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Interview with François Denis, Group Lean Manager | Constellium
Continuous improvement is at the heart of our production processes. It allows us to achieve significant improvements in the service we provide to customers, in terms of quality as well as delivery performance. We believe that it is critical to install a bottom-up approach to empower people and plants in setting targets and deciding how best to achieve them.
As part of the Manufacturing Excellence team for Constellium, you will influence how we serve customers, increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve quality to create customer value. You will help raise standards, achieve sustainable results, and instill an overall culture with a focus on people, safety, value, efficiency, and results.
What do you like most about working for Constellium?
Constellium is a fast-growing company in booming markets such as the automotive industry in Europe and the US. What I like most about my work is that I can take an active part in developing future activities while improving day-to-day business. I am thrilled that Constellium has new plants under construction. Making sure that new teams and new machines are all working according to our standards, and helping them to improve their performance is very exciting.
What inspires you about working in manufacturing excellence?
At Constellium, manufacturing excellence is mostly driven from the ground up. That means that teams in the plants typically identify opportunities to improve, but then they need support to follow through. That’s where I come in. My job is to make sure the different teams take a structured approach so they solve problems more rapidly and efficiently. I love that I can guide co-workers to achieve better results.
What skills or past experiences do you think helped you become who you are at Constellium?
I was not a specialist at continuous improvement when I joined Constellium. I was an operational manager coming from the automotive industry, and I had a good knowledge of improvement tools. My challenge was to become a coach who could help people grow. Constellium gave me the training and coaching I needed to achieve that objective. I am now really able to convey my know-how, which I hope makes me a better manager.