I'd like to write more on this subject, but without approval from my employers, am restricted in both words and images, as to what I can put down.
That doesn't mean that I have been refused permission, just that I haven't asked, or received written approval.
Howard works at Caligen Foam Ltd. Aside from a "sabbatical" I've been there since 1993, and love the place. If you can't be bothered visiting the website, then I'll tell you, we make one of the worlds least exciting products; polyurethan foam. Most (but not all) of what we make ends up in cars, being bonded to the fabrics used in interior trim.
Car companies are amongst the most exacting and demading of customers, so it's a tribute to everyone at Caligen that we've been a market leader for as long as we've been in the business.
My main duties are concerned with the running of the No.2 foam plant, which is where liquid chemicals are mixed and converted into various forms of Ether and Ester square block foam.
The No.1 plant produces both square block foam, (various types which the No.2 plant can't make) and can also produce foam in round section, which enables much shorter production runs. (If you're really fascinated by all this then really, you should a) see the company website, b) get a life! )
In addition, I also decided to utilise my engineering knowledge, along with programming know how I've acquired in recent years, to revive an abandoned project, which takes out some of the "Dickensian" practices which were in place. I'm also pleased to say that this automation was not responsible for anyone being made redundant.
Caligen is a very good place to work, despite the changes that have been made in recent years. For example, the company, which is part of the Vita group, was bought out by a private equity group. Their style has tightened up many loose ends, and to an extent, cut down on the waste that can be so prevalent in large and medium sized companies.
The downside of the buyout seems to be that major investment is harder to come by. As with politics, there's not much point in making an investement that's going to benefit the next guy to come along, so anything with a payback period of longer that 18 months, is looked at under a microscope. It's possible to argue back and forth regarding this, with the notion that if you make a capital investment, then that should be added to the selling price. Aside from my house, I've never discovered anything where my spending money on it has improved the selling price. Since all these McKenzie types are much better at making money that I have ever been, and better at hanging on to it, I'll just have to go along with this.
