R M G president visits us

RMG pres ident Charles Christ tours the b id. 32 faci l i ty whe re 1 0 3 5 mach ines are be ing b u i l t f o r t h e Xerox Business Systems Group. Escort ing h im is Kevin Horrob in , manager, low vo lume product assembly. R i g h t : EMSD director Dick Ho lmes and Mr Christ chat w i th Mike Bird, manager, 'P' products quali ty assurance; Mike was able to say that, of 1 82 BSG machines, 98.1 per cent, had p rob lem-free insta l la t ion reports (the on ly p rob lems were concern ing serial plates!).

On M o n d a y , 1 3 February , t h e p r e s i d e n t of t he Reprograph ic M a n u f a c t u r i n g G r o u p (RMG) — Char les Chr is t — v i s i t ed M i t c h e l d e a n . M a n y o f y o u m a y have seen h i m o n his p lan t t o u r o n t h a t day .

His p r o g r a m m e inc luded p resen ta t i ons by ou r d i rec to r , Chr is W o o d , a n d t h e sen io r m a n a g e m e n t t e a m , a m o n g t h e m be ing o n e o n t h e M E W S p r o j e c t .

M r Chr ist h i g h l i g h t e d o u r q u a l i t y i m ­p r o v e m e n t p r o g r a m m e a n d o u r n e w QIP a p p r o a c h . He sa id t h a t o t h e r p l an t s in t h e C o r p o r a t i o n w e r e a d o p t i n g s im i la r a p p r o a c h e s t o qua l i t y i m p r o v e m e n t , b u t M i t c h e l d e a n had a c h i e v e d t h e m o s t s i g ­n i f i can t resul ts of all t h e p l an t s in t h e C o r p o r a t i o n .

He w a s a lso i m p r e s s e d by o u r p r o ­d u c t i o n s c h e d u l e p e r f o r m a n c e , pa r t i c ­u lar ly as t h i s w a s a c h i e v e d at a t i m e w h e n s i gn i f i can t c h a n g e s a n d d e v e l o p m e n t s w e r e t a k i n g p l a c e in o u r p r o d u c t s a n d t h e w a y t h e y w e r e m a d e . H e r e m a r k e d t h a t th is w a s even m o r e c o m m e n d a b l e hav ing b e e n a c h i e v e d aga ins t a b a c k g r o u n d o f r e d u n d a n c i e s .

W h e n t o u r i n g t h e o l d b r e w e r y b u i l d ­i ngs , M r Chr is t c o m m e n t e d o n t h e idea o f i n t e g r a t i n g t h e w o r k s h o p c o m p l e x w i t h t h e v i l l age : he fe l t t h a t t h i s w a s a n exce l l en t w a y of d e m o n s t r a t i n g t h e c o m p a n y ' s i n t e n t i o n t o i n vo l ve t h e c o m ­m u n i t y in th i s p r o j e c t .

4M

A b o v e : Mr Chr ist and Mr Ho lmes take a look at re furb ish ing opera t ions w i t h man­ager Kei th Grant. Far left, S tephen Tierney, RMG v ice-pres iden t , p lann ing & con t ro l , talks w i t h Graham Bunt, parts manufactur ing & re fu rb ish ing opera t ions manager. L e f t : Larry Sterret t , manager , b id . 3 6 opera t ions , shows Mr Christ round the fuser /p ressure roll centre.

New Q I P drive

Our aim—to be a total quality company A f e w weeks ago a 'mai ler ' in the shape of linked hands d ropped th rough the let terbox of every M i t che ldean e m p l o y e e . It bo re a message abou t our n e w qual i ty i m p r o v e ­ment a p p r o a c h .

The fact tha t each w a s persona l ised and sent to people 's h o m e addresses under­l ined the i m p o r t a n c e the c o m p a n y p laced on ge t t ing their ind iv idual c o n t r i b u t i o n , and c o m m i t m e n t , t o 'To ta l Business Qual i ty ' .

Unti l recent ly, w e have c o n c e n t r a t e d on p roduc t qua l i ty and the results have been encourag ing (see our cent re pages) .

So why the new approach?

W e put th is ques t i on to J o h n Hucke t t , w h o s e recent a p p o i n t m e n t as manager , business and p r o d u c t qua l i ty assurance, ref lects the w i d e r scope of the qual i ty dr ive.

He rep l ied; " W h i l e w e have ach ieved a great deal , there can be no le t -up . Cus tomers ' expec ta t ions con t inua l l y rise; c o m p e t i t o r s are cons tan t l y i m p r o v i n g the qual i ty of their p roduc ts and serv ices. So w e have to a im for n e w levels of per­f o r m a n c e in every th ing w e do .

"Th is means a im ing at de fec t - f ree w o r k in all areas of our business. W e w a n t t o be k n o w n as a to ta l gua l i ty c o m p a n y . "

Won't this affect productivity and increase wor/(ing costsP

" N o — every o rgan isa t ion has f o u n d that , at the end of the day, qua l i ty cos ts no th ing . It pays for itself.

"I t takes more t i m e a n d m o n e y to c o p e w i t h the consequences of e r r o r t h a n it does to get th ings r ight in the f irst p lace.

" A part put in the w r o n g p lace, a misca lcu la t ion , a delay in p rocess ing paperwork , a defect in the mach ine , has its ef fect on our business; and w h i l e the mis take may be put r ight eventual ly , it costs a great deal m o r e later and may result in lost cus tomers and bus iness . "

With a number of people switching Jobs on site surely this must affect the quality of work?

" W e have had cons ide rab le m o v e m e n t of m a n p o w e r in t he last f e w years and still been ab le t o ach ieve remarkab le resul ts. This is t o the cred i t of even /one in t he o rgan i sa t i on .

" B u t I do th ink w e have t o pay m o r e a t t en t i on to t he p lanned m o v e m e n t of staff a n d h o w w e are g o i n g to t ra in t h e m for n e w responsib i l i t ies. W e need t o ensure there are clear ins t ruc t ions and g o o d m a n a g e m e n t so as to ma in ta in qual i ty of pe r f o rmance .

" In fact , w e have t o reassess every aspec t of our ope ra t i on and e q u i p p e o p l e to del iver w o r k of the h ighest qua l i t y . "

How will this be done?

"First , by m a k i n g peop le a w a r e of the w a y s in w h i c h they can m a k e a persona l c o n t r i b u t i o n .

"The n e w QIP pos ters g o i n g up a r o u n d the site feature spec i f ic dai ly tasks and s h o w h o w a t ten t i on t o detai l a n d care in carn / ing t h e m ou t can af fect o ther peop le 's w o r k a n d so i m p r o v e qua l i t y all d o w n the line.

"Then there are t he ca lendars w i t h a 'Qua l i t y t h o u g h t for t he m o n t h ' , t h e QIP st ickers, and the boa rds at Ba r ton Hil l w h i c h rem ind us every day of the need fo r to ta l qua l i ty , and s h o w v is i tors w e are a ded i ca ted qua l i ty m a n u f a c t u r i n g p lant .

" A w a r e n e s s a lone is no t e n o u g h , h o w ­ever; qua l i ty has to be bui l t in to our ob jec t i ves in bus iness areas jus t as it is in p r o d u c t i o n areas.

"Every area, a n d every pe rson in tha t area, is responsible for del iver ing some th ing — a par t , a p rocess , a t o o l , a repor t , an invo ice . Those 'de l iverab les ' w i l l be measu red and i m p r o v e d .

