Spotlight on a career in customer support

Day in the life of…

Josh Pembery

Joshua Pembery is a Customer Support Engineer at OAL Connected. He lives in March, Cambridgeshire.

My alarm goes off…

At 6.30 – this gives me enough time to get up, get myself ready and leave the house for 7.30 ready to start another day at the office.

I’m responsible for…

Supporting our customers with any issues that they may have with their equipment. This involves both remotely connecting with the customer, whether it’s the engineering team, the technical department or operators themselves, to help them resolve any problems that have arisen on a line or visiting the site itself if they need a little more support and guidance. I’m also responsible for quoting and supplying spare parts and replacements to our customers. As this is a growing part of our business, I’ve recently taken on the responsibility of launching our e-commerce platform to offer customers a new way to purchase spare parts and training from OAL Connected. Customers expect to be able to deal with us online and we want to make it as easy as possible for them to get what they need to make the most of their systems - it’s been a great project to work on.

I got the job…

By taking a recommendation from a colleague of mine who had joined OAL. We had completed an apprenticeship at Nestlé together and it was there I gained my Level 3 in Proficiency in the Food Industry, which gave me knowledge and experience working in food. He had already made the move to OAL and was really positive about the culture and the values of the business, which did tempt me. At first, I wasn’t sure about the role, as the idea of a traditional customer service position didn’t really fit into my career plans. However, once I talked to OAL and explored the role further, I realised it there was so much more to the job and it would allow me to develop new skills and gain new experience so I’m really glad I pursued this career.

My typical day…

I get to work anywhere between 8:00am and 8:30am, depending on traffic. I make my morning cup of tea, check my emails for anything that’s come in overnight, and make my plan for the day ahead. Typically I could be doing anything from web development, to working with the support team, fixing things such as accessibility, as well as always being on standby for any queries that come in by email or phone from customers.

My most memorable moment…

Of my time at OAL so far is being asked to drive forward our e-commerce sales capabilities. It was great to be given so much responsibility and I realised that the company has real trust in me and was vested in my development. It’s great to work in a company that values its team.

The worst part of my job is…

Long distance drives travelling alone to customer sites – music only stays interesting for so long!

The best part of my job is…

Meeting customers, especially after speaking to them a lot on the phone – it’s always nice to put a face to a name and feel that you’ve made a real connection. I also love getting to work on projects by myself – it’s a great feeling of accomplishment when I complete them, and it helps me see how far I’ve come since I started.

After work…

I usually go home, have dinner and a shower and then do whatever I have planned for the evening, whether it’s going out to see a friend or family, or having a quiet night in playing some games.

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Want to enjoy a similar day? We’re always on the look-out for great employees so get in touch today.

Double winners at MiCE awards 2019

We’re thrilled to announce that we were double winners at the Made in Central & East England (MiCE) Awards 2019! APRIL™ Eye took home the Digital Engineering/Technology Award and Kyle Constable, technical sales lead for Steam Infusion was recognised as the Apprentice of the Year. Insider's MiCE Awards are a celebration of all that's great about manufacturing, shining a light on the region's innovations so we’re delighted to have been acknowledged - adding to our success at the end of 2018. Following on from our regional win, we’ve now been entered into the national awards - keep your fingers crossed for us in June!

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All Eyes on APRIL™

APRIL™ Eye is the world’s first artificial intelligence vision solution and since its launch, it has been widely recognised as a game changer for the global food industry. The judging panel chose APRIL Eye as the winner of the Digital Engineering/Technology award for OAL’s desire to create jobs and export opportunities using this technology. It fully automates the date code verification process to reduce the risk of product recalls and withdrawals caused by human error on packaging lines. It’s great that MiCE also appreciates how APRIL Eye can make a significant improvement to processes, safety, quality and efficiency and deliver cost savings to food manufacturers on their packaging lines.

