OAL News
Harry Norman receives Lifetime Achievement Award
We’re delighted to announce that Harry Norman won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Food Processing Awards 2021 in Coventry for his contribution to the food industry as an inventor, entrepreneur and innovator. Here we share the story that led to this fantastic achievement.
We’re delighted to announce that Harry Norman won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Food Processing Awards 2021 in Coventry for his contribution to the food industry as an inventor, entrepreneur and innovator. Here we share the story that led to this fantastic achievement.
Harry’s background
Over the course of a career spanning over 30 years Harry has dedicated himself to innovation, determined to shake up the food industry and improve how our food is made. He was once quoted as saying, “If people say you can’t go through that door, then I get a chainsaw and make my own door.” It’s this relentlessness and drive for success that has characterised Harry’s career, guiding him towards continuous innovation to meet evolving customer needs.
While studying control engineering at Coventry University, Harry Norman fell in love with automation and robotics. Following just a few years in industry, the ever-entrepreneurial Harry was 28 when he decided to build OAL. A newly married father of two very young children, it was a bold decision to set up a business on his own, especially as the family’s main breadwinner. But it was a risk that soon paid off as the company was profitable from the very first year.
Innovating at OAL
Propelled by customer demand for automation, OAL soon became a one-stop shop for turn-key processing systems comprising design, automation and support. Developing strong relationships with some of the biggest names in the food industry, Harry has led the OAL team to complete hundreds of projects, delivering high quality results and outstanding support.
His vast experience in the food industry and free-thinking has helped him to spot trends and stay ahead of the curve, starting with the invention of Autocoding and the launch of the OAL Connected suite of software solutions, which has helped to transform packaging lines and increase food safety.
Spurred on by this success, and against the backdrop of an industry stretched by rising costs, Harry was convinced that food manufacturing needed to change. He knew OAL could lead the charge, taking the strategic decision to set up a dedicated innovation team. This pivot led to significant investment in new technologies to disrupt the industry, starting with the acquisition of the game-changing cooking technology, which was rebranded to become Steam Infusion, in 2013.
Not content with acquiring technology, his next conquest was in the field of robotics. His inventions under the APRIL Robotics brand, including a robotic chef and weighing system, have been described as the greatest processing innovation in the last twenty years by one of the largest FMCG companies in world.
Not just an inventor
But it’s not all work. His competitiveness in business is matched only by his competitiveness in his personal life. A keen cyclist and runner, he has completed a variety of challenges, from marathons to cycling races, with customers and to raise money for charity. He’s also a consummate storyteller, entertaining the OAL workforce and customers alike with his one-of-a-kind humour.
What’s next? We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, congratulations Harry from the team at OAL!
SafeContractor accredited for the sixth year
We’re delighted to confirm that we’ve received SafeContractor accreditation for the sixth year in a row, in recognition of our dedication to health and safety, for our own teams as well as how we work to protect our customers when on-site. When you work with OAL, you can be sure you’re in safe hands partnering with a responsible company.
We’re delighted to confirm that we’ve received SafeContractor accreditation for the sixth year in a row in recognition of our dedication to health and safety, for our own teams as well as how we work to protect our customers when on-site. When you work with OAL, you can be sure you’re in safe hands partnering with a responsible company.
Alcumus SafeContractor is a leading third-party health and safety assessment scheme initiated by the UK government under Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSiP), promoting a minimum standard of health and safety assessments, which helps customers to identify which companies meet the UK’s rigorous health and safety requirements. The accreditation is a sign of professional and credible contractor business, and all listed businesses can be found by registered customers via the client web portal. For any customers who are not clients, further information can be found on the SafeContractor website.
Throughout the rigorous accreditation process we provide examples of all our health and safety paperwork, demonstrating that the way we work meets legal industry requirements. This includes risk assessments, method statements, COSHH assessments and working at height, to name just a few!
A SafeContractor certificate is applicable to most sectors although it is particularly relevant to food manufacturing (our specialty) due to the number of contracted services. The SafeContractor seal of approval guarantees that we’re doing all we can to adhere to the very highest standard of health and safety and legal compliance, providing you with peace of mind when our teams carry out work on your sites.
SafeContractor confirms that we’re as dedicated to H&S as you are. Get in touch today for your upcoming projects!
