What does your role involve?
Running the production making sure everything is up to the correct standard and is on target for going out and sorting out all the labour – where the labour is going to be placed. I enjoy organising it really. I also set up a production line from start to finish – we used to do it a very different way.
How long have you been with the company for?
I’ve been with the company since they were Albatross so we were just doing the HVAC so we moved over here. We did the HVAC a totally different way to how we do it now. So I got tasked with the job of setting up a production line, which has changed over the years. It was nine stages at the beginning and now it’s changed to two lines because it’s more productive and three stages on each line. Runs a lot smoother. We’ve cut down time, we’ve cut down staff needed to do the job so we make a saving on labour on the production line every single week.
What did you do before working for Schaltbau Transportation UK?
I’ve worked on HVAC units not far from when Albatross started off. So I was with Albatross for quite a long time, but then I left for a year to pursue another job direction as a regional manager for a hot runner injection moulding company. Previous to Albatross I was a service engineer for injecting moulding machines for a company called Demag Hamilton so it’s always been an engineering background.
Describe a typical day for Schaltbau Transportation UK?
From day to day making sure that all the people are in the right places, quality is kept up, all running smoothly and that we’re hitting deliveries going out on time. I make sure that if there are any hiccups on the line we’ve got it covered, or if people are off or sick I move people about to get the jobs done. It’s not only the HVAC side, but also like Vivarail the door side of it which is inhouse. Anything which is inhouse, spares and repairs I’ve just got to manage.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy the planning and I like the obstacles as mad as it sounds. It’s nice to be busy. I also help out a lot with the IT as a lot of our IT team is in Germany. It’s interesting. Every day it is something different with this company doing everything to do with trains. There’s always new projects which are coming up on the horizon so everything is interesting for the future. Totally different things to tackle. We’ve got the RnD (Research and Development) side which includes working on building a HVAC unit ourselves so that’s something that really interests me, particularly from a manufacturing point – something I’d like to go into.
Has there been opportunities to progress whilst working at Schaltbau Transportation UK?
I’ve learnt a lot during my time including becoming F-Gas qualified. I’ve learnt a lot especially off Bob Knox. Bob was my boss at Albatross – he’s got so much knowledge it is unreal and I’ve learnt so much off him. Not just on the HVAC side, but on the electrical side in which I’ve worked with high voltage converters, panels. It’s been amazing.
What is the team like?
The team has been really good. We’ve spent years and years trying to trim it down and make it the perfect team. It’s almost there, it’s the perfect team.
Laurence Eggleston, team leader/production supervisor
“I run the production making sure everything is up to the correct standard and is on target for going out. From day to day I make sure that all the people are in the right places, quality is kept up, all running smoothly and that we’re hitting deliveries going out on time. I make sure that if there are any hiccups on the line we’ve got it covered. I’ve learnt a lot here and the team is really good.”
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