WATCH THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE EDITOR’S PICK WITH KULLY NIJJAR HERE
For this instalment of Made in Group’s “The Editor’s Pick”, hosted on Wednesday 4th August at 12pm, Kully Nijjar of Catax Group - a Patron of both Made in the Midlands and Made in Yorkshire - was selected as the guest editor.
Kully sat down with Paul Clews (Managing Director of Alpha Manufacturing), Hana Robertson (Director of HanaTech Ltd) and Jason Parker (Jt Managing Director of Thomas Dudley Ltd) to discuss their latest news stories.
Kully kicked off the live segment, which is streamed across all Made in Group social channels every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month to the group’s 30K+ followers, by introducing himself and the new event.
As Editor, Kully had the opportunity to select 3 recent featured articles from the Made in the Midlands platform and spoke directly with the members who published them.
First up was Hana Robertson, Director of HanaTech Ltd, to discuss their article “Work-Flow Tracking App Gives SMEs the Competitive Edge”. The Glass Factory® app created by HanaTech - specialising in Digital Process Improvement, aims to catapult the industry forward by bringing real time transparency of order status across multi-level complex supply chains.
Hana said that this system is an affordable and effective system which can be a great first step for SMEs and other manufacturers into their “digitalisation plan”. Hana also emphasised that this problem is one “close to my heart” from previous operational roles she has experienced, and therefore she has experienced the problems first-hand that this glass factory app is offering to solve.
Responding to Kully’s question regarding if Hana had received much feedback from companies on the app, particularly from fellow Made in the Midlands members, to which Hana detailed that the feedback had been “very positive” and she had particularly enjoyed working with MIM member Frederick Cooper (Birmingham) Ltd.
Next up was Paul Clews, Managing Director from Alpha Manufacturing to discuss their article titled “Alpha Manufacturing & INEOS Electrochemical Solutions collaborate to develop state-of-the-art production facility at Beacon Park, Stafford”.
Alpha Manufacturing, part of the Bri-Stor Group, is investing to significantly ramp up its precision engineering capability with the construction of a brand new 35,000 sq. ft state-of-the-art production facility at Beacon Park, Stafford.
Responding to Kully’s questions to find out more about the motivation behind this project, Paul emphasised how proud himself and Alpha Manufacturing are of this project - which will look to create 50 jobs, including apprenticeships, and support skills within the industry.
Paul also went on to emphasise that ultimately Alpha Manufacturing will “Work closely with INEOS every step of the way to ensure that the new facility will be as effective as it can be”,
Finally, Kully spoke with Jason Parker, Jt Managing Director from Thomas Dudley Ltd to discuss their recruitment drive, with a recent article titled “Thomas Dudley Foundry Needs You!”.
Thomas Dudley foundries have seen a huge increase in demand driven by customers returning to the UK due to sourcing problems in Asia. They expect this trend to continue and as a result are now looking to recruit in several key areas.
Responding to Kully’s questions, Jason emphasised thatThomas Dudley have seen an increase in their “traditional markets”, but alongside this it is particularly exciting to see a big increase in “products that haven’t been manufactured in the UK for many years” such as kettlebells and gym weights.
“It’s great that you’re offering opportunities to people, particularly those who haven’t already got foundry experience”, highlighted Kully. With Thomas Dudley Ltd currently offering an attractive incentive for anyone who recommends a successful applicant; after completion of a 3 month successful settling in period, they then will send you a £200 voucher, explained Jason.
“We won’t just give you a job, but a career”, said Jason in his closing remark, which Kully emphasised as being a powerful and fitting end to another great episode of The Editor’s Pick.