when competitors became a team when competitors became a team

CANADA
Plant managers Jean Goyette and Cynthia Martin are a closely knit team. They take their work seriously, but
laughter is never far away.
From competitors
to a close-knit team
Two plants within a two hour drive of each other. Magog and Valleyfield manufacture
the same product and collaborate now more than ever.
“We used to compete over being the best Eka Chemicals plant in Canada. Then
we realized it would be better to help each other,” says Jean Goyette, head of
the Valleyfield plant.
■ We are now traveling by car between the two
Eka Chemicals chlorate factories in the Canadian
province of Quebec. Cynthia Martin has driven this
road many times. It was when she became factory
manager at Magog four years ago that collaboration
between the two factories reached new levels
that improved the global efficiency of both
plants; this being partly due to a restructuring program
that required rationalization. Although collaboration
would probably not have been so comprehensive
if Cynthia Martin and her opposite number
at Valleyfield, Jean Goyette, had not chosen
to work as a team.
ONCE WE REACH VALLEYFIELD Jean Goyette confirms
this theory:
“Valleyfield once belonged to Alby Klorat and
was bought by the company now known as Akzo
Nobel in 1991. Despite the ownership change, we
10 ekaecho | # 4 2007
continued to regard ourselves as competitors.
When I became manager here in 2000, relations
between the two factories had already improved
from a purely competitive situation to a much cordial
relationship. “
“The situation has much improved since you and
I began to work together. We’re a good team,” says
Cynthia.
“Yes. We see things the same way and have compatible
ideas. We can bridge our differences, although
really the difference between our factories
is more about culture than production,” says Jean
Goyette.
He offers us coffee in his office. The distance between
the two factories is far enough to prevent
the two executives from meeting every day, but a
working day seldom passes without a check or two
being made with each other by phone.
“We talk about day-to-day operations and how
“Because we cooperate we often share
begin to say something and then the ot
we should deal with various situations. Both plant
manufacture chlorate, so we both face the same
kind of problems,” says Cynthia.
THE TWO PLANTS HAVE STARTED to work with an
increasing number of joint functions in recent years;
human resources, finance and quality being the
most important.
Joint projects are also on the agenda; a present
example being factory laboratories working together
over solving problems with boron impurities
present in the salt used for production.
“Nowadays, when a new problem arises, we usually
assign one person to deal with it on behalf of
both plants,” says Jean Goyette.
Recent years have been eventful, for both Magog
and Valleyfield. They have gone through several
restructuring programs and been obliged to
cut back on employees. At the same time, pro-