Imerys

Imerys is the world leader in mineral-based specialty solutions for industry with €4.4 billion in revenue and 16,300 employees in 2019. Imerys delivers high value-added, functional solutions to a great number of sectors, from processing industries to consumer goods. The Group draws on its understanding of applications, technological knowledge, and expertise in material science to deliver solutions by beneficiating its mineral resources, synthetic minerals and formulations. Imerys’ solutions contribute essential properties to customers’ products and their performance, including heat resistance, hardness, conductivity, opacity, durability, purity, lightness, filtration, absorption and water repellency. Imerys is determined to develop responsibly, in particular by fostering the emergence of environmentally friendly products and processes.

Chazey Partners was engaged by Imerys, as a business consultant and transformation partner, in late July 2019, to program manage and help deliver a significant transformational project. This project, which Chazey completed on time and on budget, in November 2020, encompassed General Accounting, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Treasury across the Imerys US, Canadian and Mexican operations, and the establishment of a new Shared Services Center in Mexico.

The transformational journey included effective contact and relationship building across a wide range of Imerys businesses and geographies. The complexity of the project was high due to the need of managing with 3 ERPs and the integration of new AP Software.

“Chazey brought to my leadership team, their years of practical experience and proven techniques to quickly validate the business case, establish a project plan, integrate other project specialist in communication, recruiting and site preparation, allowing us to move quickly to recognize the operational efficiency we committed to deliver. The leadership and experience the Chazey Partners team provided, and the capable process specialists Chazey brought to Imerys, provided outstanding process knowledge, documentation, and knowledge transfer capabilities. These are essential to establishing for Imerys a new Shared Services team as a value generator now and for years to come. Another point to make includes the unforeseen global pandemic, that could have been disruptive to the transformation journey. Thanks to the collaborative environment that Chazey helped us to establish, and relationships built, the program stayed on track and expanded in scope, taking on additional work despite the remote conditions.

We were well impressed with the professionalism, knowledge, level of collaboration and confidence that the Chazey Team exhibited. Further, we believe we grew more capable as a Finance team due to the incorporation of leading practices ahead of designated “Go Live” dates.

Through the hard work and well managed efforts by Chazey and the Imerys project team and other Imerys key stakeholders, our new Shared Services Center and operating model has launched on time, delivered on the promise of the business case, expanded beyond the initial scope, and has provided a model for how other transformation initiatives are to be managed.
It is my view that the team from Chazey Partners was a key, positive difference maker for the success of our project as well as in establishing the Shared Services operating pattern to permit growth and efficiency well into the future.”
Christophe Boden

Vice President, Shared Services & Continuous Improvement, Imerys