Wasps win Singha Premiership Rugby 7s Series
Metalogic’s first foray into sports sponsorship with Wasps couldn’t have come at a more exciting time.
On the 4th August Wasps announced the news that Springboks International Willie Le Roux will be joining the club for the 2016/17 season following a signing from the Japanese side Canon Eagles. The 26-year-old fullback has won 37 caps for South Africa and was a World Player of the Year nominee in 2014, having also been voted SARPA Players’ Player of the Year in 2013.
Then on Sunday 8th August Wasps ended eight trophy-less years with a thrilling victory in a pulsating final of the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s. This was a thrilling end to a memorable match and a highly entertaining afternoon at the sun-drenched Ricoh Arena.
Read more of the story here
Metalogic are looking forward to welcoming their clients for some some excellent hospitality and exciting rugby for the forthcoming season.
Eggleston Steel Has the Cutting Edge
Eggleston Steel has come a long way since it was first established in 1809.
Matthias Eggleston purchased the former ironmongers from Joseph E Hunt for his sons Walter and George and it is one of the longest established family businesses in Derby. Formerly known as Eggleston Brothers Ltd this East Midlands based stockholder and processor has earned an enviable reputation among its varied client’s base not only in and around the Midlands corridor, but due to their central location in the rest of the UK too.
Since those early days in the town the company has seen a steady rate of development outgrowing its previous three city centre locations. It was the move to its current premises on Alfreton Road eleven years ago which has seen the company’s largest period of growth. With a £5 million increase in turnover from 2.5 million to 7.5 million during this period and an expansion in the workforce from 20 to 46 plus a further two more lorries, taking the fleet of vehicles to five.
With over 1200 accounts on their books and a core customer base of engineers, fabricators, builders plus a large amount of cash sales particularly for DIY, this move has been a timely one. Richard Hewitt MD, ‘I am in no doubt that if we had not made the move to larger premises when we did, allowing room for expansion and the addition of a profiling department enabling us to develop our offering we would not have survived the economic downturn and be here now. The recession saw customers working smarter and looking to stockholders to increasingly offer more’
Since the move to new premises in 2003, from a unit of 15,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet the company has continued to grow and indeed outgrowing that space within two years they took on a further building adding another 10,000 square feet to the site. This unit was used to house an increased structural steel range on the general steel stockholding side of the business. In 2007 this also became the site for their first profiling machine.
In 2011 it was however decided that, in terms of profiling, it was time to aim higher. At this point they decided to swap their first 6m x 2.5m machine capable of cutting up to 40mm plate for two more advanced High Definition XD Plasma machines with a much larger 13m x 4m cutting area, being on a common rail track. This combination also has attached to one of the bridges 2 gas cutting heads, allowing the possibility of cutting up to 250mm thick, meaning that they could now cut the full range of plate thicknesses from 1mm to 250mm in mild steel.
Realising that space was once again going to be an issue, a further unit was required and in early 2012, working with local developer John Blount of Ivy Grove Developments, they moved the whole profiling department to the unit once occupied by Bombardier Transportation’s Wiring Division, giving them scope for future expansion with this unit being 15,000 sq feet in size.
Having at this point enjoyed a successful working relationship with their regular and loyal client base they acknowledged their customers demand for having some component parts laser cut, so set out to source a reliable and reputable supplier for this type of machinery. They opted for the 6kw CO2 TRUMPF laser machine, having a larger than standard 4m x 2m cutting area. Delivered and commissioned in June 2014, this machine, along with it’s specific technology was the first type of it’s kind installed in the UK. Using the most advanced quoting and nesting software available it enables Eggleston Steel to offer greater choice and flexibility when cutting, being able to offer stainless, aluminium and mild steel cut to much tighter tolerances than before, allowing customers to receive products that may not require secondary operations, saving time and money for their clients.
This new machine opens up further markets in automotive, rail and aerospace sectors, being able to produce finished parts making anything from signage to engine cogs. Eggleston Steel has recognised that since the recession their customers have streamlined and they increasingly need to add value. Customers are looking to stockholders to offer more and Eggleston’s have taken advantage of that. With margins on stockholding forever being squeezed the business has now become much more production driven.
With clients ranging from local schools to Rolls Royce they are confident that they will be able to feed this machine. Research shows that there is a lot of competition in the local area but demand for laser cut products remains very high and due to size of Eggleston’s compared to their larger national counterparts it means they can offer greater flexibility in terms of service and delivery.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Metalogic are pleased to have been a part of the growth at Eggleston’s. Before Metalogic Eggleston’s ran a bespoke software package designed by Isys computers who had been with Eggleston’s for 25 years.
