1/ "SNX is a IT industryTwelve months ago, our unit was facing manufacturing costs rising, to high stocks and to delivery delays accumulated. It appeared that the only way to deal with these problems was to renovate the factory and the machines and move to larger premises, which was not feasible in the short term," reports the industrial director.

The leaders were inspired but didn't know what to expect when they attended the "Lean adapted for you" seminar presented by CONCORDEThey therefore asked CONCORDE to visit their site and conduct an initial review and audit of the site.

Our expert identified significant potential for improvement during the initial audit. Six months later, the resulting Lean implementation yielded spectacular results. In fact, SNX's investment in CONCORDE's services was fully recouped in just ten weeks starting from the deployment thanks to the reductions in production costs (-6%) but also thanks to a 28% reduction in stockFurthermore, the late orders have fell by 12% each monthwhich generated 1% of net margin.

"We are now responding to demands thanks to lower downtime and faster tool changes," reports the site director.

2/ The popularity of BLManufacturing products has allowed it toexpand its markets throughout France and Europe in just a few years. However, forced In terms of space, production capacity, and manufacturing systems and processes adapted to a much smaller company, our client immediately recognized the need forimprove production and management processes and systems in order to increase its productivityto excel in his customer service and reduce all the waste.

"BLM was impressed by the work done by the CONCORDE experts from the very first months," the CFO stated.

CONCORDE designed the value chain mapping to identify the manufacturing process inefficiencies.

Then, CONCORDE helped BLM implement:

• The configuration of production cells for product assembly
• The creation of a “supermarket” of finished products for the 3 platforms
• The implementation of a system to adjust production to customer demand
• The implementation of a system to "pull" product skills and components to the assembly area
• The creation of a “supermarket” for the replenishment of raw materials
• The implementation of the 5S system and visual management to more effectively monitor the evolution of key indicators
• The use of the structured problem-solving method and the organization of daily stand-ups to address problems, particularly in the workshops




"All of this has resulted in a real cultural change "at BLM, which is enthusiastically adapting to changes," reports the CEO.




BLM has achieved significant improvements in operational performance. Using standardized work within a customized production environment requires effective skills and techniques. This leads to radical improvements in productivity, quality, and employee engagement. We are proud to:

• An overall increase in 60% of productivity
• A reduction of 86% of the conditioning time
• A reduction of 82% of the waiting time for customers
• A strong growth of the company while maintaining a low level of overhead




CONCORDE made it possible to have reliable processes and, a productivity capable of keeping pace with strong growth over the past few years.




Released Instead of managing day-to-day crises due to strong order growth, our senior managers are now focusing on strategic tasks: improving their excellent products and developing new markets.




“As a leader, it is reassuring to know that CONCORDE is always there for us, guiding us through our very evolving and difficult processes. CONCORDE is a tremendous learning resource and has played a leading role in driving a permanent transformation in our company,” reports the CEO.







3/ Our client is a bank, a subsidiary of a leading European group. The IT applications, developed 40 years ago, require updating. modernize was becoming increasingly noticeableus, the situation becoming criticalThe system modernization was entrusted to a major, large publisher in the market, but the project's duration and budget doubled, leading to its cancellation after two years. A new project was then launched a year later on the same topic, under a new name and with a new publisher, but the problems arose in almost the same way.




It was at this point that CONCORDE was approached to first audit the situation and advising leaders with complete independence.




From the very first meetings, the leaders quickly understood that modernization had to be accompanied by digital transformations and, in particular, organizationalModernization could not be achieved without transformations that had also become necessary: It was a matter of transforming the processes and the organization in order to take full advantage of the investments to be made.




"We are on the Mandatory performance markets", the CEO stated.




Long response times and a "push" approach often meant that customer constraints were not respected. "We were losing important markets year after year, so we were suffering losses in competitiveness."




Thus, the supervisors and teams spent their days at handling emergenciesIt was an environment very stressful and under pressure.




The main objectives of the HR Director were toreduce stress And absenteeism and to improve the productivity"




Finally, despite a recent relocation to a new, larger site, the already insufficient space was becoming a constraint to growth.




The CONCORDE team took the lead in helping the bank tomap the flows end-to-end for the main services. This revealed long queues at the level of 3 departments. New processes have been defined. Employees have been trained in workshops. Kanban, of Just in Time and Lean Six Sigma adapted to contexts.




