On November 20, Mercateam organized its Community Event 2025 : an annual event that brings together industry players to discuss issues related to skills and expertise management. This year, the event focused on’operational excellence through an inspiring round table discussion: « When mastery of skills becomes a competitive advantage" .
To provide concrete insights to the 50 decision-makers in attendance (industrial directors, quality managers, production managers), Léa Moreau, Head of Implementation at Mercateam, had the pleasure of leading an informative discussion with distinguished guests who shared their experiences.
At his side:
- Claire Billas, Skills Centers France Coordinator, Saint-Gobain Sekurit,
- Romain Le Bihan, Continuous Improvement Manager, Varinor – Richemont Group,
- Julien Peillon and Sandra Grange, Team Leaders, Sigvaris Group.
Three different sectors (automotive, luxury metalworking, medical devices), three distinct emergencies, but common issues and inspiring solutions. A look back at the lessons learned from a roundtable discussion between industry experts.
Three emergencies, three different triggers
Sekurit: the wave of retirements
For Saint-Gobain Sekurit, a specialist in automotive glass, the urgency was demographic.
The Thourotte site, recognized for its asbestos, saw its most experienced employees (30 years of service) become eligible for early retirement. Within two years, one-third of the workforce has retired : nearly 80 departures from production positions alone in 18 months.
It was therefore impossible to maintain the traditional training model, which required six months to train a line driver.
" We knew we couldn't have 3, 4, or 5 people as backups for our most experienced drivers. We had to speed things up."
Claire Billas, Skills Centers France Coordinator, Saint-Gobain Sekurit
The answer? The creation of the Skill Center France two years ago, a veritable internal «school» that brings together 600 employees across three factories and has halved training time.
Sigvaris: regulatory pressure from audits
In the medical device sector, Sigvaris Group faces a different but equally pressing constraint: the ISO 13485 standard. This extremely rigorous regulation requires that every operator handling a product has the right skills and training.
Julien Peillon and Sandra Grange remember the stress of annual audits: as early as January, the «hunt for shortcomings» begins in preparation for the March audit. Express training courses organized in a hurry, documents lost in paper files, skills matrices Excel never up to date...
" Before, there were lots of crash courses to help you do well in audits. Excel files weren't updated daily. Mercateam was seen as the Holy Grail."
Julien Peillon, Production Manager, Sigvaris Group
Result? A transition from 1 month to 10 days to train an employee, with renewed confidence when it comes to audits.
Varinor: the lack of standardization
At Varinor, a division of Richemont Group specializing in precision metallurgy for watchmaking and jewelry, the urgency was neither demographic nor regulatory, but operational.
Romain Le Bihan describes a common situation in the industry: all the knowledge was «in the heads» of field managers, with as many ways of doing things as there were employees in the workshops.
" We say that an employee knows how to do something, but based on what? If I don't have a standard that explains best practice, how can I train them? Using what resources?"
Romain Le Bihan, Continuous Improvement Manager, Varinor
The existing Excel competency matrices were not being used and served only to “please” auditors, with no real operational value. And when standards did exist, they were buried in servers that were inaccessible, even to administrative functions.
Before: why wasn't it working?
Beyond their specific contexts, the three companies shared common issues that hampered their performance.
Dispersion and loss of traceability
At Sigvaris, training was only available in paper format and archived in physical files. As a result, documents were lost or thrown away when staff moved on, making it impossible to quickly verify the skills of a temporary worker returning to the site. Authorization management was always carried out in emergency mode.
Training courses lacking structure and consistency
Romain Le Bihan's testimony illustrates the scale of the project: to rebuild the standards for a single workstation, an operator who had left production spent more than a month to create a comprehensive Word document. This anecdote alone reveals the difficulty of creating usable documentation when practices are not formalized.
At Sekurit, the gradual decline in training quality over the years and the dispersion of materials throughout the organization created a real administrative headache. The materials existed, but no one really knew where to find them.
