Apprentice completes 2 year Apprenticeship
Well done to Joe our Apprentice who in 2019 completed his Apprenticeship in mechanical Manufacture with a distinction and the Btec Level 3 Diploma in Engineering with double grade distinction. Joe was very keen to keep increasing his knowledge and we were very happy to support Joe further by enrolling him onto a Mechanical Engineering HNC Diploma (PU) a two-year course starting September 2019 with CEMAST in Fareham. Cemast is a centre of Excellence in engineering, Manufacturing, and advanced skills training. Joe will work four days a week at VRS and attend 1 day at CEMAST
Read MoreApprentice Starts September 2017
It has long been company policy here at VRS to support the future of mechanical engineering through apprenticeships, and we are happy to welcome into the company Joe, who started with us on 18th September 2017. He comes to us via PETA Training and Consultancy Services, with whom we have had a long and successful association over many years. Joe joined us at level 3 of his “Engineering Mechanical Manufacture” apprenticeship, and his weekly routine is four days at VRS and one day with PETA.
As we see one young lad start his training, we have another, Byron, nearing the end of his, and with his PETA day release training successfully completed, we expect him to become fully qualified following a few more tests, by August 2018.
We also continue to support young people over the years who have an interest in engineering by allowing them to gain an insight into precision engineering through work experience.
Read MoreISO 9001:2015 successfully achieved
We are pleased to advise that we have successfully achieved accreditation to the updated quality standard ISO 9001:2015. This follows a year of transition, during which time we have taken the opportunity to review all our operations and updated our procedures and processes to reflect robust compliance with both new and existing elements of the standard. We are delighted to be one of the first organisations to have completed this work and our certificate has been awarded, some 18 months earlier than the ISO permissible time frame We would like to take this opportunity to thank Liz Kelly, our business and quality consultant whose knowledge and experience has helped us all to adapt to the requirements of the revised standard and the different approach that is required in certain areas.
We hope that all our customers and suppliers will see the benefits of the effort that has been put into this achievement as we continue to enhance the monitoring and control of all our activities and maintain our commitment to continuous improvement.
Looking ahead
We have now also given ourselves another challenge as we commence work to achieve Fit for Nuclear status. We hope to achieve this within the next 18 months-2 years. The Fit for Nuclear requirements are extensive and involve a highly robust and deeper review of all our operational manufacturing and associated processes. Our intention is to consult with and involve members of staff at every level and at all stages of the programme, providing opportunity for additional responsibility and engagement throughout the team. Further improvements will naturally enhance the excellent quality that we already provide to our existing customers and enable us to explore new markets as a result of increased capability and capacity
Read MoreEarly Transition to new Quality Standard ISO 9001:2015
At VRS we have always been proud of our commitment to quality and achieving the highest standards in everything we do. We have operated an externally accredited quality system to ISO9001:2008 for a number of years and were excited to learn of the new developments in the revised standard (now ISO9001:2015) published in September 2015.
We immediately took a pro-active approach to review all of our processes and enhance our systems to comply with the new requirements and have been working on this transition throughout 2016. As a result, we now have a fully process-based approach to all our operations together with enhanced risk management. In addition we have reviewed the requirements of our customers and other interested parties to further enhance communication and collaboration and have taken the opportunity to review our structure, capability and strategic planning to ensure that we remain best placed to provide an optimum service to meet the needs of current and future customers.
In March of 2017 we have scheduled a readiness review with our external auditor (BSI) with a view to achieving full accreditation of compliance with ISO9001:2015 in June of this year. Assuming that all goes to plan, our policy of early transition means that VRS will be one of the first organisations to achieve certification under the revised standard and this, some 18 months ahead of the mandatory transition timescale.
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