New lines have made it possible tobalance the processes and reduce delays significantly.

The existing production cells have been greatly improved thanks to the Kanban and Lean systems, and others were created by leveraging CONCORDE's expertise. Processes were even written for creating cells for customized products, in both banking and insurance.




The new configuration of the zones has released over 1400 m2 of space.




Kanban tools have enabledeliminate interruptions and reduce queues of 42% in twelve monthsThe new scheduling and production control have reduced the delays (from four weeks to less than one week) in 16 monthsThree services operate in just-in-time mode without the need to accelerate the pace.




"But the most impressive thing was the Cultural changeThe new production systems agile and inspired by Lean Six Sigmahave allowedoptimize the working time of key skills and managers, For focus efforts on growthwhich is strategic.Our Bank has become an essential and more reliable partner for its key clients. It has won numerous strategic contracts since then.








4/ ORANGE Telecom Italia Vivendi: Preparing employees for successful transition management





Having a genuine integration strategy: Sooner or later, a company seeking growth and development will have to make acquisitions or be acquired itself. Before the transaction is finalized, a genuine integration strategy should be established and implemented. For our case study, we were contacted and began work in March 2021. In the first phase, we helped management initiate the integration strategy and prepare the transition, which reassured the buyers and accelerated the sale of the company under better conditions. The seller was better positioned to negotiate.

One rarely applied principle proved crucial to the success of this operation: Is it better to entrust this task to an external expert to leverage their neutrality? Indeed, employees are often highly sensitive at this stage, and the business leader benefits from reassuring them on all fronts.

The number one problem for any buyer




The number one problem for any buyer The question is as follows: How can we avoid any slowdown in growth or employee disengagement, which accounts for 30 to 70% of the hidden costs of mergers, acquisitions, and business transfers? How can we mitigate and reduce this natural resistance, which causes far more damage than is readily apparent and which executives almost always deny? How can we concretely and effectively prepare our company and its acquisitions to navigate and succeed in this crucial strategic shift?

Audit the organization and the mindset of the company's employees.

Before any transformation, whether a merger, acquisition, or management transition, is undertaken, accessing transparent information about employees is far from straightforward. Laws, or misinterpretations thereof, only complicate matters. In this context, as recognized experts, we begin with a personalized audit, as we always recommend. Our neutrality, expertise, and methodology help us gain acceptance from all parties, allowing us to act as trusted coaches and expert project leaders.

It is essential to determine and understand the "de facto" role of each individual in societyIndeed, beyond the job title, we seek to understand the actual importance of each individual in the daily operations of the company and its teams. A worker can have more influence than their superior. It's essential to discover, understand, and analyze without judgment, without ever manipulating, thus remaining impartial, which sometimes multiplies the success rate tenfold!

The next step is to put the company or companies (merger/acquisition) into a dynamic of success: Empower them to succeed. Create synergies, demonstrate to employees that they are the key to their success. Communicate and encourage communication. Unleash and channel positive energy beyond demagoguery.

With them, using adapted Lean methods and contextualized Operational Excellence tools, we reviewed the processes, the previous organization, and shared the knowledge and opinions of employees on new ways of working.

Here we see the role of objective experts becoming paramount again, with trust as the pillar and knowledge as the cement to quickly build a new organization that works better, much better, and is adapted and ready to evolve according to modern management methodologies.

And now far from the announcement effectsEmployees see themselves as partners and leaders in the changes and transformations. Everyone understands their roles and has embraced them. Two departments that had lagged behind (out of 22) quickly realized that it was in their best interest to join the "train" and catch up.

Indeed, on a human level, it is essential to identify the key men and women, those who are motivated by the project and want to participate. Furthermore, the expert doesn't let things drag on: they set the tone and maintain a pace so that changes and progress are achieved quickly.

Whether the acquired company is intended to be merged or to retain its independence, everyone must quickly understand their role within the new organization. As with any change, numerous opportunities arise and are just waiting to be seized. The expert's role is to identify, or help identify, these opportunities, acting as a facilitator who guides the way and advises on the steps and tools for successful change management.

Mergers and acquisitions have shown us how different each company is at every level: strategies of the parties, context, managers, stakeholders, organization, mindset, values, work environment, timing, budget, resources, relationship to transparency and modern management, organizational maturity…