"The means of m e a s u r e m e n t w i l l van / a c c o r d i n g t o the de l iverab le ; m a n y are a l ready in p lace. W h a t w e w a n t is peop le 's

as. » . J o h n Hucket t , manager, business & produc t qual i ty assurance, looks over the range of pub l ic i ty mater ia l w h i c h is he lp ing to pro­mote the to ta l business qual i ty approach. W i t h h im is A lan L iebermann, recent ly appo in ted manager, business areas qual i ty assurance and QIP.

i nvo l vemen t in i m p r o v e m e n t and w e are p r o d u c i n g a v ideo w h i c h wi l l help t h e m focus on h o w they can assure their o w n qual i ty .

" In add i t i on to the indiv idual ef for t , t e a m s in de l iverable areas can w o r k t o ­ge ther t o ident i fy qua l i ty p r o b l e m s a n d sugges t so lu t ions in m u c h the s a m e w a y as qual i ty is r ev iewed in p r o d u c t i o n areas. Good ideas wi l l surface th rough the m o n t h l y rev iew. "

What did RMG president Charles Christ have to say about our new approach during his recent visit?

"The QIP Steer ing C o m m i t t e e gave M r Christ a p resen ta t ion o n our qua l i ty plans fo r the next t w o years, and he fu l ly suppor t s our ideas.

"He said he regarded our 'Total Business Qual i ty ' a p p r o a c h as a v i t a l c o n t r i b u t i n g f a c t o r t o t h e s u c c e s s o f I V I i t c h e l d e a n s i t e a n d X e r o x a s a w h o l e .

OA secretary visits us On 1 9 January, Mr Roy Know les , CBE, secretary genera l of the Ins t i tu te of Qual i ty Assurance, was inv i ted to M i t che ldean to share our exper ience of qua l i t y i m p r o v e m e n t over the past years. The QIP s teer ing c o m m i t t e e gave h im a presenta t ion cover ing all aspects of the p rog ramme and he later tou red b id. 3 2 whe re he was able to see for h imse l f some of our qual i ty measures in act ion. Engineer ing dept. provided a demonstrat ion of our 1 0 Series desk - top cop iers , the 8 3 0 0 , and the 9 5 0 0 w i t h copy qual i ty upgrade. Here M r Know les is p ic tured (second left) be ing s h o w n h o w a 1 0 3 0 w i t h in te rchangeab le casset tes can supp ly cop ies in b lue, green or red as we l l as black (this mode l is current ly l im i ted to the Nether lands) . W i t h h im are ( f rom left) Dick Delahay, manager 'P' p roducts PDT, J o h n Roberts, head of eng ineer ing , Mrs Audrey Brown (IQA), J o h n Hucket t , manager, bus iness & produc t qual i ty assurance, and des ign eng ineer Ken Dobbs.

2

M E W S news

Clearing the groiond for new

"It is very exc i t ing and I cou ldn ' t be m o r e p leased" , E M S D d i rec to r D ick H o l m e s t o l d V I S I O N .

He w a s v is i t ing the o ld b r e w e r y area t o strike a ce remon ia l b l o w for a p ro jec t tha t , he sa id, "w i l l be an e x a m p l e to o thers w h e r e excess or idle faci l i t ies ex is t" .

It w a s M o n d a y , 6 Februan/ — the day w h e n d e m o l i t i o n w o r k began o n the o ld plat ing and pol ishing shop bu i ld ing, clearing a w a y for n e w beg inn ings .

"The M E W S wi l l p rov ide a sp lend id o p p o r t u n i t y for the peop le in th is area t o deve lop their business s c h e m e s in an a t t rac t ive e n v i r o n m e n t " , said M r H o l m e s .

"Apa r t f r o m he lp ing to retain skills in t he local i ty , I th ink it wi l l g ive bus inessmen — bo th the y o u n g and the y o u n g - i n - h e a r t — a chance t o ge t s tar ted under l o w invest­ment cond i t i ons . Lack of cap i ta l is a ma jo r d r a w b a c k t o those w a n t i n g t o start up a business and here the a m o u n t of cap i ta l they wi l l need wi l l be m i n i m i s e d .

" O n e of the g o o d th ings is tha t there wi l l be a centre of c o m p e t e n c y for t ra in ing a n d emerg ing business sys tems.

"The h o p e w o u l d be tha t the w o r k s h o p tenants w o u l d suppo r t each o ther . They cou ld we l l b e c o m e our vendo rs or sub ­con t rac to rs (there is o n e such e x a m p l e already in Russtek) and poss ib ly ou r cus tomers t o o . "

S a m r e m i n i s c e s

The demo l i t i on w o r k a roused a g o o d deal of interest in the v i l lage c o m m u n i t y . One of the first peop le to s top by w a s RX pens ioner Sam Taylor ("I'm 8 1 this Apr i l " ) w h o had just been out s h o p p i n g .

EMSD d i rec tor Dick Ho lmes str ikes a ce remon ia l b l o w for ent repreneurs on the si te of the new workshops .

"I can r e m e m b e r t he horses c o m i n g t h r o u g h this ga te w h e n it w a s a b r e w e r y in the early 1 9 0 0 s " , he sa id. " A n d the re " , he po in ted t o the l o w br ick bu i ld ing ad jo in i ng the ma l t i ngs bu i l d ing , " t ha t w a s the o f f i ce w h e r e the m e n go t their t icket t o get t he g ra in . "

Later Brit ish A c o u s t i c Fi lms, as our c o m p a n y w a s k n o w n then , t o o k over the site. S a m jo ined in 1 9 5 1 and he t o l d us h o w he used to w o r k in t he ma l t i ngs bu i ld ing o n the pack ing of p ro jec to rs .

Shor t l y after S a m had g o n e off h o m e d o w n Brook Street , a b ig hydrau l ic breaker m o v e d in t o jab holes at s t ra teg ic po in ts in t he f o rme r p la t ing and po l i sh ing bu i l d ing .

" W e bui l t it in 1 9 5 2 over an o ld rubb ish t ip and the f o u n d a t i o n s w e n t d o w n 2 9 f t , " sa id Basil Mar fe l l of W . F. Giles £f Sons , t he ma in con t rac to rs .

As the sides fell a w a y f r o m the bu i l d i ng , leaving the steel f r a m e w o r k s tand ing in a pile of rubb le , he a d d e d , " I t cer ta in ly t o o k longer t o pu t up than to take d o w n ! "

By the t i m e w e w e n t t o press, b o t h th is and b id . 1 on the o ther s ide of the gate had c o m p l e t e l y d i sappeared .

T w o o ther br ick bu i ld ings , 3 a and 4

" I can remember the horses c o m i n g th rough here" , says Sam Taylor.

(wh i ch used t o house the v i b ro -p l a t i ng and carpen t ry shops) , w i l l a lso be c leared a w a y by m i d - M a r c h , thus c o m p l e t i n g the m o r e d rama t i c part of the d e v e l o p m e n t w o r k .

Annie gets a gold As ISC co-ord ina to r , spec ia l markets , A n n i e Lodge has the task of co -o rd ina t i ng s h i p m e n t s to our opera t ing compan ies in count r ies such as Egypt. Her he lp fu lness ' beyond her job respons ib i l i t ies ' p r o m p t e d the m a n a g e m e n t of Xerox Egypt to s h o w the i r g ra t i tude dur ing the i r recent v is i t t o the supply cent re by the p resenta t ion of a s t r i k ing go ld 'car touche ' bear ing h ie rog lyph ics f rom a t o m b in the Val ley of the Kings. M a n a g i n g d i rec tor Juga l Kapoor t o l d her: "You r efforts have p layed a key role t owards Xerox Egypt exceed ing its plan ob jec t i ves dur ing 1 9 8 3 . " Ann ie , de l i gh ted w i t h the car touche, rep l ied: " I t has been a pleasure to he lp y o u . " Our p ic ture s h o w s Mr Kapoor mak ing the p resenta t ion , w a t c h e d by ( f rom left) Bill W a l l , XE cus tomer serv ice d i rector , A lan Phelps, manager, log is t ics s t rategy and ISC l ia ison, and W a h i d Sharkawy, XE's manager , marke t ing .