In 1999 it was recognised that the compliance issues of Y2K were going to cause problems with their current software and they needed to change supplier. Locally based Delta Computers offered a windows based solution called Crystal that seemed to tick all the boxes. As the millennium drew near however it became apparent that the new software would not meet Eggleston’s expectations and this was evident as the suppler soon went into liquidation, leaving the company with no supplier and only ten desk top computers to show for it. Isys Computers maintained their old software while Eggleston’s again looked for another option. Metalogic were identified as being an associate member of NASS (National Association of Steel Stockholders) who supplies software to many stockholders around the country. Having completed their own independent research Eggleston’s decided that to move forward, Metalogic were the best-fit supplier.
The advantage of working with Metalogic is that Eggleston’s can be confident that they are working with people who understand the business of metal.
Eggleston’s currently work with iMetalServer™ an e-commerce solution designed by Metalogic which offers a complete, fully automated, computer to computer trading solution designed specifically for metals distribution and processing and their trading partners. iMetalServer™ interfaces with a whole range of core systems and it is this interface which has helped build an efficient and competent trading platform for Eggleston’s. iMetalServer™ allows the company to automate the exchange of CAD Data, Enquiries and Quotations, Purchase Orders, Rolling Programs, Test Certificates, Sales Orders and Acknowledgements, Despatch Advices, Invoices and Statements.
This easy to use, safe and secure application reduces transaction time, minimises error whilst maximising staff time for the benefit of the organisaiton. With the backing of a robust, stable system and the support that they receive from Metalogic,
Eggleston’s are confident that their latest acquisition will give them the cutting edge within the region and they will continue to go from strength to strength.
AD 619 Definitive Anti-Dumping Duty on Imports of Rebar from China
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2016/1246
Please view in full the European Commission Official Journal L 204/70 dated 29.7.2016 entitled: “Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1246 of 28 July 2016 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bars originating n the People’s Republic of China”.
Supporting Steel Industries Efficiently
Being an environmentally aware company and a successful business can be challenging goals; but when successfully met are not only inclusive but provide real business benefits. Ten years ago Metalogic started this journey with initially a move to hybrid vehicles then eventually by transferring our business to the cloud saving hundreds of tonnes of carbon emissions in reduced travel and energy consumption. This approach takes some lateral thinking and innovation.
The following article shows that this approach has shown benefits to other steelmakers – why not Tata?
Supporting steel efficiently
Saving the UK steel industry was a regular point of debate during the EU referendum campaigning. It was widely reported that EU rules on state aid meant the UK Government could not intervene. Yet, across the EU, there are examples of governments supporting their steel industries. Despite the Brexit vote, this will still be a point of debate – how have they been getting away with it?
The answer is through energy efficiency and environmental upgrades. The Ilva Taranto steelworks in Italy was given permission to accept €800 million from the Government for environmental improvements. The German steelworks Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH was awarded €19.1 million for upgrading from electro-slag re-melting to direct strip casting, a more energy efficient process. The Swedish programme for improving energy-intensive industries gave tax breaks for improvements in efficiency, substantially reducing steel industry energy consumption.
The Italian subsidy is being challenged by the EU competition commission on the basis that limited environmental progress has been made, but the point is that EU Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), along with the Best Available Techniques guidance for energy intensive industries, all encourage energy-efficient and environmental improvements in industry.
The long-held position of UK industry is that energy costs are a large part of the problem. Because of this, the Government recently exempted energy-intensive industries from paying renewables levies, designed to penalise excessive consumption on their energy bills.
Germany also has a similar exemption from such taxes. However, one of the German steel industry’s strengths is the country’s low daytime wholesale electricity price, thanks to huge investment in its renewable energy infrastructure, which gives predictable surplus in electricity and has helped to create one of the world’s most resilient grids.
The World Health Organisation lists Port Talbot as the town in the UK with the second highest levels of particulate matter under 10µm. Within a 5km radius of the steelworks, background concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene are 25 times the National Air Quality Obligations and emissions of lead are nearly 100 times that of central London.
The European Environment Agency estimates the external cost of the health effects from emissions from the Port Talbot area is £270 million, not including greenhouse gas emissions. The pollutants affect people through inhalation, consumption of contaminated tap water, agricultural crops and animal products. The Ilva Steelworks the Italian Government is hoping to improve is situated in the picturesque region of Puglia, but is one of Europe’s most polluted areas. Residents of the nearby town are banned from touching the soil, as are farmers from using their own land.
