Category: News

Jeanne Lions
Finance and IT Director at Tournaire for the past 20 years.
Head of the crisis unit.

What has been the most impact difficult aspect during this period ? 

Difficulty in obtaining protective equipment

In order to maintain production in good sanitary conditions, it was extremely difficult to find the necessary protective equipment for employees. We were forced to multiply the sources of supply and spent a lot of time finding visors, masks and hydro-alcoholic gels. It took a lot of networking and ingenuity to find this equipment.

Constantly reassuring employees at our various sites

What was also difficult was to maintain a very high level of communication with each of our employees so that everyone felt reassured, as this period has been extremely anxiety-inducing.

We also had to manage our subsidiaries, in particular Tournaire Plastic at the Fragne site, in relation to both the supply of protective equipment and communications with employees.

Be more vigilant on managing cash and stress with our partners

Among the difficulties generated by the current crisis, we have noted the need to be extremely vigilant with regard to late payments, which have doubled during this period. We have also noted that we must manage the stress not only of our employees but also of our customers and suppliers in order to create the most serene relationship possible.

I would like to very much thank the members of our crisis management unit, particularly Christelle Baudequin and her theoretical and methodological contribution in relation to quality, safety and the environment. Cathy Lecurieux is extremely dynamic and quick to relay our communications on a daily and permanent basis and I thank Human Resources for their role with our employees. I would also like to thank the IT department for its rapidity and the staff representative bodies with whom we have had an ongoing, constructive, dialogue to help us implement all of the means of prevention. Lastly, I would also like to thank the Metallurgy Industry and Trades Union (UIMM), which is a source of information and valuable advice that has relayed to us information from the government that can be assimilated in our region.

Eric Lefebvre –
Production Manager at Tournaire for the past 28 years.

What is the impact of this crisis on Tournaire’s production? 

At Tournaire, the primary impact was the 30% employee absenteeism, so we had to adapt. The impact was also noticeable at our suppliers and subcontractors, as some had reduced or even stopped their activity. We also noted logistical breakdowns on planes and boats, as chartering was sometimes very complex to implement.

We have, therefore, reorganized all of our production opertions.

During this period of containment, we had 25 to 30% of employees absent, but, thanks to the mobilization of employees from offices who came to help with production, we had a production level of 85% compared to the usual production.

 

What steps have you taken to manage this crisis?

The first measure was health-related: we deployed all of the means of health prevention for our employees thanks to our crisis unit and our quality, safety and environment manager. Then we reorganized production to give priority to priority lines where we had huge demand, for example for the pharmaceutical industry. After the initial sudden and intense phase, we were able, on the one hand, thanks to the versatility of our teams (set up years ago) to assign staff to priority lines. On the other hand (having decided not to recruit staff from outside the company), we called on all the dynamic forces present in the company, whether in support services, industrial methods, design office or even the sales department, who came to lend us a hand in production on operator or packaging posts.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the production staff, team leaders, management, operators, drivers and setters who have really stepped up to the plate throughout this crisis.

I would also like to thank all of the support services that have helped us.

This mobilization of each department has created a dynamic, a surge of solidarity and I felt a very strong spirit of mutual aid between all of the employees present at the site.

 

What ave you concluded as a result of this period of crisis? 

We found that the employees present were very implicated and truly wanted to satisfy customers. I would like to stress this point: this created a real dynamic, an impetus of solidarity between the departments. The various departments were thus able to exchange ideas, they communicated in a better manner and understood each other’s difficulties. I would like to capitalize on this period of solidarity and communication, which was very enriching for everyone. We are thinking about how to maintain this permanent exchange and cohesion throughout the year, in a more serene period.

 

Some advice to your fellow directors in the region?

The advice I would give is not to be blocked by fear but to implement all of the necessary measures to maintain activity. Thanks to these measures, by communicating a lot in the field and making sure that the health measures are respected, we are able to ensure production under good conditions, including for three-shift operations.

 

 

 

Luke Tournaire
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tournaire

Grasse, 29 April 2020.

Your thoughts on experiencing this period of confinement at Tournaire?  

Tournaire experienced this first part of the crisis very well due to the mobilisation of the majority of the staff and a very strong involvement of the crisis unit that we set up at the beginning of the confinement resulting from the appearance of COVID. This unit did a remarkable job and we were able to very quickly put in place the protections and procedures necessary to guarantee the health and safety of all employees who were able to continue working.

During this period of confinement, we had 25 to 30% of employees absent, but thanks to the mobilization of office employees who came to help with production, we had a production level of 85% compared to the usual production.

 

How did your staff cop during this difficult period? 

I am aware that this period has been difficult for everyone and I would like to thank all of the staff who have mobilized despite what I know is an anxiety-provoking situation. I would also like to specifically thank the production manager, who has ensured exceptional figures given the reduced workforce, our CFO, who has taken charge of the crisis management unit and our health and safety manager, who has been involved in ensuring staff safety.

 

Were you able to respond to customer demand?

The customer demand has been very strong and our deliveries have been 95% of what we usually achieve. We sensed a concern from customers who wondered if we would continue to deliver products to them, but we were able to deliver 95% of the orders. Stocks are currently low but we will replenish them with the return of staff during the subsequent period.

 

Are you confident on exiting confinement?  

