Month: November 2020

A Milestone

In October 2020 Ceramicx was awarded the ISO 9001:2015 accreditation for their Quality Management System by NSAi. We are delighted to have achieved this accreditation in what was a very challenging year for business. It gives assurance to our customers throughout the world that the Ceramicx name is synonymous with the highest standards in Quality – a must in today’s competitive world.

The Team

Ian Backhouse joined us as our Head of Quality in June 2019 with the aim of implementing ISO 9001:2015 and to administer ongoing continual improvement in line with it. Ian’s background in quality management is twofold. Originally from the UK, Ian worked extensively in the field of environmental consultancy from 2003 to 2010, specializing in the fields of asbestos and legionella. following which, he relocated to Sweden to work as a quality manager for Elpress AB, who are a global manufacturer and supplier of electrical connectors and cable crimping solutions for a varied group of industries such as the wind power and renewable energy, traction and automotive sectors. Following his time with Elpress, Ian felt he was ready for a new challenge and made the move to Ireland, to work with Ceramicx.

Stanislav Piscako joined Ceramicx Ltd. 2013. He has worked in Ceramicx on the production floor for five years, mainly as Kiln operator but also in many other production areas. With his enthusiasm to work and willingness to improve and explore, he was promoted to Quality Control position to ensure that our product and processes are controlled and matching our customer expectations. In 2019 he received Quality Assurance Certificate from Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and is continuing to study for a EIQA Diploma in Quality Management qualification.

His duties in Ceramicx include control of production line processes and records, Rejects Overview as well as employee training, problem-solving, calibration and analysis to aid continuous improvement for Ceramicx Ltd.

ISO Undertaking

Stanislav’s experience working in Ceramicx for the last seven years meant that he played a crucial role in helping Ian understand the company.

With a target of one year to attain the ISO certification Ian, supported by Stanislav, analysed what needed to be done and set about gathering up and organising everything to make the Ceramicx quality management system fulfil the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. (See our previous blog on how we achieved the ISO here).

Going Forward

Now that the dust has cleared, maintaining the standard is the task at hand. While Ian is overseeing the implementation of continual improvement and maintaining the quality management system, Stanislav is keeping the production floor in order. Gaining the ISO 9001:2015 accreditation is a wonderful achievement for our quality team and company as a whole. Next year we will really see the payoff with the quality management system firmly in place.

As the world’s leading quality management standard, the ISO 9000 system is used by thousands of businesses and organisations in over 170 countries, whatever their size or sector. By gaining full ISO 9001:2015 certification for our Quality Management System (QMS), Ceramicx can focus on increasing our performance and productivity while taking the next step as infrared industry leaders.

What is ISO?

In a nutshell, the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO), officially formed in 1947, brought together 67 technical committees from around theworld to “develop voluntary, consensus-based, market-relevant international standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges”. Over the last 70 years, ISO has grown to include a membership of national standards bodies from 165 countries. These experts help develop international standards across multiple sectors and industries so every business and organisation can use a level playing field of high-quality standards to the benefit of themselves and their customers.

Since the ISO 9000 series of quality management standards were first introduced in 1987, they’ve seen various updates and iterations. With the latest ISO 9001:2015 version used by over 1m businesses and organisations in 170 countries, the standards now integrate more easily with other management systems standards around the world.

The importance of ISO 9001:2015 for Ceramicx

Ceramicx is no stranger to ISO quality management certification, having previously held the ISO 9001:2000 standard. By gaining the ISO 9001:2015 standard, it’s a further extension of our commitment to aligning quality with our business strategy, as well as our status as industry leaders.

ISO 9001:2015 covers each and every area of our internal processes, from purchasing, design, R&D, and production to marketing, packaging, and goods-in – and everything in between. As an essential business certification, it shows our QMS reaches and maintains high standards at every stage, with full involvement and accountability across the entire business.

It also demonstrates our ability to provide products that meet customer demands, together with any relevant statutory and regulatory requirements. Having this certification can also prove, in many cases, to be an absolutely critical stipulation when working with certain industries such as the aerospace and automotive sectors.