The solutions deployed: from physical to digital
Sekurit's Skill Center: a dedicated school
Saint-Gobain Sekurit has created a dedicated physical space for training, shared between its three French factories: small workshops, a classroom, and even a coffee machine to encourage informal exchanges.
The structured integration process:
- Week 1 : common core with all automotive standards + presentation of the various services,
- Week 2 : learning about the principle of glass processing to give meaning to the job,
- Follow-up : assessments at 1, 2, and 3 months prior to confirmation of employment.
One person was assigned for six months (process engineer profile) to create all the basic technical modules. As a result, new hires already have the «codes» of the job before they start on the lines.
The structured digitalization of Sigvaris
Sigvaris has opted for a complete digital transformation, relying on the TWI methodology (Training Within Industry). The project team took two months to train all the tutors and structure the content across around twenty positions spread across four workshops.
The current digital journey includes:
- Mandatory e-learning courses
- Step-by-step validation
- Tablet quiz
- Trainer/tutor access to validate training courses
" With Mercateam, everything is structured. Everyone receives the same training and the same quality of training. In 10 days, employees have seen everything and are competent in their roles."
Julien Peillon, Sigvaris Group
Concrete impact: daily reports are no longer on paper but on tablets, and the factory is moving towards a paperless environment.
Varinor's practical videos
After assessing the time needed to redo the standards, Varinor made a pragmatic choice: to film operators in real-life situations, without striving for perfection.
The instructions were clear: it didn't matter if the operator stuttered, the important thing was to get the content out quickly. What's more, these videos proved to be more impactful and more popular than text documents.
The innovation of QR codes (currently being rolled out): employees will be able to scan a QR code at their workstations and instantly access all standards, materials, and videos via tablets deployed in the workshops.
Defining skills: finding the right balance
The trap of over-granularity
Claire Billas from Sekurit jokingly describes herself as «the bad student»: there are many skills in their system, as each product and each position must be validated. The solution? Pool skills so that renewals can be managed.
At Sigvaris, the transformation required a complete overhaul of the concept of «competence»:
" Previously, the skill set as such was too broad. More specific and specialized sub-skills were created for each position."
Sandra Grange, Sigvaris Group
Competence vs. task: where to draw the line?
Léa Moreau, our facilitator, provides an important insight: «Sometimes a skill is actually a task.» The questionnaires in Mercateam allow tasks to be validated, but it is the placement of the cursor between skill and task that determines the number of skills in the system.
The expiration of powers: a question of balance
Varinor has opted for an expiration date on all skills, with a frequency adapted to the complexity and danger of the position. The principle: a manager must be able to audit their employees at any time on standards, with a strong restriction on the safety aspect.
At Sigvaris, there is no fixed expiration date, but tests are carried out once or twice a year directly on the production line to check that everything is working properly.
Realized gains: short-term to long-term
Short term: immediate operational effectiveness
The figures speak for themselves:
- Sekurit : training time cut in half, access to information in 3 minutes
- Sigvaris : reduction from 1 month to 10 days of training
- All : elimination of paper, centralization of information
«Today, it's mainly a time saver. We have more time now, so we can do things better, which indirectly improves quality.»
Claire Billas, Sekurit
Medium/long term: quality and safety
On quality, Romain cites a concrete example: a customer complaint about two employees using a tool differently in production. Now, one skill = one standard.
At Sigvaris, the TWI methodology has brought a major benefit: «Everyone receives the same training at the same time, with the same quality of training.»
People at the heart: recognition and autonomy
A less quantifiable but essential benefit, according to Claire Billas: «Employees now feel supported, whether through the Skill Center or the employee profile in Mercateam.»
Future projects: going further
Sekurit: toward expertise and maintenance
The next steps for the Skill Center at Saint-Gobain Sekurit's strategy is based on several key areas: developing Level 2 to create expert pathways beyond basic integration, digitizing the maintenance section in Mercateam, and fully digitizing the Skill Center on the platform by 2026, with the rollout of SSO connection.
