Scrappage Scheme

This week it has been the week of our quarterly clearout of waste disposal. For instance, a specialised firm will collect waste oils including old cutting and grinding coolant used by our ever expanding machine park. Shaun has been making some more space in the factory for a new arrival due soon. As with every machine, there is always wear and tear and also new developments in CNC or other machines that is used in our production process. Purchasing a new machine is exciting but not the parting with money, however investing in the future and giving our staff the best we can afford makes a world of difference. To boost the cash flow in our machine fund, we have come up with the following scheme; Shaun collects all the copper and brass swarf and other scrap metal to take to our local scrap metal merchant. The monies received from this will be booked in and help towards the repair, upgrade or new buy.

The staff all know that money from scrap is put towards new machines and are very happy to help Shaun to load the van when needed.

“We all know that us boys like our toys.”

Material’s Preparation - A most important area.

In this picture: Materials Technician (Ben)

Our Production Manager (Sean) will order a specific composition and grade of material for the component to be produced, be it an extrusion material or a dry press material from the materials preparation area or ” powder room”. The materials are issued to the main shop floor by customer/job reference to maintain traceability as required by our ISO9001 accreditation.

If the material needs a new batch, our Materials Technician (Ben) will produce the new batch of material according to the “Composition sheet” which is a “controlled” document, as we are ISO9001 registered and this is a tightly controlled process. The materials are weighed , then the ball mill is loaded. The materials are ground for the designated time. The material is then sieved to ensure consistent particle size and then filter pressed into “cakes”. These “cakes” are then stored pending further processing into either dry pressing or extrusion variants as dictated by the customer requirements.

Customers are welcome to view our premises, meet the team and are assured of a warm welcome when they arrive.

More from me next week

Busy

Last week has been very busy including several trips to the mainland to visit customers; I am in the middle of writing an informative piece about mixing ceramic materials.

New blog post to follow later in the week.

Website

Our website has been updated with new features,pictures and navigation. This is still a ongoing process and should be completed within the next two weeks. Have a good look and browse around, we are working very hard to make it as accessible and easy to navigate as we can.

More from me later in the week

Our Artic Challenge Week

What a week it has been, unprecedented weather for the whole of the UK and for South, especially the Isle of Wight. Our island turned into chaos with snow and ice that has not been experienced for many a years. I must say that I am very proud of all our staff this week; they have shown dedication to come to work instead of the easy option of staying at home. The famous Dunkirk sprit, but instead of boats the staff and I scrambled all the 4x4’s we have between us to organise a shuttle service. Coffee and tea where on me this week that is the least I can for their dedication to the Company. Our production is running as normal but couriers are suffering from delays in some areas. We are bracing ourselves for another onset of winter weather but we are prepared for what is thrown our way.

More from me next week

Isle of White

We are open today, I would like to share a moment of winter on the Island taken yesterday evening, you can see Chillerton Down and Rams Down.

We are open

Despite the very cold weather and the snow on the ground, with help from our factory staff 4x4's everyone is here and we are open for business.

Snow Wight

We are open,but it took some doing

I am a firestarter

Today was a bit special, each year after annual leave we have to relight the kilns a day early to get them up to the right temperature for Monday. Normally, Shaun our production manager would carry out this process with me. When I showed up this morning there were several cars parked outside the building and I was curious to what was going on?

Chris our master toolmaker, Jon head of our CNC department and Shaun where all present. What are you all doing here I asked, the explanation was simple after the whole manufacturing industry has found that trading conditions are challenging they all three came up with the same answer: ”Happy to be here”.

The kilns where lighted and with a coffee the world was set to right in a record five minutes flat. We are back to work tomorrow following the Christmas shutdown and either Sharon or Kirtsy will answer any queries you might have on telephone: ++44 (0)1983528697 or e-mail: info@ceramic-substrates.co.uk