Reflections on 2021 from Justin Pringle

A year like no other

This year has been unusual in so many ways, and that was after an out-of-the-ordinary 2020.

Here at Prototype Projects, we are surrounded by technology, and we are acutely aware that our customers utilise cutting-edge technologies to, frankly, make the world a better place. But sometimes things happen that put everything into perspective. Technology is wonderful but what really matters is people.

Many of you reading this will already know that we lost Gary Turner, our General Manager back in the summer. This was a huge shock for everyone at Prototype Projects and, even more so, his family and friends. Having worked at Prototype Projects since he was 16, Gary was an integral part the company, helping to steer it through tough times and build it into today’s successful business. The messages of condolence we received from customers and suppliers showed how much he was appreciated and will be missed outside the company, as well as within. Those messages have been of great comfort to Gary’s family and his work family at an extremely difficult time. Thank you all.

New faces, new roles

This year we have welcomed another six people to Prototype Projects. Shane has been recruited to the accounts/office team, Wayne and Ryan have boosted the rapid prototyping department, Oli joined the CNC machining team, Wendy is in the office and Pete is working in the 3D printing suite. Our company now employs 28 people.

We have also made some changes to roles and responsibilities over the last 12 months. Tim Rowell has been promoted to Quality and Operations Manager and is responsible for a team of 20 people. Tim ensures every job is completed to the high standards our customers have come to expect. He is also responsible for much of the operational side of the business, and the ongoing training and development of the rapid prototyping team. Coincidentally, earlier this year Tim celebrated his 20th anniversary of joining Prototype Projects, though in fact he has spent more than 20 years with Prototype Projects because he had worked here previously!

Gemma Zouhar-Lewis has also been promoted and is now our Rapid Prototyping Workshop Team Leader. As well as managing the team, Gemma is still very much hands-on with rapid prototyping and modelmaking.

Hannah Game joined Prototype Projects in 2010 as our Sales Co-ordinator but her role has always been more wide-ranging than her job title suggests. She was promoted to Sales Manager in 2018 and, this year, her responsibilities evolved further. In addition, we are very proud that Hannah has become our first Mental Health Awareness First Aider. As a company that works under constant pressure to meet customers’ needs, it is vital not to overlook mental wellness. After completing her Level 2 training, Hannah implemented a number of strategies to support staff with mental health issues.

Quicker quotes

Hannah has also overseen the introduction of a new system, developed by our IT team, to automate some aspects of the quoting process. This helps Hannah, Adam and Wendy turn around quotations more quickly, and also enables them to analyse trends and adjust their work accordingly. Adam is the current record holder for generating the quickest quote; will he still hold the title next December?!

Our values

We have always had values and, as a family-run company, we firmly believe that the people are our greatest asset. This year we formalised our values, collaboratively, to ensure we are united as one ‘Team PP’. We have shared these values with our customers so they can understand how we work and what they can expect from us, and we recently launched an internal ‘Star of the Month‘ award initiative to celebrate staff who actively demonstrate the values.

Express CNC machining

One unforeseen benefit of the pandemic was that by September 2020 we had recruited additional CNC operators – who we had previously struggled to find. Throughout 2021 we have been operating a split shift system that enables us to ship Express CNC machined parts in just three working days. The Express CNC service has been very popular with customers needing the tighter tolerances and other benefits provided by CNC machining, together with very short lead times.

To support this service, our CNC Manager Ian Reinemann has overseen the training and development of the CNC team. Several of them have completed MasterCAM (programming) training, and Ian and Greg have carried out in-house training on the machines to improve the team’s techniques, setups and efficiency.

Busier than before

What next?