1. Have you felt involved in the project? How?

We've felt very involved overall. During the creation of a software program to automate factory planning, we worked like this: "Look Marc, I need this, or change this in the program." We'd give him the requirements, and he'd implement them directly. We've covered a lot of ground as we went along. We've done a really good job with the planning and the organization of machine maintenance.

The only thing he has done more independently is the implementation of the tools (5S), which was already quite good in principle, there has been nothing to object to, so let's move forward.

Getting the guys I manage involved in my section was another story. At first, it was difficult because of that mentality of, "I've been doing things this way for 30 years, how can someone from outside come in and change it?" But Marc had the ability to make people see that they weren't on the right track. You can spend your whole life doing the same thing, not badly, but just okay. He somehow refined all the procedures we had. They realized it in the end; of course, at first you think, "I've been doing all this, and now this guy comes along and asks us to speed things up." Totally false: with the same resources, you get more work done, because it's not just the operators' job, there was also a maintenance issue, we were lagging behind. Now, let's say, the maintenance team is more involved in repair tasks.

If you have the least broken-down machine, with fewer repairs, you end up working better. The operator works better. I think that in the end, with a few exceptions, their overall feeling will also be good.

Like I said, at first there was some apprehension, especially from key people in the section, machine foremen and such. Some complained, "This guy's going to mess things up for us..." But then I think it turned out fine. Obviously, not everything he's done is perfect; I think we've even improved and made some progress, but overall we've absorbed everything.

2.- Regarding your section, how do you think the contributions of Marc Tarral's 'Continuous Improvement' method are bearing fruit in the company?

Yes. In a word, organization. I'm not going to say we were disorganized, though; there was a pretty decent structure here. Marc has told us stories about other companies, and I've seen them in much worse shape than we were. What do I mean by this?

Well, it's organized everything much better. For example, in terms of planning, I used to have to spend a lot of time in the office. Now I have more time to organize the machines; if there's a problem, I can be at the machine... It's basically automated the work planning and reporting process. There weren't any tools here to track the numbers. The staff had to manually write down what they'd done each day to discuss it in meetings with their superiors. Now, I just press a button and everything's there.

So, all that time you can be at the machine, solving problems. This isn't working, so from now on we're going to change this.

3. Do you think these improvements and contributions can remain indefinitely, or will Marc leave tomorrow and you revert to what you had before?

No, because it's a solid change. Marc has left us with something quite solid and has instructed us very well. I think that now, depending on how things are, we wouldn't be able to work anymore, because if we continue as we were before, we'd go back to doing everything by hand. Of course! In the end, it all comes down to production and optimizing the machines, all of that.

On a personal level, I want to add that I've been very comfortable working with Marc, who has been a great support. I've learned a lot from him because sometimes there are days when everything seems bleak, and he comes along and says, "No, this is going to be alright." That helps a lot, and I'm going to miss him, because when you no longer have someone guiding you, you might get a little down.

But hey, there's a world beyond Marc. But I really liked his perseverance and optimism, and that's a great thing about him.