A day on the job with...

Monday morning in a Paris train station. I board the train where Yves (manager), Jérôme and Jérémie (consultants) are already waiting for me, and we spend the travel time talking about how we spent our weekend.

The project has just hit a new turning point after three very exciting months. Our job is to define the industrial strategy of a major cristallier. We have been working with the client teams to gain a clear understanding of their production process. Based on our in-depth review, we believe the plant can make productivity gains and recommend building on existing capacities and investments in the plant rather than through relocation or sub-contracting.

We arrive on-site at 9.00 a.m. and meet with the CEO and Head of Operations for a presentation of second-half targets to the company's 700 employees.

We then hold a smaller meeting to present our approach and designate the managers of each project with the CEO and Head of Operations. The Head of Operations stresses the importance of our communications and ability to understand the client's needs in order to be approved for the go-live phase.

After lunch, we put on safety goggles and shoes to meet with the Head of Manufacturing, Yannick. He shows us the production lines targeted for performance improvement and we speak with the operators working on the lines.

At 6:00 p.m. we return to our office to work on our presentation for the next day. We have to summarize the major ideas in just a few pages.

We leave for dinner at around 8:00 p.m. We are staying at the client's chateau, one of the historic assets of this longstanding company !