When our experts encounter resistance to change!
Initially, the assignment seemed rather straightforward: to apply management visual methods and tools to a production site belonging to a metalworking company. The new production manager hired AXSENS to present the methodology, train people and implement management visual processes and tools on the site.
However, when AXSENS senior consultants Laurent and Christophe presented the management visual methodology, they met with strong resistance from employees, senior management and even the board of directors. The production manager wanted to bring his company into the 21st century, but first had to convince the rest of the company of the need for such a change.
Laurent and Christophe were up for the challenge. With 50 years of cumulative experience in the deployment of industrial methods, they met with management and explained, from basic concepts, how their company could benefit from this set of effective methods and tools.
"We had to adapt our solution to the customer's needs. In this case, it wasn't just about visual management . We had to show the customer that change was necessary and beneficial. They're metallurgists, technically very competent people, but they just didn't have the fundamentals," says Laurent. "It takes time, listening skills and empathy to get people to be open to change," added Christophe. "After taking that time, we gained some allies who supported us."
Encouraged, they then identified 22 areas for improvement and drew up a dashboard consolidating the performance of each manufacturing stage. Finally, they proposed a roadmap for transformation, starting from the ground up.
Since then, site employees have capitalized on the new processes put in place, and recognize the efficiency gains they've made. "Even employees who were initially strongly opposed to change are now champions of the new methods," said Mr. Laurent. The company has retained AXSENS to support them in the next stages of their industrial transformation. Laurent and Christophe aim to help the customer establish a culture of continuous improvement supported by a site-wide transformation plan and associated performance measures. It will be a challenge, but now that the employees have accepted the change, the hard part is over.
