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Pine ChemicalsMARKET NICHE

POSITIONS NICHE

Design Engineer

Senior Consulting EngineerTITLE

CLIENT

Sonbon Forestry

CONSULTANT SEARCH CASE STUDY:

8100 Opportunity Drive, Milton, Florida 32583850-983-4777 | www.ropellaexperts.com

COMPANY

Sonbon ForestryPOSITION

Senior Consulting EngineerLOCATION

Home Based Office

For more information contact:

David Layne

Client Manager

Ropella Experts

850-983-0432

David@ropellaexperts.com

Sonbon Foresty

Senior Consulting Engineer2

Ropella | Expert Search — Chemical and Allied Industries | www.ropellaexperts.com

Sonbon ForestrySonbon Forestry is a large, well-respected, China-based private enterprise. They utilize resin as its basic raw material for rosin and turpentine oil deep processing technology. Established in 1958, the company initially belonged to the National Forestry Department. Over time it endured some difficult experiences which evolved the company into the privately-owed, Sonbon Forestry.

Due to its outstanding technical advantage in the industry, Sonbon has become responsible for a large number of the Forestry Science Research Projects of the country by participating in the planning of key national programs for science and technology. Sonbon was awarded the second prize of National Scientific and Technological Progress for two terms and third prize for one term. They also received the first prize of Provincial Scientific Progress for one term, and the second and third prize for two terms respectively.

The company has passed the ISO9001 Quality System certification, GMP certification (borneol products), and QS certification (food grade ester). Sonbon has received the “Hunan Agricultural Industrialization Leading Enterprise”, “Hunan Forestry Industrialization Leading Enterprise”, “Hunan High and New Technology Enterprise”, “Top Ten of Hunan Province Science and Technology Innovation Enterprise”, and “Top Five Hunan Forest products Processing Enterprise” awards.

Sonbon Forestry uses pine rosin and turpentine oil as main raw materials. These green, renewable resources are collected by using the standard cut method. They gather and process the materials from pine trees, without affecting the normal growth or impacting the future value of the trees. Sonbon is committed to contributing to protecting the environment and being a part of a low-carbon economy.

Sonbon products include borneol, hydrogenated rosin, rosin, hydrogenated rosin esters, and paramenthane. Sonbon products can be found in electronics, medicine, food, rubber, high-grade adhesive, environmental protection coating, paint, fragrance applications and many other fields.

Sonbon is already one of the top three companies of its kind in China. Its “XueFeng” brand is a famous Chinese trademark. Sonbon’s goal is to become the leading forestry bio-materials company both in China and abroad. As a group they are strongly pro-environment and adhere to the core value: “Pine Benefits the World, Great Virtue Services People .”

Company Information

More Information:

http://sonbon.net/

Sonbon Foresty

Senior Consulting Engineer3

Ropella | Expert Search — Chemical and Allied Industries | www.ropellaexperts.com

Hiring Team Mr. TianMr. Tian is the Chairman and leader of Sonbon Forestry. He is a young, driven, very successful entrepreneur. Mr. Tian is an outspoken environmentalist with a passion for improving the world we live in, and positively impacting the lives of generations to come. He believes in challenging himself and his employees to constantly strive to make things cleaner, safer, less wasteful and more environmentally friendly. He is currently funding the development of a state-of-the-art carpet recycling facility in the United States.

Mr. Tian visits the United States often and is a connoisseur of American Pop Culture. He is the proud father of a six year old son.

Gail BriceGail Brice is an environmental entrepreneur experienced in growing companies with the goal of “doing well by doing good”. Gail is currently the Executive Vice President of XT Green, a private investment company focusing on developing and growing environmental companies. Her current focus is overseeing a project to develop a next generation carpet recycling facility with the highest recycling rates possible while ensuring vastly improved employee health protection as compared to current facilities.

Professional accomplishments include serving as the Vice President of Business Development for an environmental engineering company that grew during Ms. Brice’s five-year tenure from a $1 million to $60 million in highly-profitable revenue and from 10 to 450 professionals

Gail Brice and XT Green oversee contracts for Mr. Tian and Sonbon Forestry when they are seeking the services of subject matter experts from the United States.

Sonbon Foresty

Senior Consulting Engineer4

Ropella | Expert Search — Chemical and Allied Industries | www.ropellaexperts.com

Position Information Senior Consulting EngineerRoleThe Senior Consulting Engineer will provide direction to Sonbon Forestry concerning the design and construction of a state-of-the-industry pine chemicals processing facility. This is a US-based role that will require occasional trips to China for a real-time view of the location and progress of the project. While this role will initially be slated to last 6 months, there is a high probability it will convert to a permanent hire if the consultant so desires.

