April 2016 newsletter
The April edition of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing newsletter has been published today. To read a copy click here.
If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter in your inbox each month, please subscribe by scrolling to the bottom of the page and looking for the ‘Newsletter Sign-Up’ button.
We’re always looking for interesting articles about fabrication projects or the steel/construction industry too, so feel free to get in touch with your news and photos, and we’ll try to feature them.
Michael Ball is a Quality Manager at Joseph Ash Medway, and he has just celebrated a huge 25 years’ service at the plant. To recognise this achievement we’ve interviewed him to find out about the last quarter century and what makes him tick!
Q: What did you do before joining Joseph Ash Medway?
A: I began my career as a fabricator welder serving a four-year apprenticeship with a company that built road bridges and other one-off structures. The apprenticeship covered all aspects of working with sheet metal to heavy plate fabrication, as well as becoming a code welder. I also had dealings with H.D.G and therefore became aware of the design factors required to get a good finish from galvanizing. The experience and training I received on the apprenticeship was second to none.
I then joined a company who acted as a supplier to oil refineries, which led to a role in welding inspection, testing and quality control. After this I joined Joseph Ash Medway as a Quality Manager and I’ve enjoyed the role ever since.
Q: So you started your career as a fabricator. Do you still make things out of steel in your spare time?
A: I’ve always enjoyed working with steel and still enjoy making things when I get a chance. In the past I’ve made a small elephant out of sheet metal, a hawk in flight, bed frames, garden furniture, lights, a small bridge and a scaled down batman car! And yes, most of these have been hot dip galvanized at Joseph Ash Medway.
Q: Having the experience as a fabricator, as well as 25 years’ experience working in a galvanizing plant, must make you a great resource for customers?
A: I hope so! I’m a great believer in galvanizing and I enjoy helping customers to think about their designs and advising them on ways to improve the fabrications to get a better finish. I’ve also worked on every part of the galvanizing and powder coating processes.
I suppose my speciality is being a more practical, hands-on person. I like to help people get the job done and resolve issues that others think can’t be resolved. If there’s a problem, I want to fix it.
Q: What’s the most interesting thing you have seen galvanized at Joseph Ash Medway?
A: I’ve seen a huge number of interesting sculptures galvanized at the plant, as well as an MG car and a Toyota rally car. I guess the most challenging and interesting items however were petrol tanks!
Thank you for the interview Michael. Congratulations on reaching this huge milestone at Joseph Ash Medway.
On 10 November 2017 France will host a service of remembrance to commemorate the centenary of the end of the Battle of Passchendaele during World War One. The event has been named The Passchendaele Salute 2017.
During the service the guns will fire 100 rounds to recognise 100 years since the battle ended. At least 10 Great War guns will be used, which will be manned by teams from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, Belgium and France.
The Battle of Passchendaele was fought by the Allies against the Germans, on the Western Front from July until November 1917. Field Marshal Haig’s main aim for the battle was to destroy German submarine pens by breaking through to the coast of Belgium. Often referred to as the ‘Battle of Mud’ because the dreadful weather hampered progress, it was a costly campaign as Haig only managed to gain a few miles, and yet 325,000 Allied troops died, as well as 260,000 Germans.
As hundreds of thousands of lives were lost during the Battle, it’s important to remember the men who served. With this in mind Joseph Ash Galvanizing is happy to support the event by donating 3-4 Joseph Ash Galvanizing lorries, for a period of 2-3 days, to help John Slough of London (a client of Joseph Ash Galvanizing who refurbishes antique guns) carry some of the guns from the UK to Lille in France, where the Salute will take place.
The Passchendaele Salute 2017 will not only commemorate the men who died during the Battle, but it will also raise money for a good cause, as Combat Stress is the beneficiary charity.
You can follow news about The Passchendaele Salute 2017 here. Keep an eye on the Joseph Ash Galvanizing website too as we’ll be charting the journey of our lorries, as well as the event in our news stories nearer the time.
The March edition of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing newsletter has been published today. To read a copy click here.
If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter in your inbox each month, please subscribe by scrolling to the bottom of the page and looking for the ‘Newsletter Sign-Up’ button.
We’re always looking for interesting articles in the steel industry too, so feel free to get in touch with your news, and we’ll try to feature it.
All Joseph Ash Galvanizing plants will be closed for a few days over the Easter period at the end of this week.
Plants will be closed from Friday 25 March until Monday 28 March, re-opening again on Tuesday 29 March 2016.
Enjoy your Easter break!
We’re pleased to announce that Joseph Ash Galvanizing’s Chesterfield and Medway plants have recently met the bronze level requirements of the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme.
The Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) is a voluntary scheme that covers all aspects of vehicle emissions, fuel efficiency, economical operations and safety.
It provides peace of mind to vehicle operators that legislative requirements are being met. It also enables vehicle operators to know they are helping to increase efficiency, win work, and reduce costs.
Finally, it enables operators to know they are becoming safer and greener.
As of 15 February 2016 Joseph Ash Galvanizing was awarded the bronze accreditation for FORS.
Thank you to the FORS for assessing us. Thank you also to the team at Joseph Ash Galvanizing who worked hard to receive the award.
Thank you to everyone who visited our stand. Over 5660 people attended the event!
From Tuesday 9th until Thursday 11th February Joseph Ash Medway exhibited at the Surface Design Show at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. It was a great event and we were very pleased to be there.
5000+ architects and designers attended throughout the 2.5 days, visiting many different stands and listening to excellent speeches and seminars. We saw some interesting interior and exterior coatings ideas, and we were happy to be showcasing our own superior duplex coatings – a mixture of galvanizing and powder coating – to attendees and exhibitors alike.
