< Previous30 BMTA COUNCIL MEMBER PROFILE BOB FAULDING Managing Director, PBS Synergies A manufacturer of any product must constantly monitor output quality to ensure finished goods meet applicable standards and any specifications demanded by customers. Equally important is to ensure that manufacturing excellence delivers products which are competitive in the marketplace. High quality at competitive prices while still delivering good stakeholder returns is paramount to business success. How can a business ensure that these objectives are met? Regular and comprehensive testing as part of the quality control process is key to achieving business success in the manufacturing environment. Rigorous testing processes not only ensure customer satisfaction but can drive down manufacturing costs. It was these fundamental principles that led my company to begin a journey that would last 10 years but ultimately allow a small manufacturing company to compete at the very top of our industry. GlassfibreReinforcedConcreteorGRCasitismore commonly known (GFRC in the United States), is a complex composite that shares more in common with high-tech aerospace materials than other forms of cementitious-based manufactured products. Over the last 50 years testing methods have been developed by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the InternationalGlassfibreReinforcedConcreteAssociation (GRCA) and the American Standards and ASTM International. From the start of our newly-formed manufacturing business, we decided testing was to be at the heart of our operations, allocating a high percentage of the initial capital costs to testing equipment. The ultimate aim wastoattainUKASaccreditationandbecomethefirst laboratory in the UK to become accredited to ISO 17025 for GRC testing. Working with BSI we attained ISO 9001 accreditation in 2012 and this provided the foundation for our progression tofinallyattainingISO17025accreditationin2018. Our rigorous approach was questioned by many in the GRC industry, as we not only tested to accepted standards more frequently than is required but also introduced several test methods where no current standards existed. It did, however, bring us major commercialbenefitswhichfaroutweighedthecostsof both establishing our laboratory and attaining UKAS accreditation. With a collection of test data which far exceeded most if not all of our competitors, we were able to modify mix designs to achieve consistent and increased material properties.Thishadthebenefitofthenallowingour design engineers to use accurate and reliable data for engineering analysis input. The overall result was a reduction in production costs attributable to those operating our laboratory. bmta.co.uk BUILDING ON THE BENEFITS OF BMTA31 A high level of testing and investment in laboratory equipment will, of course, also present a manufacturer with the opportunity to promote that customers can have high levelsofconfidenceinproductoutput.Intheconstruction industry, where contracts can be worth millions, clients who can see high investment in testing are much more likely to place orders and contracts with such organisations providedtheycancompetefinancially. This combination of lowering costs through a rigorous testingprocessandprovidingconfidencetobuyersis a powerful combination in winning business and this certainly proved the case for our company. Recently we sold our manufacturing business and independent testing company to a large multinational. One of the primary reasons for the acquisition was directly connected to our investment in testing. We are now starting our journey again, albeit this time with a much shorter timeframe targe! Our new company, The GRC Centre Ltd, is a global GRC consultancy offering help and assistance to anyone involved in the manufacture or use of this amazing composite. As part of the service, we will again be offering independent and impartial testing and are currently building a new laboratory, which we hope will be UKAS accredited during 2023. We have been a member of the British Measurement and TestingAssociationsince2018.Wefirstcameacross the association through our UKAS accreditation when I was invited to speak at a BMTA event pre-Covid. The subject was our journey to full ISO 17025 accreditation. Ihadn’trealisedbutitappearswewereoneofthefirst organisations to be accredited to the new 2017 standard. Our involvement has made me realise that our journey to accreditation could have been made much simpler if we hadbenefittedfrombeingabletoaccesshelpandadvice from such an organisation. It was with great pleasure that I was invited to stand as a Council Member of the BMTA and duly elected in January of this year. I am hoping that during my time on Council, we can encourage manufacturers of all types of products to develop their laboratory testing and perhaps assist them in attaining UKAS 17025 accreditation which I personally believebenefitsnotonlytheparticularcompanybutalso their customers. bmta.co.uk Bob Faulding is the founder and Managing Director of the PBS Synergies Group which operates in the precast concrete and construction logistics industries. The group consists of two operating companies. Pennine Building Solutions t/a PBS Synergies is a specialist GRC sub-contractor which also operates