Maxime Guillois and Baptiste Guyon opted for the American Way of Life and they will not turn back. Based in Houston, Texas, they are here to develop the activity in North America. Why would they choose this life? What opportunities are to be seized in the USA and Canada today? These are the questions we asked them for you :
How did ORINOX establishment go in North America? And why this destination in particular ?
ORINOX was officially established in Houston in 2015 and the following year we opened a subsidiary in Canada. Originally, it was ORINOX CEO Maxime Fourreau’s wish for he has always been fond of North America and more precisely the United States. He came here for a first mission in the 2010s and fell in love with this country. Besides, if we specifically picked Houston, it is because our partner AVEVA is already established there. Hence the obvious choice to settle here.
What is the development strategy for the USA and Canada ?
It is quite comparable to the European and French strategy. We essentially bring technical assistance to our clients. We aim at earning their trust by putting our collaborators on key positions, such as administrators. Earning their trust will help us to expand and to have a good reputation. We also are partners to AVEVA that commercially promotes our development in North America.
Who are your clients ?
A notable Canadian client from the nuclear field is Bruce Power: it is the world’s biggest power plant. Still in the energy field, we also work with KSPC. In the United States, we count among our key clients Southern California Gas (SoCal Gas), which is the largest natural gas producer in California. In Houston, our main clients are SOFEC and Boccard. SOFEC operates in the Oil & Gas field. As for Boccard, it is a long-term client that we work with in France as well, and it operates in the food processing and food pharmaceutical industries. We started working in the USA thanks to them.
Can you tell us about some of your ongoing projects ?
Our projects particularly concern technical assistance. In North America, we are in a niche, working on administration, consulting and implementation. Our clients’ needs do not specifically involve engineers or designers yet. They are focused on AVEVA solutions administration and AVEVA implementation assistance. Administration implementation constitutes 90% of our activity on the territory.
Are other establishments planned in North America ? If yes, when would that be ?
So far we have one office in Calgary and one in Houston. It should be noted that most of our collaborators are mobile. We could consider new establishments depending on our clients’ projects. Medium term speaking, we could set a new team to meet our client needs in Los Angeles, California. It might also happen for specific projects, as in St John’s Newfoundland where a large implementation project is going to emerge. This would require onsite teams.
How many collaborators form the American teams ?
For now, we are 5 in Houston and 3 in Calgary. In medium/ long-term, we may have to create two new positions in California.
How do you recruit?
As for recruitment, we try to follow the French parent company’s process. This process ensures the quality of the recruited profiles. It is composed of multiple interviews with different people holding various positions. Then, quizzes on the Internet and/or immersion quizzes on AVEVA solutions with experts take place. This process helps us better qualify the profiles that will be composing our teams.
How does one apply ? What is the process ?
Our job offers are to be found on several websites, starting by ORINOX’s in the Careers tab and then in the Employment Opportunities category. These offers are also present on websites such as Zip Recruiter or Glassdoor. Applying is possible directly through these ads.
You have recently integrated new collaborators. What are their jobs ?
Indeed, we have welcomed two new collaborators in Canada and three in Houston. Luke arrived in Houston in July 2019 after following a training in Châteaubriant, he now assists our client SOFEC. Then, Johnny arrived in November to start working in December, he had already worked with AVEVA solutions. He too works at SOFEC, as a design coordinator. As for Baptiste, he arrived in early February and now helps out on commercial and business development problematics. In Canada, Fataï started working in November and is now specifically assigned to the Electrical and Instrumentation field as an administrator. Finally in March, Anuradha was the last to join us and she started working as an AVEVA Administrator (P&ID and E3D) for our client Husky in Calgary.
Is your objective to grow your teams in North America ?
Of course, just as any start-up. We now face new opportunities with major projects that allow us to look forward. I cannot give you precise numbers but it is indeed one of our objectives.
If you had to convince your colleagues to join you, what would you tell them ?
Honestly, working here is pretty similar to working in France. Being an AVEVA administrator for Total France or in Houston does not change the job. The difference lies in the culture and it is the opportunity to experience living according to the North American culture.