3

Indian connection

Learning about the 9500 — and snow!

Director Chris W o o d presents Ravi and Ramesh w i t h f ramed cer t i f icates mark ing their comp le t i on of the 9 5 0 0 course. The cert i f icates, inc identa l ly , were a to ta l Xerox product — the w o r d i n g was created on an 8 0 1 0 wo rk s ta t ion wh i l e the green sur round was produced on a 1 0 3 0 w i t h co lour cassette.

England ob l i g i ng l y pu t o n a d isp lay of s n o w — s o m e t h i n g t hey had never seen before — w h e n t w o Indian engineers , Ramesh Sha rma and M . V. Ravi (he is k n o w n on ly as Ravi), pa id their first visit t o this coun t ry last January .

Ramesh is in QC and Ravi an aud i t engineer w i t h Indian Xe rog raph i c Sys tems Ltd in B o m b a y a n d , after a visit t o Lille t o s tudy the sorter, they spent several w e e k s w i t h us fami l iar is ing themse lves w i t h all aspects of 9 5 0 0 bu i ld .

" A n u m b e r of these h i g h - v o l u m e m a c h ­ines have been sh ipped in kit f o r m to IXS w h e r e they wi l l be reassembled for o n w a r d sh ipment , w i t h the a id of d r a w i n g s and d o c u m e n t a t i o n p repared by us, and a

Ramesh and Ravi p ic tured in the p roduc t t ra in ing centre w i t h Kei th Parrett (far left); Dennis Wad ley , Col in W i l l i ams , M i ke Sm i th and J o h n Overbury ( w h o are due to go out to IXS Bombay th is spr ing); and (far r ight) manager Geoff Howe l l , co -o rd ina to r of the pro ject at M i t che ldean .

smal l task f o rce of eng ineers is g o i n g over t o B o m b a y th is spr ing to s u p p o r t th is manu fac tu r i ng p ro jec t , " said m a n a g e r Geoff H o w e l l , w h o is respons ib le fo r co ­o rd ina t i ng the M i t c h e l d e a n act iv i ty .

W h i l e w i t h us, ou r v is i tors w e r e taken o n a t o u r of the Forest of Dean , w h e r e t hey s a w our 'sacred sheep ' ; t hey a lso v is i ted S t r a t f o r d - o n - A v o n and s t o p p e d over in L o n d o n on their w a y h o m e at the beg inn ing of February.

Bo th speak Engl ish very w e l l , so they expe r i enced no language p r o b l e m s ; in fac t , w i t h over 1 4 off ic ial and 2 , 0 0 0 s p o k e n languages in India, they reckon they have m o r e di f f icul t ies at h o m e !

The day w e had a chat w i t h t h e m in b id .

4 0 w a s 2 6 J a n u a r / . "Tha t is Republ ic Day in Ind ia , " exp la ined Ramesh , " a n d it is one of our nat iona l ho l idays. The o ther one is 1 5 A u g u s t , w h i c h is I ndependence Day. "

Being H i n d u , they are vegetar ians and they f o u n d themse lves miss ing the sp ic i -ness of their diet back home . They reckoned Indian tea in Eng land d id not c o m p a r e w i t h Indian tea in India, but t hey l iked our o ther beverages.

Ravi par t icu lar ly m a d e the po in t tha t " W e w e r e t o l d Engl ish peop le are very r e m o t e a n d susp ic ious . But tha t is to ta l l y w r o n g ; w e have f o u n d eve ryone very f r iend ly and ven/ hosp i tab le . "

It w a s on ly the w e a t h e r they f o u n d c o l d !

Xerox multinational pioneer

During his recent v is i t to S ingapore , James Sierk, Xerox RMG v ice pres ident of mater ia ls managemen t d iv is ion , p resented a pewter recogn i t i on p late to J o h n Wi l ks , honour ing h im as a 'Xerox mul t ina t iona l p ioneer ' and mark ing his comp le t i on of t w o years as the f i rst manager of p rocurement in the Republ ic of S ingapore. J o h n headed up our c o m m o d i t y opera t ions at M i t che ldean before he took up his ass ignment . He has n o w returned to th is country and taken early re t i rement .

Command performance A n y o n e w h o takes up an a p p o i n t m e n t in an exo t i c p lace can expec t t o have an o u t s t a n d i n g exper ience or t w o t o relate to f r iends back h o m e .

But w h e n J e r e m y H e n w o o d and Peter B r o o m e r w e n t ou t t o B o m b a y as v ice -pres ident and mater ia ls con t ro l l e r respec­t ively w i t h Indian Xe rog raph i c Sys tems L td , t hey l i tt le t h o u g h t they w o u l d have an o p p o r t u n i t y t o mee t H M the Q u e e n there .

So they w e r e surpr ised a n d de l i gh ted to receive an inv i ta t ion f r o m the Bri t ish H igh C o m m i s s i o n t o a t tend a recep t i on in N e w Delh i last N o v e m b e r w i t h the i r w i ves .

Exact ly on t i m e the Rolls Royce pu l led up bes ide the ga rden p o o l , w h i l e they, a long w i t h a b o u t t w o h u n d r e d o the r ex­pat r ia tes , w e r e in smal l g r o u p s at t he far s ide of t he p o o l .

A f te r t he Na t iona l A n t h e m , t he Q u e e n , s ta r t ing at one e n d , and the Duke, s ta r t ing at t he o ther , had the guests ind iv idua l ly

p resen ted t o t h e m by each reg ion 's D e p u t y H igh C o m m i s s i o n e r .

A t last Peter's t u rn c a m e to shake the w h i t e g l o v e d h a n d , a n d in conversa t ion it t ransp i red t ha t there w a s a Xerox cop ie r aboa rd the royal ae rop lane .

Later, w h e n t h e Queen 's Equerry c a m e to cha t t o t he g r o u p , Peter m e n t i o n e d this fac t , and he w a s t o l d : 'A copy i ng m a c h i n e is essent ia l ; w e have had one on f l ights s ince 1 9 7 6 . As the 'p lanes get b igger , so d o the c o p y i n g mach ines . W e have nearly four t ons of l u g g a g e o n boa rd the Tr i -star .

'The m a c h i n e is used for l as t -m inu te changes in m e n u s , seat ing plans and ins t ruc t ions . W e c o u l d no t d o w i t h o u t it. '

The w h o l e event w a s a m e m o r a b l e one a n d , a l t h o u g h our peop le d id no t mee t the Duke, Peter's conve rsa t i on w i t h our ' n u m b e r o n e cus tomer ' and her Equerry qu i te m a d e the even ing .

New output device

J o h n Bi l ton demonst ra tes h o w the s tacker table can be lowered to a l low easy removal of output. Others invo lved in the pro ject are ( f rom left) Eric Smi th , A rno ld Basson, J o h n Mayal l , J o h n Dennis and J o h n Stower . T o p r i g h t : The former sor ter panel on the conso le is replaced by feature bu t tons for the stacker. B e l o w r i g h t : This c lose-up s h o w s how each sheet is caught as it emerges f rom the mach ine and is neat ly laid on the stack.

