- Projects
- New organisation structure creates growth opportunities
Nestled between old factory buildings and immersed in the smell of a leather tannery are the warehouse and offices of chemical importers RN Chemicals. The three-storey building has a coat of fresh grey paint, and houses light and modern office gardens. The warehouses are packed with chemicals for applications in industry, food processing and water treatment. Two warehouse staff are hard at work transferring brightly coloured drums stacked outside.
Revolution
Otherwise everything is quiet as we interview the friendly owner Dany Njeim. Last week a revolution erupted in the Lebanon, making it difficult for staff to reach the factory premises and also preventing trucks full of chemicals taking to the road. Dany agrees with the protests against corruption, but is upset that his working life has been made so difficult. After the visit by PUM expert Matthijs Mulder, things had just started to develop so successfully.
Matthijs visited the company to assist Dany and his team to take the next step. As Dany explained, “As with so many businesses, we were achieving growth, but we lacked a solid company structure. We ourselves were unable to identify the best way to restructure. We tried out various organisation types and repeatedly changed the positions of the staff, but all with little effect. Matthijs arrived and interviewed all our staff. On the basis of the interview outcomes, he advised us to transfer people from the logistic department to sales, and vice versa. There was initially much resistance but everyone soon discovered that it was the best solution.”
Day five saw a start on implementing the new organisation structure. In Dany’s words, “Everyone was surprised by the speed with which we took decisions, but in the end the results were excellent. The PUM expert advised us to focus on sales, so with his help, we identified the best people for the sales department. We were amazed how good the people from logistics were at sales. Thanks to the changes made, our business is now ready to grow. In the current organisation structure, we can add as many staff as the market demands.”
Foreign expansion
“Our sales volume has grown since June and because the business is now so well organised, we can consider expanding our trade abroad. In addition, at the start of this year, we bought two neighbouring buildings. Matthijs contributed his thoughts on how those buildings can best be used.” Dany took us to a dilapidated building by the wide sea road. He plans to turn it into a new point of sale for businesses from Beirut and the surrounding area. The location by the main road automatically provides RN Chemicals with an excellent advertising opportunity.
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