If you attended the Surface Design Show 2016 and visited our stand, we’d like to say thank you. It was a pleasure to meet you.
Thank you also to the team from Joseph Ash Medway who worked very hard to make the exhibition a success.
As part of the first phase in a £1 billion regeneration scheme of the Medway Towns in Kent, more than 300 metres of bespoke railings were installed along Strood Waterfront. Galvanized and powder coated by steel finishing specialist Joseph Ash Medway, the metal railings are still looking and performing as good as new some 15 years after the installation.
Appointed by main contractor W.S. Atkins on behalf of Medway Council, bespoke architectural metalwork specialists Claydon Architectural Metalwork (CAM) designed and installed a new railing system that would run alongside the redeveloped riverfront and around a play area in Watermill Gardens. Using the company’s patented tube crushing techniques, CAM produced attractive and secure decorative railings that would provide excellent edge protection.
”We designed and installed over 300 metres of railings on Strood Waterfront, all of which needed to be galvanized and powder coated. For this, we turned to the unrivalled quality and service of Joseph Ash Medway,” said Phil Pizey, Owner of Claydon Architectural Metalwork. ”Fifteen years later and the railings continue to look as good as new which shows why we use Joseph Ash Medway every time.”
Joseph Ash Medway applied its hot dip galvanizing techniques, followed by a matt blue powder coating finish to the new metalwork. Hot dip galvanizing provides a tough, long lasting finish which, when combined with powder coating, offers an aesthetic, colourful and durable coating that will last for many years.
Operating to stringent quality control processes and fully accredited to all the latest BS and ISO standards, the galvanizing process provides at least 25 years worth of corrosion protection often considerably more.
As the redevelopment of Medway Towns has taken shape in the last 15 years, the regeneration of Strood Waterfront and its extensive riverside railing system will continue to look its best thanks to Joseph Ash Medway.
Joseph Ash Galvanizing hot dip galvanizes and powder coats steel railings for Claydon Architectural Metalwork and the BSI.
Producing any of kind of project for the British Standards Institute could be a daunting task, because of the very nature of their work. As one of the world’s largest independent certification bodies for management systems, with over 120,000 registered sites across the globe, the BSI has very high standards to meet! Despite this, Claydon Architectural Metalwork (CAM) was asked to create and install new railings outside the BSI’s building in Hemel Hempstead, as part of a larger refurbishment project on the whole building, and Joseph Ash Galvanizing was asked to provide the necessary steel finishing treatments.
CAM was approached by Kirsop, the project surveyors, to design the new front elevation railings for the BSI building. CAM was happy to take on the project and they chose Joseph Ash Galvanizing to provide the finishing treatments – a choice they have been making for the last 20 years, knowing the very high standards of quality and customer care that Joseph Ash Galvanizing provides.
The railings are made from steel and measure 82 linear metres in length and stand approximately 900mm high on top of the existing wall at the front entrance to the building. The total weight of the steel used was just under two tonnes.
As part of the design, CAM managed to incorporate the well known Kitemark and BSI logos into the railing panels with great effect.
Kirsop asked CAM to design and build the new railings in early 2014. By June the railings were fabricated, at which point they were collected by trucks from Joseph Ash Medway (Joseph Ash Galvanizing’s Kent-based plant), driven to Sittingbourne (where the plant is based) and prepared for treatment.
The railings have to last a long time. They need to remain looking good and be protected from corrosion from the elements. With this in mind Joseph Ash Medway treated the steel with a duplex coating of a hot dip galvanized substrate, as well as a powder coated finish.
Duplex Coating = Galvanizing + Powder Coating
Galvanizing: Hot dip galvanizing has been used worldwide for well over a century because it provides a long-life, low-maintenance corrosion protection, which safeguards steel from atmospheric attack.
Powder Coating: This can be combined with a powder coated finish which provides a low maintenance, long lasting, colourful covering for architectural metalwork, fencing, gates and any other steel fabrication. It is a covering which can be offered in a wide variety of durable, colourful, metallic and textured powder coating finishes that are both attractive and guaranteed for up to 25 years.
Once the steel had been treated, Joseph Ash Medway delivered it back to Claydon’s site in Suffolk.
Both CAM and Joseph Ash Galvanizing are very pleased with the railings for the BSI, and work well together as a team.
Claire Rycraft, from CAM said: “As a company it is important for us to adhere to all the required BSI standards when completing work for customers – not just the British Standards Institute! Because of this, we choose suppliers to help us complete projects that also adhere to important standards. Joseph Ash Galvanizing is one such company and we have a great deal of confidence in their work.”
Matthew Hodges at Joseph Ash Medway said: “Aside from the aesthetic appeal of powder coated surfaces, there’s no point investing in a colourful coating unless you know it will last. With Joseph Ash Medway customers can be assured that we are not only approved as paint applicators by AzkoNobel, IGP and Dupont, but we also adhere to the following standards when it comes to galvanizing and powder coating: BS EN ISO 1461 (galvanizing) and BS EN 13438 (powder coating).”
The railings have been standing outside the BSI building for 18 months now and they look great. Because of the high standards of Claydon Architectural Metalwork and Joseph Ash Galvanizing, the gates should be protected and will look attractive to meet the BSI’s exacting standards for many years to come.
A new acquisition.
We are delighted to have acquired Premier Galvanizing Hull and Corby, an excellent company with a wonderful reputation for offering high quality and superb service to areas of England where Joseph Ash was not previously present. The business will run independently and none of either companies’ factory facilities will be affected – customers will continue to have absolute choice over the point of service.