Mitcheldean meets market need with the stacker This tinne last year, V I S I O N repor ted o n RXEG Mi tche ldean 's success in d e v e l o p i n g the 9 5 0 0 c o p y qual i ty upg rade , w h i c h enables the sys tem to p r o d u c e o u t s t a n d ­ingly g o o d cop ies of ha l f - t one / so l i d areas and pas te -ups .

The d e v e l o p m e n t has done , a n d is d o i n g , a great sel l ing j o b fo r the s y s t e m and is he lp ing to keep mach ines in s i tu .

"Th is year", says J o h n Dennis , PDT manager , C B A / D B A p r o g r a m m e s : " W e are concen t ra t i ng on i m p r o v e m e n t in t he area of p a p e r / d o c u m e n t h a n d l i n g . "

As a result of his t eam 's ef for ts , t he 9 5 0 0 , and the earlier 9 4 0 0 , a l t h o u g h no longer be ing made at M i t c h e l d e a n , are once aga in in the news .

They are n o w be ing m a d e avai lab le in a l o w e r - c o s t a l ternat ive vers ion w h i c h mee ts the needs of a par t icu lar sec t ion of the marke t — and the n e w rear stacker, des igned and deve loped at M i t c h e l d e a n , is beh ind it a l l !

T h e m a r k e t s i t u a t i o n

S o m e large concerns , like G o v e r n m e n t d e p a r t m e n t s , bank ing and insurance c o m ­panies, use of fset p r in t ing mach ines t o c o p e w i t h p r in ted fo rms , c i rcu lars, pr ice lists, and o ther l ong - run line w o r k f r o m o n e or ig ina l . But there are d rawbacks .

The leng thy se t -up t i m e invo lv ing the mak ing o f p la tes a n d the s l o w t u r n a r o u n d ob l ige t h e m to p rocess the j obs in runs of 5 , 0 0 0 or m o r e ; th is leads t o was te w h e n there are changes m a d e in t he or ig ina l , or it b e c o m e s obso lescen t . There are delays w h e n i m m e d i a t e de l iven/ is requ i red , and d e m a n d s o n va luab le s to rage space.

The full Xerox sys tem, on the o ther hand , w i t h its a u t o m a t i c input and so r t i ng , is cons ide red by s o m e as t o o expens ive for

the pu rpose w i t h underused capabi l i t ies . W h a t they need is an o f f se t - t ype p ro ­

fess ional o u t p u t dev ice t o rep lace the sorter, mak ing the 9 4 0 0 / 9 5 0 0 comparab le w i t h of fset but w i t h o u t the latter 's dis­advan tages .

The stacker — n o w be ing bui l t at M i t c h e l d e a n — fills the bi l l .

H o w t h e s t a c k e r h e l p s

There is an o u t p u t t ray on the basic m a c h i n e , of cou rse , bu t it ho lds a m a x i ­m u m of 3 5 0 sheets ; so if the run is in the t h o u s a n d s , an ope ra to r is kept pre t ty busy r e m o v i n g the bu i l d -up and t idy ing it in to a neat pi le.

The stacker , o n the o ther hand , can take up t o 2 , 5 0 0 sheets , as does the ma in feed t ray, and p r o d u c e t h e m in i m m a c u l a t e s tacks (bet ter t han t h o s e in the feed t ray, in fact) at t h e rate of t w o per s e c o n d — all w i t h o u t any need fo r a t t en t i on .

" W e ' v e never had it j a m yet " , said J o h n Bi l ton w h e n he d e m o n s t r a t e d the n e w dev ice . A n d J o h n Dennis t o l d us tha t , in o n e G o v e r n m e n t d e p a r t m e n t , the f i t t i ng of the s tacker has m a d e it poss ib le f o r a s ing le ope ra to r t o look after t w o 9 5 0 0 s .

The reason is tha t it is s imp le as we l l as clever.

Paper e m e r g e s f r o m the input m o d u l e a n d , as it enters t he s tacker , each sheet is neat ly caugh t , ' s t h p p e d off ' and laid o n the tab le , b e t w e e n t w o ad jus tab le s ides.

As the s tacker t ray fi l ls, the tab le a u t o ­mat ica l ly l owe rs itself t o t he co r rec t pos i t i on . If y o u u n l o a d a pi le of sheets dur ing the run, t he tab le ob l i g i ng l y tax is back up t o the r ight rece iv ing pos i t i on .

The s tacker con t ro l s o n the conso le are m i r ro red bes ide the s tacker itself, so t he ope ra to r doesn ' t have t o w h i p r o u n d t o

tu rn it o n or off, l owe r it for conven ien t un load ing at the e n d of a run , or b r ing it back up to the p r in t i ng pos i t i on to start p r in t ing aga in .

D i v i d i n g t h e w o r k

A s tack of 2 , 5 0 0 sheets c o u l d be a bit daun t i ng if y o u w a n t t o use it in lots of, say, 5 0 , o r y o u need a gu ide t o s t ock level.

No p r o b l e m — y o u p r o g r a m m e the mach ine to feed a c o l o u r e d slip sheet f r o m the auxi l ian/ t ray every 5 0 sheets as dividers. In fac t , y o u can c h o o s e any interval y o u like, f r o m 1 t o 9 9 9 .

A n y t h i n g tha t t he basic m a c h i n e wi l l take, the s tacker w i l l hand le , f r o m 8 0 g r a m paper t o ca rds tock .

The 9 4 0 0 / 9 5 0 0 s y s t e m w i t h s tacker wi l l w o r k in t a n d e m w i t h of fset p r in t ing e q u i p m e n t , ove r -p r i n t i ng c o l o u r e d adver­t is ing bil ls, f o r ins tance, or l e t te r -head ings bear ing a c o m p a n y l o g o . So the c u s t o m e r gets t he best of b o t h w o r l d s .

W i t h its s imp le j o b p r o g r a m m i n g and a u t o m a t i c s tack ing of large c o p y runs, t he s tacker leaves the m a c h i n e ope ra to r free to pe r fo rm o the r tasks in the pr in t r o o m .

E a s y t o a d d o n

The n e w a d d - o n fac i l i ty can easily be c o n n e c t e d to t he inpu t m o d u l e of the basic mach ine in t h e f ie ld in p lace of the sorter. N o ma jo r a l te ra t ion is necessary.

Said J o h n Dennis : " W e expec t th is n e w feature to push up the average c o p y ou tpu t of mach ines by s o m e 1 8 per cen t . "

Being l aunched this sp r ing , the s tacker wi l l go qu ie t ly t o w o r k , increas ing the p roduc t i v i t y of our h i g h - v o l u m e mach ines , add ing t o revenue, a n d d o i n g it very profess ional ly .

5

Top performers

C H A R I T Y C H A L L E N G E R A I S E S T h e t e a m w o r k t h a t w e n t i n t o o u r s e c o n d 'Char i ty Cha l l enge ' , he ld in t h e a u t u m n of 1 9 8 3 , p r o d u c e d exce l l en t bene f i t s f o r b o t h t h e c o m m u n i t y a n d t h e c o m p a n y .

In jus t t h r e e m o n t h s w e a c h i e v e d a 1 4 per c e n t overa l l i m p r o v e m e n t in t h e qua l i t y o f M i t c h e l d e a n - b u i l t m a c h i n e s , wh i l e t h e c o m p a n y ' s s p o n s o r s h i p resu l ted in t h e m a g n i f i c e n t s u m of £ 6 , 7 0 0 b e i n g ra ised fo r c h a r i t a b l e c a u s e s — m o r e t h a n d o u b l e t h e f i gu re f o r t h e f i rs t c h a l l e n g e .

