2007.07.01 / 2012.08.31-RMIG Iberia (Spanish-Portuguese subsidiary). (www.rmig.com). Managing Director. Urduliz (Biscay). Turnover: € 18 Mio. Managed employees: 115 persons.
Description of the company
Iberian subsidiary of a Danish multinational, world leader perforation of sheets.
Reporting
In hierarchical dependency of the group CEO, and of the local board of directors. Direct Reporting – 4 Dir. Dept. (Management Committee). Full responsibility for results for Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Main challenges
To put in profits a company at a loss, in the midst of the biggest crisis in recent years.
Solutions adopted
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Reinforce the sales department, eliminating assets that were not performing their work correctly for new ones, more dynamic, motivated, and with new ideas.
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Design a sales strategy, in which the selling responsibility was 360º of the sales person over the customer, from the offer up to the material in the customer. Division of long and short-term markets, of volume and of margin ones.
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Propose to the Labour Committee, a significant reduction in total staff to reduce costs, through a detailed and personalized plan of company departures.
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Improve productivity and lead time through Lean techniques.
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Inform the staff in detail of the situation, results and improvement plans.
Achievements
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Decrease in the impact of the crisis: increase in turnover between 2008 and 2012 by 15%, compared to the market and competition.
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Change in the strategy of raw material suppliers: from service centres and local warehouses to steel mills in Europe and Asia. Increase of EBITDA by 20%, in 3 years, and reduction of obsolete stock to 2% of the total.
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Implementation of Oracle ERP, with office procedures and processes. Benchmarking with the strongest RMIG companies. Increased productivity and job amortization by 20%.
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Reduction of the workforce by 28 people. Management of exits and social peace with the local and provincial union centres: 5 years without strikes, and increase in the labour climate survey from 4’8 to 6’6 in 3 years.
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Avoid a company closure, with the corresponding Chapter 11, so that today the company continues to operate.
Experiences learned and / or consolidated, added to previous roles
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The importance of maintaining peace and calm in the most difficult moments of the crisis, and thinking about the long term.
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In a crisis, the only department that is not affected is the Commercial department. On the contrary, it is reinforced.
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When facing a particular or general crisis, it is essential to prepare the scenarios and contingency plans.
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Always explain the data, the reasons and the plans to the staff, without hiding the essentials. Information, well managed, is a very powerful weapon of motivation and alignment with the company’s objectives.
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Commercial management. I have never before represented the company before those who represent its prime focus.
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The importance that even in the most difficult circumstances agreements can be reached between the different parties, if both act honestly. I was lucky that the exit plan was executed with a ben Works Council in front.