From January to June 2024, I led the “99 Flins” project in collaboration with Renault Group employees in Flins. The project aimed to create a play inspired by their professional experiences and the changes experienced from 2020 to 2024. This period marked the transformation of Flins into a Refactory, shifting from an automobile factory to a hub focusing on the circular economy. This was the first time the 99 process was applied to portray the industrial and organizational transformation of a large company on stage.
Flins’ Future: Renault’s Leap from Legacy to Circular Economy Leader
Flins, founded in 1952, is a significant factory of the Renault Group, covering an area equivalent to 330 football fields. The factory has produced 18 million vehicles, including renowned models such as the Renault 5, Clio, Twingo, Micra, and Zoé. In 2020, Flins began its transition to the circular economy as part of a reorganization plan for the Renault group. The Refactory in Flins emerged as a necessity and opportunity. Firstly, it aimed to preserve employment in Flins and launch new activities to sustain the workforce. Secondly, the reconditioning of used vehicles on a large scale was identified as a promising activity by the Manufacturing management. To lead the Flins conversion project, a “Refactory” team of 25 employees, led by Jean-Philippe Bilaye, was established at the end of 2020. Their mission included setting up activities related to the circular economy, maintaining employment, and contributing to the decarbonization of the site. The first large-scale renovation activity for used vehicles, called Factory VO, then Renew, was launched in 2021 in record time.
The requirement of speed in the transformative process stimulated innovation and experimentation at all levels.
The requirement of speed in the transformative process stimulated innovation and experimentation at all levels. Engineers responsible for industrialization had to adapt their working methods and performance indicators, as large-scale renovation differs significantly from the optimized processes of traditional assembly lines. Renovation relies heavily on autonomous manual labor, making it impossible to maintain the same production rates as for new vehicles.
Due to the unique nature of renovation work, new professions in the circular economy lacked clear definitions. This required the development of adapted training courses to support employees in new roles, ranging from the fundamentals of the circular economy to certified retraining lasting several months. Since the launch of the Refactory in 2021, various activities have started, such as Bodywork launched in 2022 for reconditioning heavily damaged fleets, and Retrofit for the conversion of thermal vehicles into electric vehicles. Finally, the Campus, after having piloted and trained the 2000 employees of the site, is developing a new training offer for the circular economy applied to Mobility industries.
Despite some delays and difficulties, the Refactory was successful in establishing various activities and convincing stakeholders. Today, these activities are grouped under a new entity of the Renault Group, “The Future Is NEUTRAL,” aiming to operate across the entire value chain of the automotive circular economy.
99 Flins: Empowering Voices in the Heart of The Transformation
To carry out this major industrial transformation, priority was given to the technical implementation of new activities and maintaining employment. However, the feelings of the site’s employees were not fully addressed. While information was communicated and training provided, the impact of the changes on their professional identities and the organization of work was insufficiently heard and debated. The project 99 Flins emerged from this need: to give the factory’s employees a platform to share their experiences of the transformation into a Refactory and to create a unifying collective narrative.
However, the project faced initial resistance and fears related to employees speaking freely and the uncertainty of the subjects addressed. Fears of contentious speech and the desire to control the communication made it difficult to accept an experimental process. To overcome these obstacles, two approaches were adopted: communication by network and involvement of managers through discovery workshops.
The project 99 Flins demonstrated that giving employees a voice in an authentic way resulted in a responsible and constructive use of freedom.
Despite the initial challenges, the project 99 Flins demonstrated that giving employees a voice in an authentic way resulted in a responsible and constructive use of freedom. The collaborative writing workshops allowed participants to express themselves freely while being guided by clear thematic structures : social relations, the factory environment, work gestures, the announcement of the Refactory project and the emotions felt at that time, and projections on the circular economy and the future. Everyone had the opportunity to voice their concerns, resistances, and aspirations, putting them into perspective. The moving, funny, and impactful play “99 Flins,” which resulted from this collaborative effort, has undeniably opened new channels of communication, engaging both Renault Group employees and a wider audience in the conversation about the factory’s transformation project.
The theatrical staging work also showcased the employees’ qualities of experimentation and adaptability. On stage, they experienced their collective ability to create, support, and trust each other, and solve problems together. The project’s high point, the well-crafted and festive show, fueled motivation and reinforced a culture of participation and collaboration essential for the site’s transformation.
Ultimately, the project 99 Flins not only succeeded in uniting employees around a common initiative but also demonstrated the importance of creating spaces for free and responsible expression, fostering innovation and social cohesion.
G.F