Training For Cats

Today was the second of two days of training in our offices conducted by a gentleman from Caterpillar engines. As readers may be aware, our static pumps all now come with Cat engines and so it is important for our engineers to fully understand the technical aspects of these.

This training was to bring us up to speed with the latest (full and final) specifications for diesel emissions using Diesel Emission Fluid (AdBlue being a popular example). This means our engineers are now qualified to maintain the latest generation of Caterpillar diesel engines.

As well as our own engineers, we invited engineers from a couple of our clients, Coinfords and Careys to come along to the training too - because the more our customers get out of their Schwing Stetter equipment, the better it is for everyone.

Swash No Buckle

A bit earlier I was asked to gather up some information about pump pressures with regard to the angle of the swash plate. Now not being an engineer, this term went straight over my head and so Hughie, the MD very kindly took some time to show me what this meant.

I had seen plenty of hydraulic system drives (the bit that that turns engine revs into hydraulic oil being pushed around the system) but had never known how one worked. I am pleased to say that now one more of the many wonders of hydraulic engineering has  been revealed to me, and very interesting it is too!

Basically a circle of cylinders and pistons connected to an angled plate spins. Both the cylinder block and the angled 'swash' plate spin at the same time so the swash plate pulls the pistons in and out as each cylinder/piston moves around the circle. The changeable angle of the plate determines how much the pistons actually move in and out for each revolution.

The pistons moving away from and out of the cylinder block are drawing hydraulic oil into those cylinder while the ones moving back into it are pushing the oil out, having brought it around to the other side, and so oil is forced to move continuously from one side to the other. Ingenious!

Seeing (and have a play with) the cut away working demonstration one above really helped me to understand what was going on. So now next time someone talks about the angle of the swash plate, I'll know what they mean.

Sweet!

Just arrived! The third batch of our (predictably) popular sweet boxes has just been put safely away.

After noting which sweets were more popular in the last lot, or rather which ones tended to get left behind in an otherwise empty box, we swapped a couple of varieties for some new ones. I'm pleased to say the lemon sherbets are a new addition - these will be my personal favourites I'm sure. (Although I must point out at this time I have not actually had any).

These are of course strictly for our customers (other than the odd box opened out for us by the MD) and certainly make an interesting and possibly quite unusual 'promotional product'! And if it helps remind people about how much they love Schwing Stetter, all the better!

Raising Knowledge

Last Friday we had the chap from Tams come to re-certify our staff on the fork lift and the gantry crane.

We timed it rather well as a couple of people would have had their cards run out the following day.

With a great deal of very heavy items being moved about constantly, it is important we have all our workshop and supervisory staff qualified to use the lifting and carrying equipment. We need everyone to be able to lend a hand from time to time to move items about. In these situations a small mistake can lead to a big accident. And as the MD puts it, it's far cheaper and easier to pay to get everyone qualified properly than to explain to someone's mother that their son had an accident using some equipment they didn't fully know how to use.

This is all an ongoing process. As some staff members had been called away to assist clients on Friday we will need to repeat the process again in a few weeks to cover those who were not there.

And then there's the welding certification coming up soon too!

Mug Shots

This morning we took delivery of our second lot of promotional mugs (the one on the right). I'm very pleased with these.

We got our first lot (the one on the left) in December last year. They were kindly drawn by the same chap who has been doing our Christmas cards and were so popular we thought we'd try another one along the same theme. That theme being concrete being pumped constantly around the mug by a ring of machines, all seemingly oblivious to the fact that it's the same concrete going round and round... Well we thought it was funny...

The first was a mobile pump and a static pump. The people who produced the mugs very kindly found a way to keep the image going through the handle to complete the effect.

The second is a separate placing boom, a truck mixer and a static pump. I'm sure these will be just as popular with staff and customers alike!

More Platforms

Such was the success of our new workshop mezzanine floor last year (and the new floor space over the new reception area) that we decided to add a double version at the other end of the workshop!

Once again the lads rose to the task and had the thing built and stocked in less than a month.

The view's not too bad from up there either!

A Great Reception

If there's one thing you can say about our engineers at Schwing Stetter, it's that they are versatile. We have recently been making some adjustments to the workshop area, extending the mezzanine floor and sprucing up the reception area. And it was none other than our own engineers who did the major work.

We now have quite bit more upstairs floor space to accommodate our expanding parts inventory, and a much nicer front reception area (as you can see above).

Here are a few photos from different stages of the work...

Staircase reversed

Our Engineers' steelwork taking shape

The floorboards down and the new reception desk

Extra space for more (genuine Schwing Stetter) parts storage

Our engineers even install signage (note the new ceiling is now in place too)!

Merry Christmas

Well our Christmas cards have all gone out and we're just about ready to head off on our short winter break and begin the promised festivities! Have a wonderful Christmas and we'll see you in the new year!

Surprise Date

Our 2017 calendars have arrived from Germany and guess who's got the January spot? The opening picture is the one I took up at Merseylink of the three Reilly's pumps at dawn!

I knew they were putting my picture in there somewhere but it's nice to open the calendar and actually see it 'in the flesh' as it were. Nice also to realise that my 'work' will be hanging on thousands of walls around the world, if only for a month!

They have cropped the original a little differently to how I did (see mine below) - basically because theirs needs to fit into a square rather than a rectangle - I've think they've done it just fine though.

Happy January everyone (when it comes...)

New Platform

As we constantly strive for better ways to do things and increase our productivity, it was decided to make use of a whole lot of unused space a few metres above the floor in the back corner a create another mezzanine floor.

