BPI was chosen to accompany the change in organisation of a high-growth site. A three-stage approach was selected - define the main guidelines of the new organisation with the managers, build adapted operational procedures with the employees, and strongly support the implementation.

Context
Challenges Develop over Time
When it was created in 1984, the site's vocation was to produce a molecule that enabled products to be manufactured worldwide. Once the pioneering era was over, the steps to diversification were successfully achieved. By 1997 the site was producing six active ingredients, two of which were in the group's top ten. Supported by a significant training programme, the performance of the 170 employees was a major advantage faced with the increasing technical complexity of operations. In 1998 when BPI was chosen to support the changes in organisation linked to the tripling of production capacity, increased volume had become the main challenge. The operation was set up with a double perspective - guarantee increasing capacity and develop a way of working capable of sustaining permanent improvement in performance.

Task
Defining the Frame of Reference
The principal directions of the new responsible and reactive organisation were defined by the management committee. The general org chart was reworked and the organisation of production was rethought. Dedicated teams were to be given responsibility for equipment and chemical stages. A customer/supplier relationship was thus reintroduced into the manufacturing process. This enabled reduction of the hierarchical chain, giving managers a transversal view of a set of installations. To counterbalance specialisation, internal mobility would be favoured to allow bridges within the enterprise.

Participative Construction of the Organisation's Operation
Following these broad guidelines, concrete solutions were built with participation from the employees. They invented a new occupation, that of "pilot". In each team, the pilot was to be responsible for improving the manufacturing process - the technical task was separated from the management aspect for which the hierarchy was responsible. Work groups also reflected on the real consequences of reorganisation - definition of new individual and collective core competencies, adaptation of the classification system, identification of indicators enabling performance appraisals whilst favouring teamwork.

Perspectives
Implementation and Coaching
Appropriation, simulation, debriefing, reinitialisation - the approach chosen to accompany the implementation was a practical one. The consultants gave collective support to teams in addition to individual coaching for key actors in the new organisation, approximately 15 people. Results began to improve.