APRIL Eye transforms the traditional date code verification process by combining machine learning and artificial intelligence, fully automating the date code verification process. Rather than relying on operators to check the date code is printed correctly on every pack, APRIL Eye can remove the human error inherent in these boring, repetitive tasks by reading back the date code. The system can deal with variations such as lighting, positioning, print quality and placement to eliminate errors, protect consumers and the brand while at the same time reducing labour costs and waste.

High achiever

The MiCE Awards judging panel chose Kyle as their Apprentice of the Year for his "ongoing unwavering commitment to his personal development". We certainly agree with them!

Kyle Constable is a degree apprentice at OAL, helping UK and European food manufacturers adopt OAL’s Steam Infusion technology to ensure they maximise the benefits of the cooking process. With a strong background in the food industry having previously worked for Nestlé as a manufacturing apprentice, he is currently completing a degree in Food & Drink Manufacturing Operations Management at the University of Lincoln.

But Kyle doesn’t just take his own personal development seriously. As he represents a success story of taking an apprenticeship route to gaining a degree qualification within the food industry, he uses this experience to mentor students as part of the OAL CSR programme and takes every opportunity to encourage students to consider a career in engineering. It’s wonderful for Kyle to be recognised for such a prestigious award as it endorses his hard work combining studies with great results at the company.

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We’re really making a difference at OAL. Want to join us on this journey? Get in touch to find out more about our award-winning solutions or if you want to be part of a team that values training and development, have a look at our careers page today.

SafeContractor accredited for fourth year running

We can announce that we have been approved as a SafeContractor for the fourth year in a row. Receiving the SafeContractor accreditation recognises our excellence in health and safety, both in terms of our workforce and our ways of working so you can be sure that you’re working with a responsible company.

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Alcumus SafeContractor is a leading third-party health and safety assessment scheme. It helps to identify which companies meet the UK’s rigorous health and safety standards, offering an accredited contractor register to make it easier to find the right company to work with. Achieving the accreditation demonstrates that we’re taking responsibility for our legal health and safety requirements.

To gain the accreditation, we have proved that our health and safety paperwork is up to date and meets legal industry requirements. This includes a health and safety policy, risk assessments, COSHH assessments, construction phase plan, provision and use of work equipment and working at height.

Having the SafeContractor seal of approval means that you can be sure that we’re doing all we can to adhere to the very highest standard of health and safety and legal compliance and you don’t have to worry about our team carrying out work on your site.  

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Whatever your needs, you can be sure that we’ll do the best possible job for you. If you’ve got a project in the food industry, get in touch today and see how we can help you.

Harry Norman's predictions for 2019

Harry Norman, our founder, has his finger on the pulse. Constantly in contact with industry experts and customers, he makes it his job to find out what’s likely to affect our industry, and how we can help food manufacturers stay ahead of the curve. As the end of the year approaches, we spoke to Harry and asked him to share with us his take on the key trends to watch out for in 2019.

Harry, take us through your top trends for food manufacturers in 2019.

I think there are three main areas that will influence the decisions of food manufacturers in 2019. These are labour costs or labour shortages, allergen control and health & safety

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Let’s start with the issue of labour. Is this just something that is affecting the UK?

The number one thing that everyone is going to be talking about in 2019 is the cost of labour and labour shortages. At every show we attended in 2018, it was clear that this is something that is starting to weigh heavily on many manufacturers’ minds. That’s not just the case in the UK, where wages are rising and labour is in short supply due to the upcoming Brexit deal, but also across Europe and the rest of the world. In addition, initiatives like the living wage mean that our operators are getting paid better, but that can then eat into your margins.

Having the option to reduce your workforce, or at least better deploy operators into more value-adding roles, is going to become a priority for many food producers who may struggle to stay in business without the possibility of mitigating wage increases or labour shortages.

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And management of allergens, have we not got this under control already?