Requirements � 7 to 10 years of relevant work experience.

� Experience with specialty chemicals, pine chemicals, tall oil, rosin and turpentine.

� Subject matter expert (SME) on plant design, process equipment design and the conversion of process concepts to a completed project.

� Proven experience successfully increasing production capacity, lowering operating costs, and incorporating environmental protection into design.

� Experience with value-added processing for new products and applications with highest returns from gum rosin processing.

� Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering or related field.

Project Overview � Create an initial white paper describing state-of-the-industry

technology for pine chemical processing in the United States.

� Visit China to see the Greenfield location the new plant will be located in.

� Using subject matter expertise create the overall process design of the new facility. The majority of this work will be completed by the consultant from the US and will be implemented by a local team on the ground in China.

Future Potential � There is an opportunity for the right engineer to continue on in a

permanent role, overseeing the process of the current facility as well as new acquisitions or constructions in the US or abroad.

For more information contact:

David Layne

Client Manager

Ropella Experts

850-983-0432

David@ropellaexperts.com

If you have open positions in your organization, give us a call and put our people and our process

to work for you.

8100 Opportunity Drive, Milton, Florida 32583850-983-4777 | www.ropellaexperts.com

Skill Survey

Senior Consulting Engineer Name: Date:

1. Tell us about any non-competes and/or any potential conflicts of interest that you may have with Sonbon Forestry.

2. Tell us about any travel limitation and/or any issues related to your availability to work this consulting project per our client’s time table.

3. Outline your expertise and years of experience in gum rosin or other Pine Chemicals processing.

4. Give an overview of your experience in plant design, process equipment design and the conversion of process concepts to a completed project.

5. Outline your experience when it comes to successfully increasing production capacity, lowering operating costs, and incorporating environmental best practices for reducing environmental impact into design.

6. Give an overview of a project that you completed that is similar in scope to the one presented here. What was the time line? What were some key deliverables? What was the final outcome? (Please note - we are looking for general information showing technical and problem-solving abilities. Proprietary information is neither requested nor desired).

References Please provide three to six references that can testify to your expertise related to this specific consulting assignment.

Example: Bob Smith, currently - Business Director at ABC Corporation 412-123-4567, Email: bob.smith@abccorp.com. Was Business Director, my direct boss, 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 Scorecard is a form you complete on every candidate you have now screened as a potential fit. If you can tell that some of the candidate’s are probably C level in a superficial overview in comparison to others you set those aside now and grade the rest. The grading sheet will help you objectively weigh all the Must Haves and even the preferences in such a way that at the end of using the grading sheet process you can be pretty sure who the A plus candidates are, who the A candidates are, and who the B candidates are. Then we focus on scheduling for the A’s.

Candidate Comparison-Scorecard Candidate Name: Client Name: Sonbon Forestry Position: Senior Consulting Engineer Comp. Range: Communications: L = Heavy Accent – Hard to Understand Comment:

Grader’s Name: Grade: Hiring Mgr: Mr. Tian HR Contact: Gail Brice Candidate Rate: M = Accent – Understandable H = No Accent – Easy to Understand

Attribute A/B/C Comment 1. Non-competes and/or conflicts of interest A = No issue whatsoever B = Some issue in this area, but not a deal-breaker C = Major issue in this area

2. Travel limitations & availability A = No travel limitations & wide-open availability B = No travel limitations, but some issue w/ availability C = Cannot leave country, and major issue w/ availability

3. Exp in gum rosin or other Pine Chemicals processing A = 10+ yrs exp or more B = 7- 9 yrs exp C = < 7 yrs exp

4. Exp. in plant design, process equip. design, etc. A = Direct experience 5 – 7 yrs. B = Some experience, indirect C = None, or little experience

5. Proven track record in increasing production capacity, lower operational costs, & environ. practices A = Well defined description with specific example of success B = Defined description with general overview of success C = General answer no specifics

Our Candidate Scorecard is a form you complete on every candidate you have now screened as a potential fit. If you can tell that some of the candidate’s are probably C level in a superficial overview in comparison to others you set those aside now and grade the rest. The grading sheet will help you objectively weigh all the Must Haves and even the preferences in such a way that at the end of using the grading sheet process you can be pretty sure who the A plus candidates are, who the A candidates are, and who the B candidates are. Then we focus on scheduling for the A’s.

6. Exp. completing project similar in scope A = Direct exp., w/ specific example that demonstrates project success B = General answer that demonstrates experience in this area C = Minimal exposure in this area

Grading Point System: A’s = 4 B’s = 3 C’s = 2 Bonus Points = 1 Now add up the numerical value of each grade and then divide by the total number of grades

Total Points: Divided by __ grades = Avg. Grade: