Mathieu, technical operations assistant engineer
What has been your career path?
I studied at the IUT school of chemistry in Rennes, then at the ENSGTI chemical engineering school in Pau. Then I joined Arkema at the Marseilles plant on an apprenticeship contract through the IFP School program, with a “polymers and processes” option. I was hired on a permanent contract in 2011 as a process engineer at the Balan plant, before becoming a technical operations assistant engineer in 2013.
What is your job about?
My role is to head up improvement initiatives in all the areas of operational excellence defined by Arkema (in terms of reliability, quality, costs, and so on). To put it simply, I have to bring projects from concept to completion, and then production start-up. But I am also involved, for example, in developing new products, implementing new technologies, and taking part in diagnostics of the reliability and quality of our production units.
What is your typical working day like?
I start around 7.30 am with a situation report in the control room before writing our daily reports.Next, depending on the urgency and priorities at the time, it can be a question of performing a diagnostic of the quality and reliability of our production units, or cross-departmental work meetings on a broad range of subjects (safety, projects, accounting/supply monitoring, logistics, etc.).
What do you like about your job?
To do this job, you need to able to work across departments and manage a lot of initiatives. That takes energy, creativity, and a taste for innovation.
What are your career plans for afterwards?
I have two plans that I'm working towards: in the medium term I would like to experience another country, and in the long term move up to a position of greater responsibility in production.
What do you like about Arkema?
The company trained me through an apprenticeship contract. Today, I like my working environment and the people who work in our teams. Lastly, I like when the direction where we are headed and our priorities are clearly defined, which is the case in my job!
One of your qualities and one flaw?
Energy as a quality and also a flaw.
Something about yourself?
I play a lot of sports, both outside the company (rugby, indoor football, sailing, skiing, etc.) and in the company (running).
Processes
The process teams work in our plants to assist the technical development of new products or new production capacities in the research and industrialization phases.