With the current coronavirus pandemic, most businesses and individuals have been affected in some way, be it by the disease itself or the ensuing lockdown. Here at Karas Plating, we have had to restructure the way we work to ensure the continued safety of our staff, without compromising the level of service we provide to our clients.
As a nation, we have all pulled together, whether we are key workers, volunteers, or simply staying at home to help flatten the curve.
Here at Karas Plating, we have been busy playing our part in the best way we know how. We have been producing silver-plated electrical connectors and nickel-plated air nuts for a number of manufacturers involved in the pandemic response.
Working together
While we are proud of the extra effort put in by our team of professional platers, we are also grateful to our other regular customers for their patience at this critical time. We have worked hard to minimise the impact that this vital order has had on existing commitments. We introduced rolling 24-hour shifts and rearranged our workloads in order that every order has been fulfilled on time and to the same high standards that we always employ.
Putting things into gear
Any plating job is time-sensitive but, with these particular commissions, it was even more important that we complete them in a timely manner. Between both orders, we were expected to produce 30,000 expertly plated components and to so quickly.
This meant reorganising our regular production line to maximise our plating processes as well as ensuring the continued safety of our staff. We moved operatives to our nickel-plating line from other areas of the business in order to maintain constant production. This allowed us to meet the tight two-week deadline we had been set for our first order of components.
Vital components for essential solutions
The specialised air nuts produced at our Leigh plant are being used in the manufacture of emergency ventilators for the NHS. Meanwhile, our silver-plated electrical connectors have be instrumental in the fitting out of specially-constructed Nightingale hospitals throughout the UK.
These components have been commissioned by two of our local clients, with whom we have worked many times in the past. They trust us to do our traditional impeccable work, and we have done all we can to prove ourselves worthy of that trust.
A new way of working
Like any company, we have had to change the way we work to ensure the safety of our employees. Metal-plating has the potential to be a dangerous profession at the best of times, without the shadow of a possible coronavirus outbreak hanging over us.
We have employed social distancing measures at all of our work stations and all of our employees wear masks as a matter of course. We also operate 24 hour rolling shifts, meaning that our team can still deliver the level of output our clients have come to expect. What this means for our customers across the country is that, despite significant changes on our part, Karas Plating remains open for business and operating to the same high standards as we always have.