Novel robotic applications for material handling & processing
We were delighted to team up with our robotics partner, KUKA, to host a webinar discussing novel robotic applications in material handling and processing. You can watch a sneak peek of the event here!
Robots can now automate more tasks than ever before. From weighing / scaling powders to batch processing, robotic systems deliver cost savings, productivity gains, health & safety improvements and much more. In this in-depth webinar, Jake Norman, Head of Sales at OAL, and Neil Mead, Area Sales Manager - South East at KUKA, explored the novel ways in which robots can now be used in industries as diverse as food production to plastic manufacturing. As labour costs rise and demand for customisation and flexibility grows, it’s becoming more important than ever for companies to consider automation to solve these challenges.
With solutions including the Robot Chef and automated powder handling, APRIL Robotics could be the answer to your productivity needs. Using tried and tested KUKA robots, we tailor our robotic solutions to boost your efficiency, reduce labour costs and protect your operators, while at the same time maintaining the flexibility you have come to expect from your existing operations.
You can also read about APRIL Robotics in our latest press appearance: Food Processing (UK) and bakeryandsnacks.com.
If you missed the webinar, get in touch with our experts today and we can take you through how robotics can transform your operations.
Want to find out more? Arrange a meeting today!
10 reasons to work at OAL
We’re always looking for passionate, talented individuals to join our fast-paced innovative company! When searching for a new role, you may ask yourself why would I want to work for them? To help you answer that question, we’ve asked our team and come up with 10 reasons to work at OAL!
We’re always looking for passionate, talented individuals to join our fast-paced innovative company! When searching for a new role, you may ask yourself why would I want to work for them? To help you answer that question, we’ve asked our team and come up with 10 reasons to work at OAL:
1) Diverse customers
“OAL has an incredibly diverse customer base. The opportunities to drive the food industry forward are fantastic. And because we work with customers all over the world, there are great opportunities to travel.”
2) Endless oppportunity
“You get a chance to develop new skills in many engineering disciplines. ”
3) Cutting-edge technology
“It is great to always be working with new technologies that nobody else has access to.”
4) Share great experiences
“Each day provides incredible opportunities to work with both colleagues and customers who are the best in their field.”
5) Management that care
“The MD is so motivated, it’s very contagious. It’s great to work with like-minded people.”
6) Challenging
“In my role, I get to face and solve new challenges every day.”
7) Food is life
“Knowing that we’re helping to improve the way we make food is incredibly rewarding.”
8) Flexible
“OAL has always been understanding and accommodating of my own circumstances and the hours that I can realistically work. They aren’t stuck in the old 9 to 5 age and had adopted working from home policies before COVID-19 made it the norm! ”
9) Teamwork
“At OAL, I get to interact with a very varied friendly group of colleagues. I learn something new from them every day.”
10) Valued
“The business makes me feel welcomed and valued and my manager is always on hand to advise and help.”
So, want to join the team? Visit our careers page to see our latest vacancies. If you’re not sure where you’d fit, feel free to send us your CV and let us know why you want to work with us: jobs@oalgroup.com
Equipment giveaway at OAL
Following our extensive digital transformation project that took place at the height of lockdown 1.0, we had quite a bit of equipment and furniture that were no longer in use. This presented us with a fantastic opportunity to give something back to help local businesses and families during this ongoing period of uncertainty.
Following our extensive digital transformation project that took place at the height of lockdown 1.0, we had quite a bit of equipment and furniture that were no longer in use thanks to our new pods and drive to go fully paperless. This presented us with a fantastic opportunity to give something back to help local businesses and families during this ongoing period of uncertainty.
As so many families are trying to cope with the challenges of homeschooling without the proper equipment, we were delighted to be able to donate 14 reconditioned laptops to a number of good causes, including Marshfields Secondary School in Dogsthorpe and the Stilton COVID-19 support network to help children access educational resources to support their learning during the pandemic. We really hope that this will help pupils stay connected with their peers and teachers and make the most of the new online teaching that has become the norm.
With interest from far and wide, we were also able to give away 28 desks, 30 sets of drawers, 11 cabinets and numerous whiteboards to support local businesses and give both home workers and students learning from home the tools to make this new reality just that little bit easier.
It was a great team effort from OAL, with everyone working together to help to arrange for these items to be collected safely. We’re delighted to play a small part in doing something positive in what has been a difficult period for everyone and we’ll continue to look for more ways to support our local community throughout 2021.