At a time when these costs are so well documented and the need to tackle climate change is more pressing than ever, is the right approach to provide blanket subsidies for the dirtiest industrial processes? It’s a common attitude from economists that pollution is the price we pay for manufacturing success, but closing the steel works in Port Talbot won’t stop the negative impact of steel production on health. Steel is a vital resource that we still need, and provided it comes from a coal-powered blast furnace, the same air pollutants and greenhouse gases will be emitted, they will simply affect people somewhere else in the world.
Steel has the potential to be one of the most sustainable materials we use. It is extremely durable, can be magnetically separated and is 100% recyclable. Yet still, even in the developed world, its production burdens health services and reduces quality of life. At a global level, the perceived low cost of coal and other greenhouse-gas-heavy manufacturing routes saddles economies with the growing costs of climate change.
However, technologies exist to significantly improve and almost eliminate these emissions. One of these is the electric arc furnace, which produces a fraction of blast furnace emissions, can be switched on and off as required and can be powered entirely from renewable energy, where available. It also promotes the use of scrap steel, a valuable resource of which the UK exports more than 5 million tonnes – around half the 12 million tonnes of raw steel manufactured. Newport has such a facility in the pipeline and more sites can potentially be converted.
The perfect excuse to support our steel industry would be through environmental and energy efficiency improvements. This would secure our supply, reduce energy consumption, increase employment, cut global greenhouse gas emissions (not simply meet our own targets by sending industry overseas), and improve air quality in our towns and cities. We would do what the UK engineering sector has always excelled at – leading the world with the best quality products and technologies, not the cheapest.
This piece first appeared in Materials World 1st August 2016
160 Not Out!
Continuity of support as Metalogic present Long Service Awards
In today’s transient employment market, staff loyalty is a valued asset to any organisation. It’s not rocket science that your longest standing members of staff offer an encyclopaedia of knowledge on your company. And it is this depth of knowledge and experience that in turn is key to customer retention.
Implementing an ERP system is a complex process that can be made even more challenging if the team carrying out the implementation and the subsequent support is subject to change.
Customers need reassurance that they will have continuity in support and business knowledge and that the relationships they have built will be around for some time to appreciate a return on their investment.
The experience and commitment of the Metalogic’s staff have been the factor that has provided the growth to enable the business to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of specialist software to the metals industry.
The stability of the team at Metalogic was recognised recently when a number of staff members from across the organisation were presented with Long Service Awards – with the recipients amassing over 160 years’ experience between them!
The awards made by Leigh Harrison MD at the company’s last Town Hall Meeting held in Birmingham and were also overseen by Jayne Rolstone HR Advisor – Jonas Group UK.
Image courtesy of Samrat Khadka via Unsplash
Global Success for Howco with iMetal
Howco is the largest independent supplier and processor of steel, chrome moly, duplex, stainless and nickel based alloys for the Oil and Gas industry. Howco’s worldwide investment in manufacturing and processing facilities enables them to provide an outstanding and cost-effective solution to metals and components supply around the globe.
To maintain their continued development as a leading global supplier, Howco required the benefits that a modern ERP system designed for the metals, distributing and processing industries would bring, thus allowing them to operate efficiently across many disciplines and locations.
Implementing Metalogic’s iMetal system has provided this. iMetal is one of the leading specific ERP systems designed and developed by Metalogic explicitly to meet the unique requirements of stockholders, processors and metal service centres.
Implementation
The implementation of the metals ERP software solution, iMetal included sales quotations, purchase order processing, integrated costing, office management, process costing, production planning, stock forecasting, delivery and logistics planning, invoicing, and financials.
With iMetal, Howco now have at their disposal a flexible system that allows them easy and secure access from remote locations and the ability to create customized processes, data and documents that meet their unique business requirements. This includes custom applications and screens from within the iMetal application. “One of our biggest challenges as a global manufacturing company was understanding our recoveries on the work that we are shipping out. Whilst this did not impact our overall financial reporting, our previous ERP system did not give full visibility of our financial performance within specific manufacturing areas. With the implementation of iMetal, we now fully understand our financial performance of each department and ensure all our costs are recoverable. This knowledge allows us to focus on increasing efficiency within departments to increase profitability as well as expand in areas that are doing well.”
Through its multi-language user interface and forms iMetal has enabled them to improve their data management and maintain customer service levels.
iMetal was implemented in 14 locations in 8 countries including North America, Europe and Middle East and Asia Pacific. (MEAP). The first phase of implementation was in Canada which took place within 3 months followed by MEAP, North America and Europe within ten months. Howco now operates over 240 licences across the group.
