Tubos Reunidos Group, S.A.

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Description of the company

Steel company focused on oil, conduction, energy, automotive and consumption sectors, both standard and tailored to the client.

Reporting to the Executive Presidency, member of the group management team, directly in charge of 11 Department Directors. Full responsibility for the results of the division.

Main challenges

The costs and the culture of the company. Productivity problems, excess people in general, and in some areas in particular.

Solutions adopted

1. Company restructuring plan in the pipe plant OD≥7”, by eliminating 150 people and relocating to other parts of the group.

2. Creation of the Tubes Division, non-existing until then. It is done at the group level, and forms a committee of operations managers (MMC), whose mission is to harmonize everything that happens in plants and companies, seeking to move from a conglomerate of independent units to a common group in thought and actions.

3. Establishment of a flexible organization system. Creation and implementation of an organization chart for the Tubes Division based on the five levels, that is, that between the operator and the Executive President of the company there must be a maximum of five levels (Operator-Section Master, Head of Department-Director of the Tubes Division-Executive President).

4. Effective implementation of the culture of continuous improvement, through five basic pillars:

   1. Safety.

      1. Creation of work permits.

   2. 4.2 Competitiveness and Productivity

      1. Creation of the Industrial Competitiveness department.

      2. Improvement initiatives.

      3. Lean Manufacturing and its corollaries, Value Stream Mapping, Kanban, 5Ss and SMED.

      4. Measurement and monitoring of the service level, together with the planning department. Target ≥ 95% of the order lines on time in the warehouse, with respect to the total number of order lines.

   3. Human resources management.

      1. Description of roles and performance evaluation.

      2. Training in “out of the box” thinking methodologies, in people management, maintenance masters, and many others for personnel of 2nd and 3rd level of the company.

      3. Execution of a Temporary Employment Regulation Plan in the largest company in the group, due to the drop in orders, the custom tariffs imposed by the US administration and our exposure to the American market.

   4. Technical área.

      1. Maintenance management. Implementation of a Computer Maintenance Management System (CMMS) for cost control and OT systems.

      2. Cash management of the investment plan. Due to the financial situation of the company, we only accepted investments with RoI below the payment term.

      3. Computer maintenance and investment shutdown planning system.

      4. Creation of the Preventive-Predictive Maintenance department, putting human, material and training resources to start the department.

   5. Cost control and action plans.

      1. 4.6.1 Setup of a cost control system at group level, for the simple detection of deviations and consequent implementation of action plans.

Achievements

1. Productivity increase by 24% in 10 months, measured in Kg. / FTE.

2. Increased turnover of the division by 12% in the first 8 months.

3. Lean Manufacturing and process reengineering: 5% increase in machine availability and reduction of cycle time by 13 seconds over 45. Decrease in the total cost of the section by 12% in ten months.

4. Decrease of the total cost of the area by 12% in ten months.

5. During the first twelve months, and benefited by the mix of products we manufactured, we achieved in several weeks to reach 100% of the service level, something never seen in the company. In twelve, we increased this parameter from 67% to 90%.

6. Start of the implementation of the Preventive-Predictive Maintenance, with the most modern techniques in the matter (vibrations, ultrasounds, tomography of muons, augmented reality, motor programs, etc.).

7. Definition of organization chart, roles, objectives, role descriptions, talent management, etc. in ten months, for an organization of more than 1.000 people.

Experiences learned and / or consolidated, added to previous roles

1. How to negotiate a comprehensive staff reduction plan in a large organization. How to take into account all the parties involved, external and internal. How to establish a contingency plan in case things are not going as they should, especially as far as the liquidity is concerned.

2. Manage a large organization, which has excellent professionals, but in need of guidance, and a group of people reluctant to change due to the inbreeding of said organization.