BioMérieux:

profiting from a good, hard look at the organization

BioMérieux is a worldwide group specialized in the field of in vitro diagnostics for medical and industrial applications. The group designs, develops, manufactures and markets systems used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases and pathologies and in the analysis of the microbiological quality of industrial and/or environmental samples.

When Rimmert Wolters, Managing Director bioMérieux Boxtel (NL), contacted ARV Group, the Dutch site for the manufacturing and distribution of the Elisa and Nasba diagnostic product was showing insufficient profitability; communication barriers existed between many departments, too much stock was being carried and lead times to delivery were out of control.

Reduced complexity

Following assessment, site management and ARV Group agreed to apply a participative model, involving people from all layers of the organization in making the shift from functional departments to a product-group organization. All parties agreed that a significant reduction of the complexity of control, while maintaining the flexibility to respond to market demand, was both essential and possible. The challenge was to achieve this 180-degree turn in focus without hampering daily operations.

An important element in addressing imbalances within the organization was an analysis of and greater coordination between the roles of “thinkers” and “doers” . By implementing a team-driven, process-oriented organizational structure, better use could be made of existing human resource capacities: the reorganization that followed led to a 20% reduction in the site’s wage bill.

Safeguarding quality

On behalf of bioMérieux’s site services at Boxtel, ARV Group also helped to develop a participative model and implement an efficiency plan that ultimately improved purchasing leverage while safeguarding quality, and which increased customer-mindedness, cut waste and better managed such local services as building maintenance, utilities, canteen and laboratories.

A crucial factor to success was the decision to allow all changes to originate in a natural way from the people involved. By concentrating on what was needed (no more, no less), money was saved and performance substantially increased. In the end, with the help of ARV Group, bioMérieux was able to achieve organization-wide support for a program that led to shorter lead times, lower stocks, reduced product loss and improved yield.

Managing director Rimmert Wolters: "ARV Group managed to let people in our organization bring to life improvement proposals in a natural way, and to focus on the issues that produced the results. By implementing this responsive organization, we have been able to anticipate the changes of the future."