The 1 9 8 3 c h a l l e n g e w a s o p e n t o all d e p a r t m e n t s , n o t j us t p r o d u c t i o n areas , t hus re f l ec t i ng the m o v e t o w a r d s ' t o t a l bus iness qua l i t y ' w h i c h is t h e e s s e n c e of t he 1 9 8 4 qua l i t y i m p r o v e m e n t p r o ­g r a m m e .

T h e c o m p e t i t i v e a s p e c t a d d e d a b i t o f e x c i t e m e n t a n d a s p u r t o g rea te r e f fo r t , t h e h o n o u r s g o i n g t o t h e m a t e r i a l s f u n c ­t i on t e a m s w h i c h secured the f irst th ree p laces in the f inal league l is t ing.

T h e d o n a t i o n s t h e y e a r n e d a m o u n t i n g t o £ 3 , 8 0 0 w e r e a m e a s u r e o f t h e i m ­p r o v e m e n t t h e y a c h i e v e d .

T o p m o s t t e a m w a s ma te r i a l s c o n t r o l ( c o m p h s i n g c o n f i g u r a t i o n c o n t r o l , a n d s h o p c o n t r o l in b i d . 4 0 a n d re fu rb i sh i ng ) , w i t h c o m m o d i t y ope ra t i ons in s e c o n d p lace a n d s u p p l y w a r e h o u s e t h i r d .

T h e £ 3 , 8 0 0 , o v e r hal f t h e t o t a l c h a l ­l enge resu l t , w a s d i v i d e d b e t w e e n t h e N S P C C , CLIC (Cance r a n d L e u k a e m i a in C h i l d h o o d Trus t ) a n d t h e G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e Coba l t A p p e a l Fund . Thei r representa t ives rece i ved t h e c h e q u e s at a p r e s e n t a t i o n o n 8 D e c e m b e r w h e n t h e y w e r e a b l e t o m e e t s o m e of t h e w o r k f o r c e w h o h a d been i n v o l v e d , a n d say a p e r s o n a l ' t h a n k y o u ' f o r h a v i n g b e e n c h o s e n t o b e n e f i t f r o m t h e s c h e m e .

A b o v e : " I t is a record w e can be proud of", connmented David Stokes, head of the mater ia ls func t ion , w h o hosted the t r ip le presenta t ion on 8 December. He is p ic tured ta lk ing w i t h (far left) manager Roger Smi th , w h o co-ord inated the efforts of the top -sco r ing mater ia ls con t ro l team, and (right) Des Hal l iday, p roduc t ion & conf igura t ion con t ro l manager, and David Davies, conf igura t ion con t ro l manager.

R i g h t : Commod i t y opera t ions manager Bob Dick presents a cheque for £ 1 , 2 2 5 , raised by

his depar tment , to Dr Fred Hanna, cha i rman of the

Gloucestershi re Cobal t Appea l Fund.

Mater ia ls con t ro l shared the i r d o n a t i o n of £ 1 , 4 0 0 be tween the NSPCC a members after rece iv ing the i r cheques for £ 7 0 0 each f rom Roger SmitI cha i rman of the local branch of the NSPCC, and (r ight) Dr Mar ion Parkii

L e f t : Dr Hanna receives a second cheque — for £1 ,1 75 — f rom Stephen Wozencro f t , a m e m b e r of the supply wa rehouse team. "Over the years Rank Xerox peop le have g iven us t r emendous suppor t , he lp ing us to become one of the f inest cancer t rea tment uni ts in the count ry , " said Dr Hanna. "These latest dona t ions are a t remendous boost to our current appeal for a very large l inear accelerator, w h i c h represents a remarkable s tep fo rward in the t rea tment of breast cancer . "

6

[IGJOO - A N D P R O D U C T Q U A L I T Y A s e c o n d , equa l l y h a p p y o c c a s i o n

tool< p lace on 1 4 Februan / w h e n a to ta l o f £ 1 , 6 5 0 ra ised by r e f u r b i s h i n g a n d par ts m a n u f a c t u r i n g d e p a r t m e n t s w a s p resen ted t o the Coba l t A p p e a l F u n d , a n d Helen House , a c o n v e n t h o s p i c e in O x f o r d w h i c h cares f o r g rave l y ill c h i l d r e n a n d g ives s u p p o r t t o the i r f am i l i e s .

A f u r t he r s u m o f £ 7 2 5 — t h e p o o l e d a c h i e v e m e n t s o f t h e t w o t e a m s in b i d . 3 2 — w a s d i v i d e d e q u a l l y b e t w e e n t h e N S P C C a n d t h e C o b a l t A p p e a l F u n d . (The la t ter , o b v i o u s leaders in t h e cha r i t y , l e a g u e , t h u s r e c e i v e d o v e r £ 3 , 6 1 2 in d o n a t i o n s a l t o g e t h e r . )

I n c l u d e d in b i d . 3 2 ' s £ 7 2 5 w e r e several b o n u s a w a r d s o f £ 5 0 , t h e a m o u n t a w a r d e d t o w h i c h e v e r t e a m t o p p e d t h e w e e k l y l e a g u e d u n n g t h e c h a l l e n g e .

O t h e r w e e k l y w i n n e r s w e r e 2 3 7 0 a s s e m b l y a n d ma te r i a l s c o n t r o l , w h o s e a w a r d s r esu l t ed in sma l le r d o n a t i o n s be ing m a d e t o t he f o l l o w i n g local chari t ies: t h e e lde r l y p e r s o n s ' h o m e s at T o w n s e n d H o u s e , M i t c h e l d e a n , a n d T h e C o o m b s , C o l e f o r d : S c o o - B - D o o ( for t h e spec ia l ca re un i t at G l o u c e s t e r M a t e r n i t y H o s ­p i ta l ) : t h e S u e Ryder H o m e at Leck -h a m p t o n ; t h e Ci t izen 's A d v i c e B u r e a u , C o l e f o r d ; W e s t D e a n Cance r Resea rch C a m p a i g n ; a n d t h e t h r e e Fores t h o s p i t a l s — L y d n e y , L y d b r o o k a n d t h e D i l ke .

A b o v e : A t h i r d cheque for the Cobal t Appea l Fund came t h r o u g h the efforts of the re fu rb ish ing team. A l lan Roseberry (far r ight) came a long on 14 February to receive the £ 8 5 0 f rom Graham Bunt, manager , parts manufac tu r ing &• re fu rb ish ing opera t ions .

L e f t : Graham Bunt also handed over a cheque for £ 8 0 0 , raised by the parts manu fac tu r ing team, to Mrs Joy Mu les w h o accep ted it on behal f of Helen House, a hosp ice for ch i ld ren in Oxford .

A small copier contribution he 2 3 7 0 assembly team was the only one, o ther than the mater ia ls con t ro l t eam, to get to the t o p of the w e e k l y league f ive t imes and thus w i n !250 in bonus awards. The 2 3 7 0 , the last M i t che ldean -bu i l t mode l of w h i c h came off t he l ine just before Chr is tmas, w a s the last of the Xerox 1300 fami ly, w h i c h inc luded the 2 3 5 0 , the 2 3 7 0 and the 2 3 7 0 M k II , and paved the way for the 10 Ser ies desk - top cop iers . Some o f t h e peop le ictured here had been invo lved w i t h the 'great l i t t le fami ly ' s ince p roduc t i on of the 2 3 0 0 , our f i rst 'P ' p roduct , began at Lydney in 1 9 7 9 .

\ J .