We are hoping now that all employees will be back at the company so that we can be 100% operational, as we have to replenish stocks, the customer demands are substantial, the order book is nearly full. We are, however, encountering some shipping problems, especially to Asian countries, as ships are less frequent and some containers are stuck in Marseille. Shipments are operating correctly for Europe and the rest of the world. For a packaging manufacturer, the key to its operation is that the logistics work. Our subcontractors have all reopened (for those who had closed), I am fairly confident, but the uncertainty remains significant, we are very far upstream in the production chain, as are our customers, and their visibility is low. I am concerned that the recovery will take several months, I would say at least six months and with some hiccups.

 

Luke Tournaire, what have you concluded from this crisis? 

This crisis has been an opportunity to experience the solidarity of local businesses. We have been helped on several occasions by local companies in order to obtain hydroalcoholic gel (difficult to find in mid-March). This solidarity, I hope will last afterwards because it is an essential element for the success of a region

 

 

 

Testimony of Jacques Margnat, Chief Executive Officer of Sophim 

 

How would you describe the relationship between Sophim and Tournaire? 

It’s a relationship that spans more than 20 years, every time we’ve had a development period there’s been new Tournaire equipment, such as distillation columns, stripping columns, molecular distillations, and every time we’ve had a lot of satisfaction and that’s why we’re here today, to receive this new fractionation column. 

 

What is your opinion about the quality of  Tournaire equipement?

Look, twenty years later the equipment is still running so it’s all happiness as I said.  It works well, the quality is good, there is no problem, it’s very good material, very well designed. 

 

What are your specific needs?

Of course, we need something specific because we are more or less the only ones manufacturing this product, at least in France, so we need something tailor-made. With the Tournaire engineers we have always found excellent common ground with both the old team and the new ones who have arrived, things are going very well between Sophim and your teams. 

On this particular project, we came up with ideas and indeed, we had to confront an engineering reality and we found a receptiveness and a collaborative approach that is excellent. Now we just have to try it now to see if everything works as planned. 

 

Do you have any upcoming project with Tournaire?

It is engraved in the past every time we bought equipment, we had a second one made because we made new developments, in the same way that we made two molecular distillations, I hope we will make a second column soon. 

 

Jacques Margnat, Chief Executive Officer of Sophim

 

Stéphane Woloszyn has been working in maintenance at Tournaire for 24 years. He is manager of the sector maintenance technicians (“TMRS”) as well as the maintenance coordinator. 

 

How many machines are there to supervised? 

 

Today the machine park extends into several sectors: the aluminium packaging and the plastic packaging facilities. We are responsible for all machines and infrastructures that may have a direct or indirect impact on these machines. We have a machine park that will cover about 300 machines, from the smallest to the largest, so it is difficult to quantify in terms of machines but rather in terms of quantity of equipment. 

 

How many containers are produced everyday?

The number of containers per day is difficult to give like that. Today these machines have several types of containers to produce and the machine speeds are different from each other. We have some that can produce 60 parts per minute and others that have much longer cycles and produce one part per minute. We have really different machine parks between them.

 

How are your day organised? 

Our days are organized in several ways with two axes. First of all, breakdowns, which are managed as a priority, and then a role for TMRS (sector maintenance technicians), which is more in the background and is there to manage the issues related to analysis and preventive maintenance to better serve our customers.

 

What do you like most about your job? 

The complexity of my job at Tournaire: today we cover all fields as well in electricity, automation, hydraulics… our machines are very complex. Today we have some quite old machines and some very new ones. Tournaire is completely committed to the new wave with the new technologies so day by day we live with new machines. 

 

What are the challenges you have had overcome? 

Our challenges are more or less daily with all the breakdowns to solve so the failure of the day is a challenge. The challenges are also related to increasing productivity for our machines and means of production. Trying to earn a productivity point is important for our company.  

 

Why join tournaire? 

It is a lively company, full of experience. Today we can fully develop within the company, as it is really active and dynamic and thus a company that is professionally rich. 

 

Why have you stayed at Tournaire for all those years? 

For 24 years I have never wanted to leave because I have really covered the whole core business of the company in terms of maintenance. Today I am still learning and always learning. Here it is very easy to get on and achieve recognition. I feel good at Tournaire. 

 

 

Cécile Bergia has been product quality manager at Tournaire for over 17 years.

 

What are the needs in term of customers traceability? 

Traceability for a customer is very important because it allows the manufacturing batch, the associated controls and the batch of raw material to be identified at any time.

 

What is product quality?

Product Quality is all the controls related to the product, which guarantees the customer the conformity of the delivered product, so it involves production monitoring with dimensional, aspect and functionality controls, to be sure that the delivered product meets the customer’s specifications.

 

What does Tournaire offer today as a traceability solution for its packaging? 

We need to guarantee traceability to the customer throughout the product chain. We have several ways of doing this: 

1) the barcode labels that are applied to pallets, reels or boxes. This effectively allows us to link a material number, a batch number, a date and all the data associated with the control on these products. With this same label we can trace back to the batch/material data; 

2) in addition, on small packages, a serial number is affixed to the bottom, which allows us to find the batch of material used and the series of the year; and 

3) on large packages intended for the pharmaceutical industry, a unit number under the package which also allows us to trace the package in a unique way and to link all the controls and the batch of raw material.

 

What are the projects concerning the traceability of packaging? 

In view of regulatory changes, we are moving towards increasingly precise and flawless traceability. We are currently working on improving unit traceability to facilitate the integration of its data with our customers. Several projects are being developed with our clients and by studying all the regulations of the various countries.

 

What is the percentage of customers requesting traceability? 

All our customers today are asking for this information. For pharmaceutical or food applications it is very critical but it is a major issue and all applications today require this information to guarantee the end-user – that’s us, the customers – that the packaged products are compliant.