Clariant Excellence Initiative Produces Corporate-wide Shake-up

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Clariant International AG

Black, Green or Yellow

The number of employees who play an active role in the change process and are Black, Green or Yellow Belts indicates the success or failure of the mobilization efforts. Of the more than 16,000 Clariant employees who are involved, more than 2,000 have been trained as Yellow Belts. 450 spend 20% of their time on project work (Green Belts), and 80 (translated into Lean Sigma terminology) are Black Belts, meaning that they work full time as project leaders in the Business Units and functions. Corporate expert teams have also been put together, for example to support introduction of the Clariant Production System.

“The real challenge is to embed the Excellence process into the corporate DNA,” claimed Riedel, and he brought up some images on his laptop which illustrate what he means at the very practical level. Essentially, it involves everyday things like cleanliness and orderliness in the workplace. The basic approach is “minor cause, major effect”.

Employees who immediately see where tools belong by looking at the shadow board do not waste time later on searching for them. Designated material staging areas also help keep things orderly. “Visualization is a fundamental concept in Lean Sigma. Color coding is a useful technique, and marking off areas (material staging, etc.) with colors makes them easy to identify.” Frozen zones are a practical production planning tool. In master batch production, for example, once a production plan has been issued, it remains valid for 24 hours.

Last but not least, the teams that work under Riedel’s direction also look at changeover and maintenance costs. The goal is to introduce a standardized process with prioritization and clearly defined scheduling. The process is common to all sites, and minor modifications are allowed to suit the needs of the local production environment.

Additional Information

Lean Sigma Management

Lean Sigma management uses a strict top-down approach. Fixed roles are assigned and the titles are based on the belt colors used in Japanese martial arts. Champions are at the top of the pyramid. These individuals work at the management level, and they are responsible for success at the company. Master Black Belts act as multipliers and/or project managers on strategic projects, and they are also management-level employees. Below that, there are Black Belts who have full-time project responsibility, Green Belts who support the Black Belts and are in charge of smaller projects and Yellow Belts who take part in the Six Sigma projects.

(Source (adapted from): R. Hünerberg, A. Mann (ed.), Ganzheitliche Unternehmensführung in dynamischen Märkten, Gabler Fachverlage, 2009)

Reinforcing the Positives

To cite one example, with the support of the corporate CPS team, the master batch sites are given one year to implement the agreed roadmaps. Chemical production sites have an additional six month, as the plants are more complex. Sites which succeed in doing that receive a certificate and must undergo certification again one year later on. Also, guaranteeing continuity and ensuring that the desired behavior becomes ingrained is more difficult than initial introduction of a change process. Nothing is more stubborn than old habits, and chemical companies are no exception. Riedel has good reason to talk about a journey which the corporation has embarked on, and every journey of course starts out with the first step.

* The author is editor at PROCESS.

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