7

Undercover work Dis t ingu ished by its y e l l o w pa in two rk , the new canopy a longs ide b id . 4 1 enables un load ing of i n c o m i n g mater ia ls t o take place under cover ou ts ide , so that bet ter use can be m a d e of cub i c space inside the bu i ld ing .

W i t h the recent t ransfer of spares pre­packag ing f r o m b id . 4 1 c, b r ing ing it c loser to the n e w un load ing area, i n c o m i n g g o o d s can n o w be d is t r ibu ted t o th is sect ion and to the ma in p r o d u c t i o n stores in a more log ica l f l o w f r o m a s ing le g o o d s po in t .

It also enables the doo rs fu r ther a long the wes t wa l l t o be used ma in l y as an exit po in t , so avo id ing a c o n t r a - f l o w of materials.

The canopy covers t w o un load ing areas: one fac ing b id . 4 0 , w h i c h is for all vehic les other than c^ontainerised ones , a n d the one p ic tured here, w h i c h is o p e n o n the side fac ing Bar ton Hi l l , a n d is des igned for conta iners.

This s ide -on a p p r o a c h w a s necessan/ in order to avo id c o n g e s t i o n w i t h o ther large vehicles serv ing b id . 4 0 across the road .

The con ta iner veh ic les reverse d o w n a ramp into t w i n d o c k s : these have levellers buil t in so tha t fork l i f ts can dr ive s t ra ight on and off w h e n un load ing , thus speed ing up the w o r k cons iderab ly .

Both no r th a n d s o u t h sec t ions of the new faci l i ty i nco rpo ra te m o d e r n d raugh t prevent ion doo rs t o ma in ta in c o m f o r t a b l e wo rk i ng t empe ra tu re inside the ma in bu i l d ­ing and m in im ise energy c o n s u m p t i o n .

A N Y N E W S FOR V I S I O N ?

If you have, then please — mail it to me c/o Corporate Affairs, Bid 44 /4 , or leave it at any Gate House for co l lec t ion by me, or post it to me at Tree Tops, P lump Hil l , M i tche ldean , or r ing me — ext 5 6 6 or Dean 5 4 2 4 1 5. Myrtle Fowler, Editor

New dock facility brings material improvement

Forkl i f t dr iver Derek Vi l l is un loads a 4 0 f t conta iner docked under the canopy. Check ing the schedu les are goods rece iv ing superv isor Gordon Davies and (far r ight) A lan Br idges, sen ior impor t admin is t ra tor .

IJI Piscatorial puzzle People l unch ing in the ma in can teen got caught up in some f ishy bus iness last January. Sutc l i f fe 's w e r e ho ld ing a f ish p romo t i on and as part of the bait there were compe t i t i ons to get peop le t h i n k i n g a long f i sh ing l ines, so to speak. They were inv i ted to guess the w e i g h t of the large (frozen) l ing p ic tu red here. Cater ing manager Bill Broome eventual ly let compet i tors off the hook by announc ing the correct answer to be 171b. 12oz . ( John Barratt, whose guess was on ly 2oz . out, ne t ted the £ 5 prize). W h e n it came to ident i fy ing di f ferent species f r o m p ic tures, it was w o m e n w h o secured t o p p la ice (sorry!): Joyce Strange w o n the f iver w h i l e runner -up Doreen Davies was con 'so le 'd w i t h a box of chocs .

8

A r o is mvestmen

Automated machining to boost productivity T w o n e w mach ines , linl<ed t o f o r m a mach in ing cell measur ing s o m e 5 0 f t l ong and 2 0 f t w i d e , have been insta l led in b i d . 3 6 for the p r o d u c t i o n of 1 0 4 5 fuser and pressure rolls.

K n o w n as the D u a p - D u b i e d , t he cell carries out the w o r k of e igh t separa te mach ines and is capab le of p r o d u c i n g o n e ful ly mach ined rol l f r o m the raw t u b e even / 4 5 seconds .

The Duap has t w i n uni ts w h i c h c a m / ou t tu rn ing , dr i l l ing, t a p p i n g and bo r i ng oper ­a t ions at each end of the tubes a n d the cr i t ical d imens ions are then a u t o m a t i c a l l y checked by a bu i l t - in gauge : the D u b i e d c o p y lathe mach ines the sur face of t he rol l and features a u t o m a t i c c o m p e n s a t i o n fo r t oo l wear .

F low of mater ia ls is ma in ta ined by three buffer s to rage un i ts , one at each end a n d one in the m idd le , w h i c h ho ld the par ts in racks and present t h e m t o , or receive t h e m f r o m , the mach in i ng areas by means of loading and transfer devices: it's all t r iggered off by a sys tem of sw i t ches and sensors .

The Duap , m a d e by one Sw iss f i r m , and the D u b i e d and buf fer s to rage uni ts , m a d e by another , c a m e t o g e t h e r for t he f irst t i m e w h e n they arr ived at M i t c h e l d e a n .

In past m o n t h s , p ro jec t m a n a g e r J o h n Haggar , Dennis Cook ( c o m m o d i t y oper ­at ions) , and Keith W i l l i a m s (MED) have been over t o Sw i t ze r l and t o br ing mat te rs to a successfu l conc lus i on and a n u m b e r o f w o r k s eng ineer ing m a i n t e n a n c e staff have a t t e n d e d t ra in ing courses at the D u a p and D u b i e d p lants .

Sw iss service eng ineers have also c o m e over here to install the n e w faci l i ty and he lp i ron out any p r o b l e m s du r ing the c o m ­miss ion ing s tage .

The D u a p - D u b i e d , w h e n ful ly oper ­a t iona l , w i l l a d d great ly t o t he p roduc t i v i t y of the fuser /p ressure roll cent re . Our p h o t o g r a p h s , taken du r i ng the c o m m i s ­s ion ing s tage , p rov ide a p ic to r ia l t o u r of the n e w m a c h i n i n g cell a n d fea tu re s o m e of t he M i t c h e l d e a n peop le invo lved in t he pro jec t .

1 . Se t te r /opera to r Dave Batts loads the f i rst buffer s torage uni t w i t h raw tubes; the racks, revo lv ing in a con t inuous loop, take a to ta l of 8 0 tubes. These are conveyed au tomat ica l l y to the Duap mach ine by a t ransfer dev ice, w h i c h feeds t hem one by one to a gr ipper loader.

2. A roll is carr ied by the loader into the cent re o f t h e Duap w h o s e 3. Ma in tenance eng ineers Pete W a u g h and Ke i th Jones w o r k i n g tw in units w i l l t h e n c l o s e in to carry out e n d - w o r k i n g . A t t h e console w i t h a Dubied service engineer . Beh ind t h e m , another v i ew o f t h e are Dave Batts and p roduc t ion eng ineer Kei th W i l l i ams . Duap, enc losed by its safety fence.

4 . M ike Young (QC) adjusts the bu i l t - in Marposs gauge w h i c h checks the cr i t ical d imens ions of the e n d - w o r k e d rol ls. If they are not correct, the mach ine s tops w o r k i n g . If correct , they are transferred to the m idd le storage unit. Th is acts as a buffer be tween the Duap and Dub ied w h i c h operate at d i f ferent speeds.

5. Th rough the open safety gate you can see the gr ipper l o a d e r ( w l t h lead at tached) w h i c h feeds rol ls arr iv ing f r o m the midd le s torage uni t to the Dubied copy lathe for surface m a c h i n i n g . Set ter A lan Hughes is seen check i ng the prof i le t emp la te on the mach ine head. A f i n a l t ransfer device conveys the f i n i shed rol ls to the end s torage uni t f r om w h i c h they are un loaded at intervals and v isual ly checked .