Robs design and workmanship once again came to the fore to build everything needed and over the last few weeks the whole thing was build and assembled from scratch. He was even able to tell me how weight each step was able to hold. Such a talented team we have...

The space to fill

Rob assembling the staircase

First part of steel structure in place

Structure taking shape

Flooring down

The view from the new platform

All finished

Linked T-Shirt

Part of my job is to design and procure promotional clothing like the branded caps t-shirts and polo shirts that we wear and (occasionally!) give out to clients... Sometime the designs are my own ideas and sometimes the ideas comes from Hughie (the MD) or even one of the staff.

For this one above (a one off exclusive run for Bauma) Hughie wanted to include a bar code and (at my suggestion) a QR code that could actually be read. And so here it is - a t-shirt that connects you to the internet!

The link is of course a page on our website specifically for people who have spotted someone wearing one of these cool puppies...

A Good Investment

Yesterday we were officially recognised as an Investors In People accredited company.

According to the Investors in People website: "Investors in People signals an organisation that puts people first." 

What this means for us is the recognition that Schwing Stetter (UK) values its employees and wants to see each member of the team reach their potential. It was also an opportunity to tighten up and formalise some of our internal processes.

The whole process began last year with an initial induction and staff interviews. Then with expert guidance we went through the process necessary to achieve the core standard. In many ways this just meant formalising things we were already doing. The very low staff turnaround rate already showed that people here feel valued and generally 'invested in'.

Some of the things that needed to be evident were staff:

• being aware of their management line
• feeling happy to contribute ideas
• having the opportunity to progress in their career
• having the opportunity to receive training
• understanding where the company is going
• having opportunities to discuss targets, achievements, shortcomings and possible solutions
• not turning up each day just feeling like a number

Demonstrating all of these and other things has taken a short while but it has certainly been worthwhile for the company. It is also good news for our clients who can see that our staff care about the company, the products and service they are offering and the clients who benefit from them in the end.

You can see this and our other accreditations on the accreditations and memberships page of our website.

Hope For A Schwing From Above

Andrew at Camfauds Concrete Pumps recently alerted me to a story in The Construction Index about the building of a wind farm in Scotland, featuring a really good aerial shot (thanks to 360 Aerial Imagery Ltd) of the works. What was interesting to us was the two Schwing concrete pumps also in shot doing the work.

Scott, our chief engineer here was able to look at the picture and straight away identify them as a Schwing S34X and a Schwing S39SX. He even knew who they belonged to.

The actual story was about Hope Construction Materials having supplied the concrete for the foundations for 19 new wind turbines at Aikengall II Community Wind Farm, East of Edinburgh. The turbines, set to be commissioned in August 2016 will stand 145 metres tall and apparently be amongst the tallest in the UK and will collectivly generate 68.4 Megawatts of locally sourced energy, supplying more than 42,000 homes.

Hope provided almost 12,000 cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete from their Dunbar and Dalkieth ready mix plants for the project being built by renewable energy specialists Community Windpower Ltd.

It would seem Schwing Stetter was helping out too, pumping and placing the concrete.

Some Recognition

Having churned out numerous custom built truck mounted static concrete pumps and other bespoke work for customers, Rob our chief welder remarked that it was unfortunate that people who saw them out and about wouldn't realise we had done all the bodywork customisation as well. They'll just think we did the pump but they won't know we started with a truck chassis which needed to be cut down and added everything on there ourselves.

So we've had some plates and stickers made up to let people know. Here is Rob proudly mounting the first such plate onto a customised truck mixer. And here it is below...

Open To Ideas

A few mornings ago, Rob our chief welding engineer asked me to get some video of something he had just finished customising.

A client had asked if we could adjust a truck mixer so the drum flap could open all the way up so the mixture could be properly inspected. The answer was of course 'yes' - we are an engineering company after all. So here we have the hydraulic fully opening drum flap on a mixer truck, custom engineered by the Schwing Stetter (UK) team.

Apparently the client was so impressed they have ordered a whole lot more of them!

You can see how it works here below. The first video was taken before the safety guard was attached so you can see the workings. The second is after it was put on.






See more about our customisation on our website here: http://www.schwing-stetter.co.uk/Pages/Customisation.aspxhttp://www.schwing-stetter.co.uk/Pages/Customisation.aspx.

Expert Advice

Having arrived early to ensure I was ready for a meeting first-thing about our quotations procedures, I was asked by Scott (our chief engineer) at about 8am if I could go and pick up a chap from the airport. Apparently his flight had been delayed by around two hours and, due to other commitments Andy wasn't able to pick him up at the later time.

Being in Perivale, Heathrow airport isn't actually very far away from us. If there was no traffic it would be a 30 minute round trip. However at around 8:30am? Middle of the morning rush? 30 minutes is almost taken up trying to reach the end of the road!

However, get there I did in the end (with the meeting postponed by a few hours). The chap turned out to be Andre, an engineer who had popped over from Germany (our main office and factory) for two days to help us sort out an issue with a client's machine.

Giving him a lift to his hotel on my way home at the end of the day, I found out it was one of our S61 SX mobile pumps (which is so big that the 5 axle chassis is dwarfed by the only half extended boom in this picture). He had come to sort out a difficult issue to do with the remote control system - which he had done. So now he was about to enjoy a well earned proper British cider or 2 (which he said is difficult to find in Germany) and a rest before visiting the client the next day.