The Salamander team are back in the office and ready to tackle a busy 2019. We have a lot of exciting projects lined up for this year so make sure you keep an eye out for any updates.
Our busy end to 2018 saw us pull together as a team as we held a company Christmas jumper day in aid of raising money for our chosen charity, Save The Children. We think it’s important that we use our platform to help raise money for charity and it’s something that we have always taken great pride in.
Aside from raising money for charity, we also gave back to our customers this Christmas. The Salamander team manufactured some bespoke coasters alongside some (very well received) bottles of wine. We value our excellent relationships with our customers and always like to do something a little different for them during the festive period.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff and customers at Salamander for their hard work and loyalty in 2018, we’re expecting this year to be our best yet!
Along with our wide range of fantastic customers and friends, our employees are what keeps the Salamander cogs moving and have done for so many years. We are always keen to invest in our staff as they are our brand ambassadors and deserve to be given opportunities to progress their careers in the right direction.
We’ve recently had a new employee join us at our Salamander offices in Slaithwaite. Gemma Williams has joined the team as office administrator, assisting Kirsty in accounts, payroll and administration duties. Gemma has joined us from a community services background and is excited about helping ‘shape the office’ with her mentor, Kirsty.
As Gemma is taking over the reins of the more administrative side of things in the office, Kirsty has been promoted to office manager. Her new responsibilities include managing the purchasing & buying duties of the businesses related to everything from sheet raw material to specialist fittings and fixtures. Kirsty’s new role will allow us to have a deeper competitive edge when it comes to achieving the best prices for products, meaning Salamander can become even more efficient on cost. Kirsty is already proving a great asset to the management team and we have more than welcomed having an extra employee help us keep on top of our busy schedules. Kirsty was also heavily involved in our recent ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001 accreditations.
If you would like to speak to us about opportunities to join the Salamander team, please get in touch.
Salamander is dedicated to making sure it remains at the forefront of the manufacturing industry and strives to stay up to date with the most recent software, training and audits. The business recently underwent a series of audits from the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO). These included the ISO 9001 Quality Standards audit & the 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS).
So, what is ISO 9001 & 18001 OHSAS and what did we have to do as a business to meet the standards? Find out below in an outlined overview of each audit along with what the business did specifically to meet the requirements.
ISO 9001
The ISO 9001 is the recognised international standard that specifies requirements for a robust quality management system (QMS). Salamander uses the accreditation to demonstrate a high level of ability to consistently provide end products that always meet customers’ needs, alongside regulatory requirements.
There were various inputs required for this audit, including:
Providing customer feedback
Quality checking process steps
Process performance and product conformity
Follow up actions from previous reviews
Recommendations for improvements
There were many other factors involved, including the whole Salamander team working together in order to make this an achievable goal.
18001 OHSAS
This series has provided Salamander with major elements of effective health and safety management, which the business has integrated with our current management system. This in turn enables us to achieve better occupational health and safety (H&S) performance and economic objectives.
A few of the steps that were put in place in order to achieve this standard were:
Compared existing H&S policies against the OHSAS 18001 requirements.
Putting in place further policies, procedures and controls to ensure high levels of H&S at all times.
Staff and customer feedback on current Health & Safety regulations
Putting plans in place to regularly review the OHSAS 18001 system and implement continuous improvements.
This year, the ISO 45001 has been released which is the next phase of this standard that we will be looking at achieving within the next three years.
The Salamander team once again pulled together fantastically in order for the business to achieve this well sought-after working standard. We are happy to announce that we managed to achieve both and are now looking towards any additional audits that Salamander can carry out in order to improve all areas of the business.
At Salamander Fabrications, we’re committed to delivering a first-rate full design-to-delivery service. And our latest investment will ensure we’re more efficient than ever in turning out the quality products our customers have come to expect.
We’ve purchased Olympus Technologies’ universal robot welding system. This intricate unit consists of a Dinse torch and Lorch MicorMIG 300 welding machine to shorten the time spent on simple and repetitive welding processes. The new system is fully integrated, meaning we can make welding parameter changes mid-process. Plus, it has a high electrical efficiency, while the Dinse robotic torch is extremely high quality and can provide 300a welding at a 100% duty cycle.
With great accuracy and repeatability, the new system will mean we can take on longer runs and ensure consistent quality.
If you want to find out more our best-in-class equipment or find out our services, get in touch.
It’s been a busy year at Salamander HQ. We’ve made significant investments in technology to keep us on the frontline of the industry, made further appointments to the team and are looking to an even busier 2019. That said, we decided it was high time we took some well-deserved rest and relaxation and headed off for a day at the races.
Thirsk Racecourse was our venue of choice. We donned our finery for Ladies Day and prepared for a few hours of downtime, hoping for a win. Although the weather was not great it did not dampen our spirits.
At Salamander, we’re big advocates of rewarding the hardworking team and believe it’s important that a few times a year we spend quality time together away from the machines. It’s crucial for revitalising the staff, keeping morale high and simply taking the pressure off.
We had enough wins to keep everyone smiling and, while there were a few sore heads the next morning, a good day was had by all. And we’re now on with planning the Christmas festivities before coming back bigger and better next year. Watch this space.
