Change from within RKW Group

change from within

Jens Bestian is a man with a mission: As Vice-President operations Hygiene at the Germany-based RKW Group, a global manufacturer of film solutions, he aims to boost operational excellence. Since July 2018, the new VP has been following a clear-cut strategy: with a mix of operational and cultural changes, Bestian hopes to leverage untapped potential. Industry europe talks to the visionary to know more about his twopronged approach. mr Bestian, you have a solid track record in the field of operations management. In the past, you implemented acquisitions, expanded businesses, and gained insights in logistics and production. Are there any challenges left for you?

Jens Bestian: Of course! After several jobs at private equity and multinational companies, I wanted to tackle tasks that are not primarily related to short-term goals. Growing a company is often associated with unknown risks. I was looking for challenges on a different level: Optimising operations – from the inside, without focusing too much on additional external resources and internal, central overhead. I have always been fascinated by the complex interplay of different operational factors, from KPIs to cultural aspects like commitment and work safety. That is why I was eager to switch to a medium business with professional management…

…so you knocked at RKW’s door. Correct. RKW has an excellent reputation across the plastics industry, with highly committed employees. And RKW considers Operational Excellence – continuous improvement of the operational processes – a key strategic pillar. For me, this was the ideal ground on which to make the next career steps – even more so as RKW offers great potential as it is constantly improving operations. Leveraging this potential can benefit both the company and its customers because it allows us to create further added value. And supporting this process would allow me to drive a truly sustainable, long-term change that comes from within. In other words, a company like RKW finds value in structural and cultural changes, without having to economise.

What wheels will you set in motion to achieve this? First off, transparency over KPIs is crucial to reach the next operational level. In our hygiene and industrial business, we are currently working towards making machinery defects or rejection rates even more transparent – with the aim to increase uptime and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) next to material loss optimisation. Besides changing the hardware, i.e. the technology, or providing scorecards to assess the performance, there needs to be a shift in focus – from a margin-driven to a more holistic evaluation of operations. If you reach a certain margin, that is good for the company – but it can lead you to gloss over the fact that some production lines are not working as effectively as they should. We not only need to make operational indicators more transparent. We must pay greater attention to them in the first place and utilise them to identify pain points and strong points. This analysis, in turn, allows us to enhance operations – from single machines to complete processes.

Such as? What is your approach to complex supply chain management, the backbone of every customer relationship? Enhancing our supply chain is a top priority as well. Our goal is to secure customer supply with a decentralised, local approach. A major hygiene consumer goods customer, for instance, produces in China. So, to avoid supply delays and foster planning security, we focus on developing our local business in China, where we opened our film manufacturing plant a few years ago. Rather than supplying the customer with products from our German sites, we provide quicker, direct support. This is also a question of using local raw material: we need to produce our products in China with raw material sourced in China to ensure a fast time-to-market. This also means building process knowledge locally, e.g. maintenance and process know-how, so that the colleagues on-site can remedy technical issues without having to constantly involve our centre of competence. Knowledge transfer between sites is a major prerequisite for this.

Is this the cultural aspect you mentioned? Yes and no. Training employees and expanding their knowledge is crucial for smooth operations. But so is their commitment, their accountability and their attitude towards important topics like work safety. Teamwork hinges on a common understanding of how things are done, and which things are important. When it comes to work safety, we follow a behavioural approach that aims to create awareness for the topic. This includes talking about the subject during performance reviews. The same holds true for the overall value of Operational Excellence as such: it must be a common goal for all RKW sites, and I believe that a lively exchange and knowledge transfer are a means to reach this goal. Individual sites shouldn’t be operating as sealed-off silos. In that spirit, I look forward to building on the Group Operational Excellence programme, from alignment to implementation, strengthening relationships with my colleagues.

However, as a newly appointed VP, I must make sure change comes smoothly. You cannot alter behaviour overnight and decree what you deem fit. Listening to people and respecting established work cultures is as important as venturing off to new shores. Respect is a core value of RKW, and it is my firm intention to act according to these values. My goal is to slowly guide people towards making new commitments and discussing possible shortcomings if necessary. This is not about blaming anybody, but about planning, doing, checking and adjusting our course to move on.

The RKW Group The RKW Group is an independent, family-owned company headquartered in Frankenthal, Germany and one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of excellent film solutions. RKW is the market leader in the areas of hygiene and agricultural films, films for the beverage industry and packaging for powdery goods. In addition, the company makes films and nonwovens for medical applications, for the chemical and converting industries as well as for the construction sector. RKW’s sustainable films enable its customers to improve the daily life of consumers all over the world.

In the fiscal year 2017, RKW generated total sales of €905 million. About 3000 employees process 378,000 tonnes of plastic materials at 20 locations around the world. True to the corporate slogan ‘When excellence matters’, the company, which was founded in 1957, offers outstanding performance in terms of quality and service. Respect and reliability are the core values of RKW and form the basis of the company’s success.

Jens Bestian