afleetofheavygoodsvehiclestransportingbuilding products and materials. The GRC Centre is a global consultancy practice offering help and advice to both manufacturers andusersofglassfibre-reinforcedconcrete(GRC) products. A hands-on professional in both businesses, Bob is a past Chairman of both the United Kingdom Cast Stone Association(UKCSA)andtheInternationalGlassfibre Reinforced Concrete Association (GRCA) as well as a former director of the Concrete Society. He is currently the Finance Director of the GRCA and a Council Member of the BMTA. He is passionate about product and service quality and committed to improving standards in both the GRC and Road Haulage industries. Awayfromworkhehastwosonsaged16and28,is an avid fan of Porsche sports cars, is a keen skier and still manages to ride motorcycles on track and off-road. 32 MEMBER NOTICES BATTERY TECHNOLOGY - MMN EVENT Tue, 14th Feb 2023 at 15:30 Theincreasinguseofelectrificationintransportandtheneedtostoreenergy from renewable energy sources such as solar cells leads to challenges to provide suitable battery storage. These batteries need to operate for a long time, reliably and within stated performance criteria. New battery manufacturers are emerging asisaneedforbetterregulationofstandards,moreefficientmeansoftestingcells andconsiderationsformaterialreuseattheendofabattery’slife.Hearfrompeople involved in these topics about what is currently being done and what the challenges are for the future. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/battery-technology-tickets-399958254907 VEHICLE ELECTRIFICATION - MMN EVENT Tue, 7 March 2023, 15:00 – 17:00 Whatarethecurrentandfuturechallengesforvehicleelectrification?Andmore importantly how can we meet these challenges? In this event you can hear from speakerswhoareworkinginthisfieldabouttheresearchtheyaredoingtohelp withthedevelopmentofvehicleelectrification.Talksincludeinformationonhow theelectronicsneededinthisfieldwillneedtofaceharshenvironments,howthese electronics will be packaged to meet these environments and information on skills for this area of technology. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vehicle-electrification-tickets-404564933607 DEVELOPMENTS AND INNOVATION IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING - MMN EVENT Tue, 11th Oct 2023 at 18:00 ThenextNPLManufacturerMeasurementNetworkevent‘Developmentsand InnovationinAdvancedManufacturing’on11thOctoberwillpresentdetailsabout currentresearchintonewtechnologieswhichcouldbenefityourbusinessinthe future.Attendanceisfreeandisonlineorin-personinHuddersfield. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/developments-and-innovations-in-advanced- manufacturing-tickets-308722285667 bmta.co.uk33 NEL WEBINARS AVAILABLE ON DEMAND Anomaly Detection in Multisensory Systems | TÜV SÜD https://www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/resource-centre/webinar/anomaly-detection-in-multisensory- systems Impact of Uncertainty on Flow Measurement | TÜV SÜD https://www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/resource-centre/webinar/webinar-impact-of-uncertainty-on- flow-measurement Unlocking the Values in Big Data, Benefits of using advanced modelling techniques | TÜV SÜD https://www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/resource-centre/webinar/unlocking-the-values-in-big-data Control Valves and Valve Flow Testing | TÜV SÜD https://www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/resource-centre/webinar/control-valves-and-valve-flow-testing Webinar: Calibrating and Operating Coriolis Flow Meters at Service Conditions | TÜV SÜD https://www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/resource-centre/webinar/calibrating-and-operating-coriolis- flow-meters-at-service-conditions INTRODUCTION TO THE EMC DIRECTIVE Available as an in-house training course https://www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/services/training/uk/testing-focused-training/ introduction-to-emc-directive-training-course The European Union Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive 2014/30/EU requires manufacturers and suppliers of equipment to comply with essential regulatory requirements before the equipment is placed on the market or taken into service. This course is available as an in-house training course. bmta.co.ukContribute to the BMTA newsletter... To help us research and plan the most relevant and useful information for BMTA members we would like your help to identify and share relevant topics, research on new technologies, techniques, news, events and publications you think may be of interest to your fellow BMTA member community. Send your article to: editor@bmta.co.uk with a short synopsis and an image and brief biography of the author. Equally, should your business produce any information that you would like to share, please submit this to enquiries@bmta.co.uk Share this newsletter with your team... Please forward this newsletter onto members of your technicalteamthatmayfindthenewslettercontent of interest. Invite your team to sign up to the BMTA newsletter... Please encourage members of your team and professional contacts to sign up to this newsletter. It wouldalsomeanthatyoudon’thavetorememberto forward it on. 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