Clubs

Dave Powel l (far left) and Peter Street w i t h Nigel Cross (far r ight) get a c lea r ' v i sua l d isplay' of interest on the part of the Newen t cubs.

C u b s get computerised The A m a t e u r C o m p u t e r Club w a s ful ly prepared w h e n s o m e 4 0 cubs f r o m Newent descended on t h e m on the evening of 2 3 Januan / , t o g e t h e r w i t h as many parents ( inf i l t rated by in terested staff f r o m the N e w e n t Schoo ls ! ) .

A c o m p u t e r even ing had been a r ranged in the c lub house by Keith Jones (MEE) at the request of Peter Street (SQA) : Peter organises s o m e of the specia l interest act iv i t ies for t he t w o cub packs in N e w e n t and for 1 9 8 4 is running a ' commun ica t i ons ' theme w i t h future events p lanned w i t h the GPO and British Te lecom.

Keith began by explaining h o w the compute r had evolved f r o m its humb le beginnings as 'Napier 's Bones' in 1 6 4 2 w i t h the technical advances m a d e f rom the use of

Back on cue It was back in 1 9 7 7 w h e n the Rank Xerox Snooker Sh ie ld w a s last c o m p e t e d for. Then it lay f o r g o t t e n on a shelf unt i l last year w h e n a d isp lay case w a s pu t up in the foyer of the c lub house , and its re­appearance, a long w i t h o ther t roph ies , p r o m p t e d the revival of the c o m p e t i t i o n .

There w a s a g o o d response, w i t h 1 6 players en ter ing , m o s t of t h e m c o m i n g f rom the four Rank Xerox t e a m s that p lay in the Forest League.

The final t o o k p lace in N o v e m b e r be­t w e e n G o r d o n Davies ( g o o d s receiv ing) and Fred Royle, G o r d o n w i n n i n g the t i t le 3 - 1 wh i l e Fred had the h ighest break of 3 8 .

Club s tewa rd Gerald Linnel l , w h o has been ven/ helpfu l over the years repair ing equ ipmen t and i ron ing the tab les , w a s asked to present the sh ie ld , and t w o tankards w e r e p rov ided by the Spor ts & Social Club for the w i n n e r and runner -up .

George Carpenter , w h o o rgan ised the event, w o u l d like to thank the c lub for their help and suppor t in mak ing the compe t i t i on a big success, and says " W e hope to make it an annual event f r o m n o w o n . "

Incidental ly, c lub cha i rman Reg Tay lor points out that there is also a bi l l iard shield available so — anyone for bil l iards?

valves to m o d e r n day 'chips' . The boys we re then let loose a m o n g the

hardware. Demonst ra t ions were given by Compu te r Club m e m b e r s T o n y Churcher and V e r n o n Dancey (bo th of MEE) , Dave Powe l l ( con t ro l f unc t ion ) and Roger Buffrey ( formerly of parts m f g and n o w running his o w n c o m p u t e r so f tware company ) .

The nine m ic ros on s h o w inc luded Spec t rums , a C o m m o d o r e 6 4 and a Xerox 8 2 0 , and the hardware inc luded speech synthesizers, j oys t i cks and a l ight pen .

There w e r e over 1 5 0 dif ferent games to try out , ranging f rom 'strategy' games such as 'Quincy ' and 'Scrabble ' t o famil iar 'arcade' games like 'Horace goes ski ing' .

In add i t i on , the 8 2 0 demons t ra ted a database con ta in ing in fo rmat ion abou t all

the cubs — the cubs themselves had comp le ted data input f o rms so no fears about 1 9 8 4 !

N o w N e w e n t mus t be o n e of the f irst cub packs w i t h c o m p u t e r i s e d records !

Interest on t h e part o f b o t h c u b s a n d parents ran very h i gh , w i t h b o y s exp lo r i ng the dep ths of so f twa re w h i l e t he parents used the even ing to take a d v a n t a g e of techn ica l adv i ce f r o m the exper ts . The on ly comp la i n t w a s f r o m o n e parent w h o th inks he's in fo r an expens ive s h o p p i n g t r ip !

The C o m p u t e r Club en joyed be ing hosts for the even ing , c o m p l i m e n t i n g the cubs on their interest and behav iour ; a n d Keith and Peter w e r e we l l p leased w i t h w h a t had p roved a success fu l even ing fo r all c o n ­cerned .

Snooker players ' f r amed ' at the f inals. B e l o w : Club s teward Gera ld L innel l p resents the sh ie ld to c h a m p i o n Gordon Davies.

O b i t u a r y We report wi th regret the deaths of pension­ers as fol lows: Cecil James on 1 3 December aged 6 7 ; Eric Morgan on 22 December aged 70 ; Ernest Merry on 1 January aged 73 : Wil l iam Probert on 2 0 January aged 64 ; Jack Hill on 2 6 January aged 64 : James Wi ld on 31 Januar/ aged 7 1 ; Edgar Davies on 2 Februar/ aged 67 . Our sympathy goes to their families.

B i r t hs Gemma Victoria, a daughter for Robert Weyman (internal transport) and his wife Liz (formerly stores maintenance), on 23 November. Christina Ann, a daughter for Ian Hammill (manager, QA engineering) and his wife Judith, on 1 5 February.

10

Clubs

A mixture of o ld and n e w k inds of enter­ta inment — games, f i lms . Punch & Judy, d isco w i t h v ideo p ic tures — was the successful formula for the ch i ld ren 's part ies in January. A n d the fami l ia r f igure of Father Chr istmas (or Santa Lew) was to be seen at all three events, hand ing out presents and lend ing an air of securi ty!

F l a s h b a c k — This p ic ture of a company ch i ld ren 's party in the ' f i f t ies was k ind ly lent

to us by ret i red long-server A rno ld Gaylard. That 's Bill Beech keep ing the s i tua t ion under cont ro l . W e can also recogn ise a very young

Sandy (a member of the S&SC c o m m i t t e e l ike his father before h im); maybe you can

pick out o ther fami l ia r faces?

dive's hat-trick For the th i rd year runn ing , Clive Pat tenden (materials) has w o n the Po r tman Cup singles chess c o m p e t i t i o n .

He de fea ted Ray W a t k i n s (IS) in the one semi- f ina l and then A n d y Gardiner (ma in ­tenance) in the f inal , A n d y having beaten Jerry Daunter ( t ransport) in the other s e m i ­f inal .

In the p lay-o f f for th i rd and fou r th p lace, Terry de fea ted Ray Wa tk ins .

In present ing the awards on 2 7 Januan/ , Brian Buck land , personne l opera t ions manager , cong ra tu l a t ed the players and paid t r ibu te to organ iser Terry for his ef for ts in keep ing the c o m p e t i t i o n g o i n g .

It w a s the ten th anniversary of the singles event ; the W i c k s t e a d Shie ld t e a m c o m p e t i t i o n s ta r ted w a y back in the 1 9 6 0 s , but fo r t he last t w o years there have been insuf f ic ient entr ies to just i fy ho ld ing it.

Howeve r , t he i n t r oduc t i on of a jun ior chess c o m p e t i t i o n last year a t t rac ted ten

entr ies and gave the c lub a ' sho t in t he arm' . As Brian sa id , it e n c o u r a g e d the interest of youngs te rs no t on ly in th is g a m e of skill bu t also in t he c o m p a n y .