Unfortunately, we saw in 2018 what happens when allergen controls go wrong. With the inclusion of sesame flour without clear labelling, a child lost her life. Now, we all know that it was an unintended consequence of the retailer’s operations, but it shouldn’t even be a possibility. As consumers, we all like to think that manufacturers have it taken care of but many existing operations don’t easily lend themselves to full allergen control.

We need to get to a point where there is absolutely zero cross-contamination in our processes so that whatever allergy someone has, there is no risk of coming into contact with that food stuff. Obviously the number one priority is consumer safety, but food manufacturers also have to think of the financial consequences and brand damage that can occur when they get it wrong, and consider their options so that they can achieve full allergen control in their facilities.

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Why do you see health & safety as such a big issue in the food industry?

Health & safety is a concern for any industry, but the food industry is a particular hotspot for these sorts of issues. From musculoskeletal disorders caused by operators carrying sacks of ingredients, to cases of asthma and rhinitis from working with powders, food manufacturing facilities can cause a multitude of health problems for those on the factory floor. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK, and similar bodies globally, are aware of this and are looking to crack down to protect workers.

Let’s take the issue of powders. In the UK, the HSE requires bakeries to avoid exposing its employees to flour dust, or where not practical, to adequately control exposure. The Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) of flour dust is 10mg/m3 (averaged over 8 hours) for long-term exposure and 30mg/m3 (averaged over 15 minutes) for short-term exposure. Yet the HSE believes that 2mg/m3 flour dust in the air for staff working in the weighing and handling of powder ingredients is possible to achieve.* Many bakeries, and other food facilities, will wonder how that could be possible with their existing equipment, but it’s something that they’re going to have to solve in the next year or so. As we saw in early December, the HSE has issued a £150,000 fine to a bakery that didn’t do enough to protect its operators - it’s a good idea to review your operations before it happens to your plant.

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While seemingly insurmountable challenges, there are technological solutions to help you overcome them. So why don’t you make it your New Year’s resolution to dip your toe in the water and start to apply machine learning or robotics to a simple problem in your business? It’s easy to start your digital transformation journey and unlock the benefits of automation with a partner like OAL.

*http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/fl2.pdf

APRIL™ Eye wins Food Processing award

We’re delighted to reveal that our APRIL™ Eye innovation has received yet more industry recognition in the form of the award for Robotics & Automation at the 2018 Food Processing awards. APRIL™ Eye is the world’s first artificial intelligence vision solution, which fully automates the date code verification process to eliminate the risk of product recalls and withdrawals caused by human error on packaging lines. This is yet more good news for our customers and the OAL Connected team following on from the PPMA award win in September 2018.

The Food Processing Awards take place annually to recognise and reward engineering innovations in the food and beverage sector. Beating off stiff competition to be nominated as a finalist, it’s a great achievement for us to take home the prize in this thriving category and clearly demonstrates the industry’s confidence in the impact our APRIL™ Eye technology can make on the food manufacturing industry.

Combining artificial intelligence with machine vision, APRIL™ Eye revolutionises the traditional date code verification process. Food manufacturers no longer need to rely on operators to check if the date code is printed correctly as APRIL™ Eye fully automates the verification process and removes human error from these boring, repetitive tasks. The system reads back the date code seamlessly and can deal with variations such as lighting, positioning, print quality and placement to eliminate errors. The system offers significant improvement to processes, safety, quality and efficiency as well achieving cost savings for food manufacturers on their packaging lines.

Harry Norman, OAL Managing Director, comments, “It’s another great achievement for us to win the Food Processing award for our APRIL™ Eye date code verification system. APRIL™ Eye was developed as part of our Food Manufacturing Digitalisation Strategy, supported by the University of Lincoln and Innovate UK grant funding, and designed to investigate how artificial intelligence could revolutionise this key area of the food manufacturing process. It’s wonderful to receive this industry recognition and clearly demonstrates how successfully we have met our objective to bring a multitude of benefits to our customers through automation.”

So if you’re interested in our multi-award-winning innovation, please get in touch to find out how we can transform your end of line verification process.