in his observations, Pierre very nearly forgets his mission that afternoon: the organization chart. Who is the boss of whom? No point in asking, he saw that with his own eyes. He saw Roger Chaillou rushing around twice as much as any of his co-workers, to the point where he didn’t even have time to catch up with Pierre. He also saw the supervisor answer, on the spot, each of their questions as they came up. “A real go-to guy,” as his brother used to say about one of his apprentice mechanics. And Pierre saw Jean-Marc Gridy, with the attitude of an aggressive pit bull, treating his co-workers like ill-behaved children who were likely to do something wrong at any moment.
He noticed the sideways glances that the “children” in question gave as they slowed down the moment the “pit bull’s” back was turned. He also saw a red-bearded man whose posture froze and who stared coldly as he passed by. Pierre didn’t know who the guy was, but noticed that, as soon as he had passed, the man went to speak with his black-and-yellow-attired co-workers, and that they listened attentively to him. Pierre saw how the man tried to speak to the guys on the other side of the workshop wall, the ones dressed in blue, and how the “pit bull” spotted him at once and, with lower jaw sticking out, headed straight for him. Pierre admired the way the red-bearded man went back to his machine and resumed his work with a calm air at the very moment the pit bull would have pounced on him.
It is late in the afternoon when Pierre leaves the shop floor to return to the offices. He still needs to question Georgette about the hierarchical relationships within the company. Pierre has never had a problem ingratiating himself with anyone. He only has to smile. He does so on meeting Georgette, something that assures her complete cooperation.
“It seems that this woman’s brain is a gold mine of information,” he thinks to himself. Aloud he inquires, “Who is the boss of the fellow in the gray smock? You know, the one who exchanges components for the slips of paper that the machine-operators themselves get from their supervisors?”
Georgette knits her eyebrows together and scratches at her right hand for a moment, considering how to answer precisely. “In the old days, Eric, the storeroom supervisor who is also in charge of shipping, worked under Roger since the storeroom was on the woodworking side of the shop. But because Roger was always overwhelmed with work, Mr. Rami put Eric under the supervision of Jean-Marc in the metal shop. But that didn’t work out either, because Jean-Marc had Eric distribute the raw materials too far in advance. As a result, we could never find what we needed when the orders were ready to be finished. We were always out of stock on items. We often found them months later, after we’d already produced new ones!
“In the end, when Mr. Ambi came, he started to install the IT system that includes the storeroom. Just after that he put Eric with Léon together in the supply chain department he created. This appeared bizarre at first, but I must admit it seems logical that a storeroom supervisor who organizes transport and shipments should collaborate with the buyer-planner. This way, at least they are able to pull the orders that we actually need to build, rather than trying to push out the components to produce whatever suits us.”
Georgette stops speaking for a moment, her eyes looking upward, as though the logic of this system were dawning on her for the first time. Then she looks back at Pierre. “Mr. Ambi once asked me to draw up an organization chart. But when I asked Mr. Rami if I could do so, he told me that it wasn’t necessary, so I never did it.”
Georgette hesitates again. Then she adds, “But, if I may say so, I think it would be very useful, especially for Léon. It would make it easier for him to go to the shop floor. Right now, he doesn’t dare, because of the workshop supervisors, who are always changing the sequence of the orders that come in, according to what suits them. This causes a lot of arguments, and, since Léon is a bit embarrassed about the way he stutters when he gets nervous, he’d rather busy himself at the reception desk ... if you know what I mean.”
Pierre smiles knowingly, and begins to sketch the organization chart as Georgette discusses its structure with delight. Before the afternoon is over, Georgette has explained the roles of all the management staff in the company to Pierre, but she has conspicuously avoided any questions about the disappearance of Thierry Ambi. There is nothing left for Pierre to do but meet with the employees individually, to try and get to know them better. He would start next week with the storeroom supervisor, Eric, who works by “the coop” with the covered windows.
1 From Hervé Mathe, a French professor of logistics.
2 SCOR: A model for representing the supply chain flows within a company. This model is maintained by the APICS Supply Chain Council (see www.apics.org).
Customers and Suppliers Affect Variability
HÉLOÏSE GRIPS THOMAS'S RIGHT hand as the Finnair jet accelerates down the runway toward its takeoff. The moment she feels the wheels leave the ground, she digs her fingernails into his palm, and he jumps a little even though he is used to this reaction of hers. It isn’t fear that provokes her reflex; it’s the relief she feels at finally being let loose from the daily demands of an earth-bound life.
Héloïse counts the past three weeks among the most trying of her life. As she gazes out the plane window, she recalls what had happened ...
The day after Hubert’s announcement of the staggering number of orders lost, Georgette came to see her. With her head bowed and in a strangled voice, she told Héloïse that the backlog—that is to say, the total number of orders received but not yet shipped1—amounted to no more than one month’s worth of the company’s average turnover. Yet the supply lead time for the wood would not allow production to start on these orders for at least the next two months.
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