Steel for Life: Headline SLpisotninsgosr
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April 19
manager, Mark Morris, ‘but in truth if a
business is to grow its output, turnover and
profit, inevitably its management must also
grow.
“Finding managers with the right
attitude, skills, habits and experience
is always a challenge and one in which
Jamestown invests plenty of time and
energy. We are continuing to grow and
develop our team across all areas of
the business whether this be accounts,
technicians, machine operators or welder/
fabricators. The people are the real key to
any business and Jamestown fully recognises
this,” says Mr Creegan
Investment in Plant and Facilities
Jamestown’s Heavy Fabrication Manager
Aidan Clear says: “We’re always looking to
move away from old methods, once we can
identify new and better ways of working.
We’re currently setting up a beam profiling
line which will save us time in activities such
as end-prepping webs and flanges, producing
web openings, cellular beam manufacture,
notching and cutting heavy sections to
length. In this way, we aim to increase our
throughput and reduce overall cost.”
Jamestown also has equipment which
hasn’t been utilised fully since its move to
Portarlington. A substantial saw & drill unit
is being set-up at present and Jamestown is
looking at diverting some existing resources
towards offering this service to the wider
steel industry in Ireland. Through this, the
aim is to complement current services and
use this as an opportunity to better serve a
wider customer base.
Embracing Change
“Change is an ever-present part of the steel
industry and the wider business sector. It’s
a constant. When we started making plate
girder carcasses 15 years ago, the landscape
was different. There was nobody talking
about CE Marking, nobody knew what an
IWE or RWC was, welding and fabrication
was left to the fabricators and welders,
and engineers kept their distance from the
workshop,” says Jamestown Carcass Welding
Manager Mick McClean.
“Now the entire language of welding and
compliance is much more scientific. It’s a
big leap from basic S275JR plate to S460 NL
with specific carbon equivalent values and
restrictions on origin. The whole industry,
particularly at the top end, has moved in a
direction of complexity and into a tightly
specified, more academic environment. As a
big player in the bespoke steelwork game, at
Jamestown we’ve embraced this change and
tooled up with the in-house and consultant
skills and with the management know-how
to deal with increasing quality compliance
requirements.”
In this way, Jamestown can offer
customers complete assurance that its
bespoke steelwork has come through a
rigorous and robust quality environment,
with the best of attention paid to every
critical aspect of its manufacture.
“By doing this, and by continually
improving our offering to the UK and
Republic of Ireland steel market, we are very
deliberately building our strength for the
future,” says Mr McClean.
Mr Creegan concludes by explaining
that Jamestown is a company built
on a long history of solid engineering
expertise and good business judgement.
He emphasises that hard work and focus
has been the hallmark of their efforts in
the past. Jamestown is building towards
the future, and with good decision making
now, followed by clear action, and coupled
with plenty of effort from a great group of
employees, Jamestown is set to continue its
success and remain strong into the future.
Jamestown
is a headline
sponsor of
Steel for Life
Clients’ highspecification
finish
requirements are
routine to Jamestown
Jamestown have
manufacturing
facilities to produce
some of the largest
steelwork around, to
the highest quality
levels
/Long-span_beams#Composite_beams_with_web_openings
/Fabrication#Cutting_.26_drilling
/CE_marking
/Welding