solvay_live243_p02a04 somEdito

World leader in industrial and medical gases,
Air Liquide is present today in 70 countries
team – are available to those involved, starting with a very concrete
OPAL Intranet site of good and best practices, supported by a
resolutely practical and easy-to-read monthly newsletter.
An initial questionnaire allows employees to effectively self-assess
their needs and identify weaknesses. A summary of existing
solutions is then available. Control and variance tools, real
indicators of good practices, are also standardized. The message has
hit home: the importance of formalizing knowledge lies in having
it permanently available, even when people change jobs.
Finally, and more than anything else, OPAL initiates a continuous
process, included in daily practices and updated annually. The
objective is that in the long term each employee will personally
commit to this process. It is not a question of working more, but
of working differently. Whilst clearly figured objectives are set, the
long-term ambition is to introduce a state of mind, which should
have a snowball effect in terms of good practices. “Airliquidized”
innovation is not an individual matter: it involves all employees. In
today’s global environment, strong innovation policies are vital
for western companies to remain in business. At Air Liquide, this
need has given rise to a project management culture, including
the definition of good practices, standardized in order to be
shared better. •
Replicated Innovations
A very similar partner
Alocal anchoring, an international
development that includes
taking positions in emerging
countries with high development
potential, internal growth, but also
external growth as a function of
targeted and profitable opportunities,
a presence in pharmaceuticals and in
specialty chemicals.
Add to this a lot of human respect,
expressed by a strong commitment
to sustainable development and
environmental conservation, a culture
of responsibility towards both
employees and shareholders,
long-term customer care, and all
that for more than 100 years...
Solvay? No, Air Liquide. This company
was created in 1902 at the initiative
of an entrepreneur and a young
engineer who had developed a process
for liquefying air and producing
oxygen far more effectively than
the technologies of the time. Since
then, Air Liquide has expanded and
developed its expertise across the
whole range of industrial and medical
gases, a field in which it is now the
world leader. Air Liquide is present
today in 70 countries, has
36 000 employees and operates eight
R&D centres. For the future it is
betting on its strong innovation
capacity, considered no more nor less
than a focal point of development.
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