The jun io r c o m p e t i t i o n is be ing held aga in th is year in the ski t t le alley o f t h e c l ub house o n W e d n e s d a y , 2 5 Apr i l , at 6 . 3 0 p . m . and it is h o p e d that a larger ent ry w i l l

be f o r t h c o m i n g . A n y o n e w i t h ch i ld ren in terested shou ld

c o m p l e t e one of t he f o r m s ob ta inab le f r o m the c l ub house or f r o m Terry (ext. 4 1 2 ) .

The senior c o m p e t i t i o n s wi l l also be held in 1 9 8 4 , p r o v i d e d suf f ic ient response is f o r t h c o m i n g , and ano ther n e w ' m o v e ' is be ing c o n t e m p l a t e d — m o r e detai ls later.

Personnel opera t ions manager Brian Buck land presents the Por tman Cup to Clive Pat tenden, s ing les champ three t imes in success ion . Far left is A n d y Gardiner, the runner-up. Pictured w i t h t h e m are ( f rom left) Eric Real, M a l c o l m W o o t t o n , and Terry Daunter w h o organ ised the tou rnament .

1 1

Warning on waste

Don't let it fuel a fire! Spr ing c lean ing used to be an annua l cho re that w o m e n b raced themse lves to d o and m e n escaped f r o m w h e n e v e c p o s s i b i e .

N o w a d a y s , w i t h eas ier - to-c lean h o m e s , and m o d e r n aids to h o u s e w o r k , it is poss ib le to keep a p lace spick and span the year round w i t h o u t a ma jo r upheava l .

The secret is t o keep c lu t ter a n d rubb ish to a m i n i m u m . That 's no t on ly g o o d housekeep ing — it's g o o d sense f r o m the safety po in t of v iew.

The same appl ies in bus iness. Easily t he mos t i m p o r t a n t g o o d h o u s e k e e p i n g measures are the p recau t i ons taken t o reduce fire risks posed by was te in industr ial , c o m m e r c i a l , ins t i tu t iona l and o ther premises.

All these premises p r o d u c e large q u a n ­t i t ies of w a s t e vary ing f r o m readi ly saleable was te p r o d u c e d by s o m e m a n u f a c t u r i n g processes t o unsa leab le rubb ish .

M i t che ldean is no excep t i on . The c o m p a n y takes all kinds of measures

to prevent f ires on site (and tha t inc ludes check ing tha t con t rac to r s are c o n f o r m i n g to safety s tandards) , and the fac t tha t there is rarely an ou tb reak is due to our f ire prevent ion ef for ts .

But a g lance t h r o u g h the Fire Pro tec t ion Assoc ia t ion 's casebook makes it all t o o clear that t he risk of f i re, w i t h its des t ruc t i ve and s o m e t i m e s t rag ic c o n s e q u e n c e s , is a lways w i t h us.

LPG h e a t e r s W e have a number of LPG heaters on site. These are issued w i t h a permi t f r o m the fire depar tment and are per fect ly safe prov ided they are connec ted , p laced and used properly.

This means they shou ld not be moved around and mus t be kept clear of com­bust ib le mater ia ls or was te .

If they are not, and the was te shou ld be ign i ted — by a smou lde r i ng c igaret te , for instance — the heat cou ld cause the gas cy l inder to release gas and poss ib ly explode, and a minor f i re cou ld escalate into a major conf lagra t ion .

Eyes on Safety Tota l n u m b e r of

accidents for period: D e c • 8 2 / J a n ' 8 3 D e c ' 8 3 / J a n ' 8 4

Repor ts of ma jo r f ires in FPA fire records s h o w that waste plays a part in one in every four fires.

W a s t e can be a ma jo r f i re hazard t o the p remises fo r a n u m b e r o f reasons: • It m a y be the cause of a f i re if it p rov ides the t inder w h i c h is f irst ign i ted by a c igare t te , a spark or a ho t sur face. S o m e was te is liable to spontaneous c o m b u s t i o n . • It may spread fires rap id ly and can he lp a smal l f ire t o g r o w into a large, d a n g e r o u s a n d cos t l y one . • It m a y endange r peop le or assist f i re by caus ing o b s t r u c t i o n . A c c u m u l a t e d w a s t e may b lock exit routes fo r t he o c c u p a n t s and access to the fire by f i re- f ighters or it may conceal the locat ion of fire equ ipmen t . • The burn ing of it can start f ires. Del iber­ate bu rn ing in o rder t o d i spose o f rubb ish causes m a n y ser ious f ires — in fac t , it is p roh ib i t ed on M i t che ldean si te.

The amoun t and character of sol id was te f r o m c o m m e r c i a l a n d industr ia l p remises have increased w i t h t he adven t of m o d e r n d isposable aids, non-returnable packag ing , larger uni t conce rns and n e w indust r ia l p rocesses.

But surely, you may say, the co l l ec t i on , s to rage a n d d isposa l of our w a s t e , a n d the c lean ing of t he site, are t he respons ib i l i t y of t he c o m p a n y ?

Yes, but tha t doesn ' t mean that we as ind iv idua ls aren' t i nvo lved .

We can he lp keep the site and ourselves safe f r o m fire by p lac ing w a s t e in the app rop r i a t e receptac les (e.g. oi ly rags in the specia l con ta ine rs p rov ided) .

We can adhere st r ic t ly t o ' N o s m o k i n g ' rules whe reve r these app ly .

We can be carefu l t o s tub c igare t tes r ight o u t and no t t h r o w t h e m w h e r e they c o u l d ign i te mater ia ls .

We can be v ig i lant and repor t hazards w h e n w e see t h e m to a safety representat ive or superv isor .

The list given be low wi l l serve as an eye-opene r t o — or useful rem inde r of — s o m e of t he p r o b l e m s assoc ia ted w i t h was te .

We are indebted to ttie Fire Protection Association for ttie information given which was taken from an article by IVIargaret Coates in their journal 'Fire Prevention', issue no. 163.

Some o f the problems w i th waste Packaging, (cardboard, paper, string, plastic film and foamed plastic)

Dusts, powders and fluff

Non-combustible dusts and powders

Shavings, offcuts and clippings (eg. from wood, plastics, etc.)

Oily rags, used bags and sacks

Floor sweepings

Oil and grease from machines and processes *

Flammable liquids (eg. used cleaning solvents and sump oil)

Hazardous chemicals

Easily igni ted by cigarettes and other small igni t ion sources: usually occur in large quant i t ies: cardboard can smoulder unnot iced for hours.

Easily igni ted by even the smallest igni t ion sources such as sparks: explosible when in c loud f o rm : mobi le — spreads over f loors, ledges and other surfaces: fo rms trails th rough w h i c h fire can f lash: especially dangerous where there are hot surfaces: deposits cause overheat ing of mo to rs and other machines: can smoulder unnot iced for hours.

Even these can cause overheat ing of machines by obst ruct ing vent i lat ion or p roduc ing fr ict ional heat.

Easily igni ted by small igni t ion sources: usually occur in large quanti t ies: single processes may produce large volumes: some shavings, etc. , may smoulder readily.

Easily ignited and readily combus t ib le : may be sus­cept ib le to spontaneous combus t i on .

Easily igni ted and readily combust ib le : may include smoulder ing cigarettes.

Contaminat ion of f loors and other parts of the structure by lubr icat ing and hydraul ic oils, and also by grease and wax, makes the structure burn fiercely once involved in a fire.

May be very easily igni ted and usually burn fiercely when igni ted: w e have special disposal arrangements.

Where the chemica l is explosive, f lammable , reactive, tox ic , po isonous or radioact ive, w e have special disposal arrangements w i th specialist f i rms.

12 Printed in England by Severnprint Ltd, Gloucester