As a family oriented and local business, Salamander is dedicated to helping the local area progress in any way we can. Recently the business was approached by Colne Valley High School to attend their ‘Business Breakfast’. Here we met with the senior leadership team, Local MP Thelma Walker and Jimmy Christian (Principal) and we discussed how we could offer something that would engage students, preparing them for what working life can be like after leaving school.
After many meetings and discussions, the facility tour for the students came to fruition and they visited the Salamander factory on 14th June 2018. General Manager, David Mcstrafick was there to greet the students and Business teacher, Mr. Kuszyk. The 12 strong group of students aged 14-15 and currently undergoing their GCSE Business studies, were chosen in order to give them a real ‘hands-on’ experience with a local business.
The tour consisted of David (GM) taking the students on a step-by-step tour of each department through the process of a completing a real-life project, starting with the sales and marketing department and finishing with the delivery of the goods and the accounting department. Members of staff on the factory floor spoke to students and they were allowed to ask questions along the way.
Accompanying Businesses teacher, Mr. Kuszyk, made this statement following the tour –
“The aims for the students were to be able to understand and ‘see’ what a business looks like and how it operates. Businesses like Salamander, supporting education like this is vital and really enables students to visualize and understand the work that is undertaken in the class room.
The tour and talk were both really well linked to our exam specification and the students were able to see how new technology and working practices has enabled a business to improve productivity and efficiency, as well as how a number of job roles are interlinked to ensure that the manufacture process is run smoothly and effectively.”
By involving real employers into the school curriculum, it gives teachers some ‘evidence’ about the information they relay to students, and also gives students a true insight in to life as a working adult. Salamander are proud to help the local community and welcome all other opportunities to do so, if you know of any please Get in Touch.
Salamander recently conducted some fire marshal training for 7 of its employees from different areas of the business. It is imperative for all organisations who employ staff to have at least one fire marshal on hand at all times, although more may be necessary for larger businesses – hence why we thought it wise to deploy 7 of the Salamander team to undergo the fire marshal training.
The aim of the course was to highlight the importance of fire safety procedures at Salamander and the importance of structural fire protection. To provide an understanding of how fire starts and spreads and the different types of extinguishers and their use. All participants also took part in the practical use of the different types of fire extinguishers.
At Salamander we believe in the safety of all of our employees and always strive to make sure we are raising the standards when it comes to health, safety & all other kinds of training throughout the business. We are dedicated to ensuring all premises are safe & secure at all times.
Meet our quality inspector, Martin Greensitt. Martin recently got promoted to his role as quality inspector, this new role involves testing of internal work to ensure it is to customers individual standard, as well as working closely with customers to ensure each individual customers’ specifications are met. Ensuring compliance is met by collating document packs for customers to include detailed dimensional reports, material certificates and operational document traceability. Martin has also been heavily involved in the ISO9001 project soon to be audited. This audit is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the ISO to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements – something which Salamander prides itself in.
Martin commented “I really like working at Salamander, no two days are the same, I get to work in all areas of the operation and with a great team of people. I really enjoy the variety of products that Salamander manufacture we never know what we might be making next week.” Martin has said he has learnt a lot since he started his role particularly on the robust operational systems which are in place, meaning the customer gets what the customer wants and within the time frames initially set out. Martin has also travelled the world extensively but also really enjoys walking locally in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside alongside enjoying playing the guitar and watching cricket in Summer.
We are currently updating our machinery throughout the whole company here at Salamander, in a bid to ensure we are constantly up to date and providing easy-to-use software & machines for our employees. One of the newest additions to our ever-growing machine list is the Amada press brake. Amada have been a leader in the production of precision press brakes for over 40 years and have installed more than 80,000 machines worldwide.
There wasn’t much competition in the pipeline when we were searching for a new machine, Amada offered installation, training on both the machine & software and flexibility these factors alongside us already having a good working relationship with the company, meant it was an easy decision to commission the new machine from them.
Our new press brake allows high level, cost-effective production whilst also being low maintenance and easy to use. With an extensive choice of tonnages and beam lengths, there is a variant to suit a wider range of requirements which means we are now readily able to tackle a wider breadth of projects.
If you would like to find out how we can meet your needs in regards to anything from metal bending to laser cutting, then please get in touch.
At Salamander we believe in a customer first approach in everything we do. We always ensure that we maintain good working relationships with our customers far and wide. To enable us to do this, we are always trying to think of ways we can give something back to our well-loved clients.
Christmas 2017 saw us put our resources to good use where we provided our existing & new customers, with Salamander branded beer bottles. We commissioned a local brewery to help us with the project and the outcome was fantastic! We sent these out a couple of weeks before Christmas, for our customers to enjoy over the festive break. We got great feedback from the project and some people asked if we could help them do the same thing for their customers.
We also provided various clients with a fantastic laser cut paper stand for their desks! These were also really well received and have generated some great conversations all the way through into 2018. We’re looking forward to the year ahead and hoping to continue to build long lasting customer relationships along with some really exciting new projects.
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