New Vision, New Career Opportunity

 

with some twenty active working groups, 16 new documents currently under preparation and the ongoing revision of Bottling Guides Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5. While continuing its main mission of producing technical reference documents for the bottling industries via expert working groups, Cetie is also pursuing its digital transformation. In today's ever-more interconnected world, with phenomenal means of information storage and exchange, the digital economy is generating a productive momentum for those who participate and anticipate, leaving little room for immobility. Cetie’s modes of action and structure must therefore adapt to ensure the long-term durability of the organisation and its work. (see L & C article No. 380).

It is against this backdrop that the Board of Cetie led by Patrice Robichon, its chair, has established a "Vision for Cetie" which was ratified at the General Meeting in March 2016. The aim of this Vision over the next five years is for Cetie to consolidate its position as a unique, reliable and authoritative source of information for bottling industries worldwide.
 

particularly through our www.cetie.org website traffic statistics.
In 2015, the website had visitors from 121 countries on all continents (except for the Antarctic). About 20% of new visitors asked to create a user account in order to download publications, and in all more than 7,200 documents were downloaded.

 

More generally, the path to achieving the Vision involves a well-planned communication drive and intensification of the measures to extend the network of contacts in the industries concerned, at a global level. Alongside this, the cornerstone of Cetie's work must remain the dynamism of the working groups and the production of high-quality documents that are useful and authoritative. This, combined with a service to members that meets real identified needs, should enable the consolidation and expansion of our membership base, which is the association's sole source of funding.

We note that pressure on staffing levels and restructuring within member companies tends to reduce the availability of experts to work on Cetie documents. This implies the need for increased efforts from Cetie's staff to assist the experts by collecting information and writing texts. Furthermore, among the services provided to member companies, Cetie clearly constitutes a pool of knowledge in the core industrial activities, enabling it to facilitate the transmission of knowledge within companies.
 

Participating in the working groups is instructive in itself and the diligent participation of the experts is indicative of the benefit they themselves gain in honing their knowledge through the discussions. The technological intelligence services, particularly with regard to standardisation and regulations, also remain to be developed. While the Board has yet to define the overall action plan to accompany the Vision, it is already obvious that the roles of Cetie staff need to be reassessed with respect to the current situation. The non-technical administrative tasks have been dematerialised - a website is currently being finalised for this purpose - therefore there is no longer any need for dedicated administrative personnel. The technical drafting and intelligence skills could benefit from reinforcement to assist the working groups and develop services to members, while simultaneously freeing time to boost communication and representation actions.

Consequently, Cetie is currently seeking to recruit a new member of staff with English/French technical writing and technological intelligence skills to join its personnel. Given the uncertainties concerning human resources requirements in the medium term and the increased workload in the immediate future due to the upgrading of the entire documentation base, the job will be offered on the basis of a fixed-term contract. The challenge is to enable Cetie to continue its transformation into an agile and resilient entity, capable of prospering in tomorrow’s world, and for the Vision to become reality.

By N. Harris Cetie General Secretary
Published in Liquides & Conditionnement N°383 (June-July 2016)