Walden Launches First Phase of Continuous Improvement Project

08 February 2022 / By Laure Murat

At Walden, we do believe that in order to live our values, we must always strive to improve. We continuously re-evaluate and readjust our strategy in order to enhance processes and services for our teammates and our clients. Continuous improvement is not new for the group.

In this spirit, Laure Brenas has announced a new program to implement new management practices and better standardise workplace organisation across all Walden entities. After a period of encouraging a more decentralised experimental approach, Walden leaders have decided to take the methods proven to be most effective and implement them group-wide.

“Adopting a common approach will allow the entire organisation to grow and learn from each other while opening up new opportunities for improvement in the different Business Units,” says Marc Venot, QHSE Director at Walden and Walden Continuous Improvement project Lead. “We have had great success experimenting with different methods and measuring the impact of these activities, and now we can share this knowledge with all Walden colleagues.”

After several months of structuring, the Walden Continuous Improvement program was officially launched on January 12, 2022, under the sponsorship of Laure Brenas, Head of Quality and Regulatory Affairs for Walden. The WCI team aims to have the following Lean tools implemented in a controlled number of pilot sites by July 2022:

·        5S: a systematic approach to workplace organization

·        Gemba walks: denotes the action of going into the workplace to see the actual process, understand the work, ask questions, and learn

·        Kaizen: seeks to engage all workers in workshops dedicated to identifying, implementing and following up on areas of improvement on the shop floor

·        Visual management: a framework to share expectations, performance, standards, and problems in a method that requires little to no time to understand

Once the pilot program is in place and functioning within the different Business Units of the group, a larger roll-out phase will take place to implement the selected Lean tools Walden-wide. A comprehensive training program for Walden associates and employees will also be implemented in phases to ensure the success of the project, and to ensure the culture of Continuous Improvement grows within Walden.

“This is an ambitious project,” concludes Marc Venot, “and we are looking forward to seeing tangible results in every BU, both for our colleagues and for our clients. When we focus on continuous improvement, everyone wins.”

About Walden

Walden is a family-owned group founded in 1951 and specialised in logistics and transport solutions for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. With 70 years of expertise, it is now the European leader with a presence in 15 countries, over 5,000 employees and a turnover of €1.7 billion. The Walden Group has built its success on 6 companies specialised in logistics and transport for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Today the group is managed by Stéphane BAUDRY, grandson of the founder. It makes numerous investments and invests in specific digital solutions to increase security and quality in its subsidiaries. The main values of the group are integrity, quality and innovation in the service of public health.

For more information, please contact

Laure Murat ­| Marketing and Communication

Walden Group

Mobile +33 (0)7 60 94 88 01

laure.murat@walden-group.com

About The Author

Laure Murat

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