“One of the greatest cost savings that we saw from Metalogic came from its licensing. Because we are a globally positioned company, we are able to have concurrent licensing allowing us to only pay for ‘active’ licenses rather than named licenses. Initially during our RFP processes other ERP packages only allowed named licenses, which would have required 1100 user licenses. The savings from this alone in concurrent licensing reduced our annual spend on our ERP by 50 percent”.
Howco has access to the support coverage provided by Metalogic which gives them access to a help desk from 9.00 am through to 5.30pm GMT plus out of hours support if required thus ensuring the benefit of Metalogic support services. This effectiveness was tested recently following the severe flooding suffered in Houston earlier this year. Should there have been a potential requirement to transfer operation from the live system to the business continuity system Metalogic staff were on hand at all times to ensure this could have been successfully completed.
Read more about the benefits of iMetal in issue 134 of Energy, Oil & Gas – July 2016
About Howco
Howco is the largest independent supplier and processor of steel, chrome moly, duplex, stainless and nickel based alloys for the Oil and Gas industry. Howco’s worldwide investment in manufacturing and processing facilities enables them to provide an outstanding and cost-effective solution to metals and components supply around the globe.
Metalogic support for Wasps with new player sponsorship deal
Metalogic is looking forward to the new Aviva Premiership rugby season with an extra buzz of anticipation after agreeing a deal to sponsor Wasps’ new Prop Marty Moore.
In a first venture into the world of sports sponsorship the award-winning business with long term connections to Coventry and offices in Warwick will be the official sponsor for Moore during the full 2016/2017 season.
As part of the sponsorship package Metalogic will carry their company logo on Moore’s Wasps website profile page and across other marketing collateral relating to the player and Wasps rugby club.
Metalogic will also have the opportunity to see their newly sponsored player in action on a regular basis with hospitality season tickets in the Premier Club at the Ricoh Arena.
Leigh Harrison, Metalogic Managing Director, said: “As a leading supplier of Integrated IT Systems to the Metals Distribution Industry, we pride ourselves on supporting the best of the best, and in Wasps we are certainly aligning ourselves to the best.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgEFQtQ_Nqw
“With Wasps becoming the latest addition to a region with a long history of sporting excellence, we relish the opportunity to support them in achieving success on and off the field. The sponsorship package for Marty Moore enables us to play our part in the club’s push for honours this season and hopefully a real buzz of anticipation in seeing Marty play a pivotal role in Wasps’ on-field efforts. It all adds up to an exciting new sports sponsorship direction for the Metalogic brand and one we look forward to seeing over the line.”
It’s not just a Question of Sport….
On Thursday 30th June Metalogic staff donned their finest regalia for the Kids Out Question of Sport Black Tie Charity dinner.
Kids Out – the Fun and Happiness charity gives disadvantaged children positive experiences to support them becoming future members of our society and workforce, you can read and see for yourself below a little more about this unique charity below.
Kicking off with a champagne reception at the prestigious ICC venue in Birmingham this evening of corporate entertainment also promised a little friendly competition particularly between Metalogic who were competing against each other on opposing tables.
With the brilliant and energetic TV Presenter and Auctioneer Jonny Gould in charge of proceedings this promised to be a lively evening as his enthusiasm and wit captured the whole audience.
Graham Taylor, former England football manager and pundit was the evening’s Quizmaster who also took part in a Q&A session with the audience. In light of recent events during the UEFA Euros 2016 this resulted in an interesting and lively exchange on the management and players of our current national team.
Before the sumptuous three course gourmet Indian meal guests had the opportunity to take part in the silent auction, bidding on anything from a signed print of Mohammad Ali, a week in a ski lodge to a tactical helicopter lesson and many more eclectic prizes. During the meal each table competed as a well-known UK or International football team, wearing the club’s scarves and monitoring their position in the “league table” according to the quiz results. It was AC Milan against Brazil as the Metalogic teams pitted their wits against each other with ‘experts’ on Premier League Football, American Baseball, Cricket and Tennis testing their knowledge of sporting trivia along with features such as the “Guess the Mystery Sportsperson” and “What Happened Next?”
The main auction was a delight to witness with some unique items up for grabs and the persuasive banter from Jonny Gould entertaining the whole audience and indeed as the evening wore on it was obvious that Mr Gould takes auctioneering to a new level with his passion for the event and the charity with his inimitable style helping to raise an amazing £57,000 during the evening.
All in all a winning evening for a worthy cause.
Kids Out
Each year more than 20,000 children flee domestic abuse to seek sanctuary in refuge. Often leaving home with only the clothes on their back, these children have experienced physical, emotional, and even sexual abuse and arrive at refuge with nothing. KidsOut works to remind these children and thousands of others living with disadvantages what it is like to be children and just have fun.
Built by JMB Creative
