPER
Profile is not yet complete
Technical Interests & Expertise
Streamlining packaging machinery
Profile is not yet complete
In our world, the packaging line is often the true bottleneck, not the reactors. This past year we converted two drum/tote lines to closed-loop gravimetric filling with vapor recovery, automated bung torque, and barcode recipe control. Results: faster changeovers, tighter fill accuracy, and fewer drips and VOCs. We also cut mislabels because the PLC won’t arm the fill unless product, container, and label match.Biggest gains weren’t flashy: grounding/bonding permissives tied to the scale, nozzles...
We just finished a Kaizen around our solvent packaging cells that might be relevant to folks in petrochem. Biggest wins came from three low-tech moves: converting from top-fill wands to bottom-fill lances with nitrogen blanketing, adding close-coupled quick-connect manifolds with color-coded spools, and installing piggable headers on our high-turn lines. Result: 28% less flush solvent, faster line purges, and visibly lower fugitive emissions in the bay.We paired this with Coriolis mass flow mete...
In our coatings plant, we package a lot of light hydrocarbon blends. The biggest step change came when we moved from manual load cell stations to Coriolis batch skids tied to a small PLC. We added hardwired permissives before a single pound can flow: verified ground and bond, VRU vacuum within band, bung sensor, cap present, fill arm parked, no seal leak. That cut cycle time 18% and trimmed giveaway by 0.4% while reducing odor and venting incidents.Two lessons learned. First, do not lean on LEL...