Varinor: gradual rollout of the five pillars
Each workstation has five associated skills: OHS, Scheduling, Quality, Maintenance, and Equipment. Following the rollout of the OHS pillar, the coming months will see the launch of another pillar, with the implementation of QR codes.
At the precision metallurgy specialist, each workstation is structured around five skills: health and safety, scheduling, quality, maintenance, and equipment. After rolling out the health and safety pillar, the team will tackle the next pillar in the coming months, while implementing QR codes to facilitate access to standards.
Sigvaris: one software program, no more Excel
For the compression stocking specialist, the vision is clear: the team wants to incorporate TWI methodology directly into Mercateam. Currently, TWI standards are created outside the tool and then linked to skills. In the future, the goal is to create everything directly in the platform so that there is no longer any dependence on Excel or Word documents. «One software program, no more Excel at all,» summarizes Julien Peillon.
Advice for those just starting out
1. Communicate the «why»
Romain Le Bihan emphasizes this fundamental point: «It is essential to communicate why the project is being undertaken, both to those in the field and to management.» Without this shared understanding, it is difficult to obtain the support necessary for the project's success.
2. Don't underestimate the importance of drafting standards
The Varinor team learned this lesson the hard way: don't underestimate the time it takes to write or update standards. When they began reviewing existing standards, they realized that they were not optimal for providing quality training.
3. Dedicate resources and mobilize the entire company
Claire Billas is clear on this point: «You need to allocate at least one resource, not necessarily full-time, but at least at the start. You also need everyone to be involved, from top management down to the operators.»
Top management is crucial: without it, it is impossible to empower people and run training courses as desired.
4. Be well prepared and in tune with the field
Advice from Julien Peillon and Sandra Grange: «Be well prepared and in tune with the field.» The Sigvaris project team took two months to train all the tutors and structure the content.
The tool isn't everything: the importance of people
A unanimous message from the three companies: technology is a facilitator, not a magic solution. A tool like Mercateam does not replace the managerial approach behind it.
Key success factors identified:
- Human commitment at all levels
- Change management structured
- Top management sponsorship
- Shared vision and shared objectives
- Dedicated time and allocated resources
Overcoming obstacles: stories of resilience
Sekurit: convincing guardians
At first, tutors felt left out, with the impression that things were being done «without them.» Today, after realizing that their time has become more relevant and valued, they have fully embraced the Skill Center.
Sigvaris: the moment of doubt
The tutors, who are in their fifties and were initially uncomfortable with digital technology, were trained in the use of tablets. Mercateam was found to be easy to use, and they would not want to go back to the old way of doing things now.
Varinor: convincing the laboratory
The laboratories did not want us to touch their accredited standards, for fear of losing their accreditation. Today, the situation has completely reversed: «The lab came back to me and said, ‘Actually, your audit looks pretty good,'» says Romain Le Bihan.
In conclusion: mastering skills as a strategic lever
This roundtable discussion demonstrated one essential thing: Skills management is no longer solely an HR or quality issue; it has become a genuine strategic challenge for operational excellence..
Whether you are facing mass retirements, demanding regulatory audits, or a need for standardization, transforming your skills management brings tangible benefits: immediate time savings, centralized information, improved quality, and enhanced security.
But beyond tools and processes, it is human commitment that makes all the difference. Employees in the field drive these projects forward, managers embody them on a daily basis, and top management gives them the means to succeed.
" Our mission is to support field teams in developing their skills. Every day, we work to ensure that operators have access to the right expertise at the right time. It is this vision that drives us forward."
Adrien Laurentin, CEO, Mercateam
Does this article inspire you? Would you like to talk to our partners, explore these topics in greater depth, or join our next event in 2026? Our team is at your disposal to discuss it.
