Miguel Cons
PROCESS KAIZEN ENGINEER, GRON, FRANCE
Miguel Cons joined the Prysmian Group through the 1rd wave of Build the Future, in 2012. Find out what he does within the Group and what his experience is.
What do you do and why is it important?
I am currently working as a Process Kaizen Engineer in the plant of Gron, France. My work consists of applying continuous improvement and lean-six sigma manufacturing tools in our processes, and because Gron is one of the most important and strategic plants of our group, all the resulting efficiency gains contribute to increase our competitiveness and to consolidate us as a center of excellence for high voltage cable manufacturing.
What is your team like?
I work very closely with the Technical Service, Production and Supply Chain departments. Our team in Gron consists of highly competent and skillful people performing in a supportive and friendly environment, where each member contributes with full commitment to obtain the highest quality product and achieve our yearly efficiency targets.
How have you developed in your role?
Effective project management requires smart and assertive communication, one of the greatest challenges when working in a multicultural environment. The international experience with Prysmian has given me the possibility to improve my effective-communication skills, and at the same time increasing my technical competences.
What is the best thing about your job?
The versatility of my position! As a PKE I am involved in all production phases of our product, thus posing interesting engineering challenges. Also, it allows me to obtain a comprehensive overview of the Operations’ business function by coordinating and working with people from all the different departments involved in the daily operation of an industrial site. It has resulted in a very satisfactory learning experience!
If you could, what would you change?
Some of our business processes have areas of opportunity for improvements, like any other company. Furthermore, I am fully convinced of the importance of consolidating a lean manufacturing-continuous improvement culture throughout Prysmian which must be fully supported at all levels. We are going in the right direction!
What has been your most rewarding project so far?
Getting a Lean-Six Sigma Green Belt certification with a worldwide leader consulting firm, and the implementation of Green Belt projects in our factories which have resulted in thousands of euro gained in efficiencies.
What is the international environment like?
For a better answer I will reflect on the 3 main factors of every international experience: human, social and working dimensions.
I have lived in 5 different countries thus far, and the main thing I’ve learned is that the first thing you have to do when arriving abroad is opening your mind up; you cannot measure with a metric tape imperial distances! If you pay attention closely, every country’s culture has something very peculiar to offer you, and one must take advantage of the privilege of working in different international environments to learn and improve as a person. This is the human dimension of the experience.
As for a social dimension, the possibility of making friends from different countries is priceless! And finally for the working dimension, operating in a multicultural environment as I mentioned before has a direct impact on your communication and managerial competences, giving you more confidence to better perform at your job. It is a most enriching experience!
What does your future look like?
Full of interesting challenges, new roles and the possibility to improve every day as a professional!
Why would you recommend Prysmian to a young talent?
The Graduate Program constitutes a great career path which gives you an overall perspective of the company, the opportunity of working in a multicultural environment and the possibility of networking. Furthermore, it poses interesting challenges where you can develop both technical and managerial competences to improve as a professional.
Hakan Ozmen, North America CEO, has been Miguel Cons’s mentor since he joined the company.
Hakan, which are Miguel’s skills and how a young talent could contribute to the business?
Miguel has a good technical academic background. He is very open to transfer and enrich his knowledge acquired into practical real life applications in the technical environment.
He was very appreciated from his larger team in Abbeville as a good collaborator and a solid team member. .
His international background and openness to participate with mobility into this program will create him lots of opportunities in the midterm. .
We found already some opportunities for him, but decided not to stop him from continuing on his valuable program.