How we achieved it

With a quality control team in place, Ian Backhouse joined us as our Head of Quality in June 2019 with the aim of implementing ISO 9001:2015 and to administer ongoing continual improvement in line with it. This would ensure the Ceramicx QMS was ISO 9001:2015 compliant and could be registered with the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAi).

Looking to implement the standard within his first 12 months, Ian rose to the challenge with a 3-step process. Beginning with studying the full structure of the company, he followed up by analysing all the supporting documentation that underpinned it. With many revisions from the ISO 2000 standard, the final step was to ensure all documentation and working practices were aligned with the 2015 revision.

Following that process, the NSAi completed our ISO Stage 1 audit in November 2019. Though impressed with their findings, we were given a list of further improvement actions for Ian to carry out and implement.

Full ISO approval

With all outstanding improvements actioned and implemented, our Stage 2 audit in September 2020 (initially planned for June 2020, but COVID restrictions meant it was pushed back) saw Ceramicx pass with flying colours and our ISO 9001:2015 certification was approved on the day. We’ll now be reviewed annually to ensure we continue hitting the mark.

With full credit to Ian and the cooperation and efforts of the entire workforce, Ceramicx now has the QMS and accreditation we need to take us forward and continue leading the infrared industry.

For more information on our ISO 9001:2015 certification and what it means for your business, call our team today on +353 28 37510 or email on [email protected]. We’ll be more than happy to discuss it with you and help you find a heating solution that works for you and your business.

Lockdown luxury

During this pandemic, the UK, Europe, and the US have all seen a huge increase in demand for above ground swimming pools and hot tubs. Taking advantage of the hot summer days and now the winter evenings of 2020, these back yard tubs have been something of a lockdown luxury for many families as they spend extended time together.

Though the surge in popularity has been most prolific in the US, it’s left manufacturers and retailers around the world struggling to keep up with demand, with order books filled for the rest of 2020 and a backorder well into 2021. If expected further COVID outbreaks appear and lockdown restrictions come in, it will mean more people being housebound once again, with more time to enjoy their new purchase.

Ceramicx to help meet demand

Processing time on hot tub material manufacture had already become a bottleneck for production, and this recent increase in demand is leaving manufacturers struggling to meet expected lead times.

As we post this, Ceramicx is about to undertake a project for a US-based manufacturer. Looking to us for help, they need the heatwork section of their machine to heat the material in a more productive and time-efficient way. So instead of choosing the costly route of buying a whole new machine, they decided to make even more savings by focusing on heating their material correctly – and in turn cutting their process and labour costs.

As a pre-pandemic example of what we’ve done previously, back in 2017, a similar manufacturer in Canada contacted our distributor in the United States to help them build the heating section of their machine. While in the process of building a machine to mould the main hot tub unit, they wanted us to do the heat work for a relevant section of their vacuum forming machine. You can read more detail on that project in our vacuum forming case study.

Since then, and especially over the last few months, further enquiries have come to us from this company – as well as many others – to help meet the demand in vacuum forming oven heatwork.

The Ceramicx solution

Capable of forming thermoplastics of different thicknesses, Ceramicx infrared vacuum forming ovens provide the energy needed to heat materials to a flexible and malleable state. Our Ceramicx heating engineers can custom-design, configure, and build a vacuum forming oven specified to your exact requirements, helping you increase productivity and performance.

Using Ceramicx industry-standard infrared heating elements, a custom-built vacuum forming oven gives you the speed, efficiency, and infrared heat you need with precision control to heat a range of materials – including specialist hot tub plastics.

Vacuum forming oven key features

While fully customised to suit your specifications, upper and lower heating panels of any vacuum forming oven are built around a durable stainless steel framework. Whether it’s standalone or incorporated into existing machinery, a bespoke-designed vacuum forming system will always give you low ongoing maintenance and running costs.

Trust Ceramicx vacuum forming ovens

At Ceramicx, we have the in-house capabilities to build custom industrial infrared vacuum forming ovens and heating solutions to almost any design and specification. Whatever your requirements, we’ll give you the clarity you need to decide on the infrared heating solution that meets your needs.

For more information email our technical team today on [email protected] or contact any of our global distributors.