Table of Contents
Nature of Operation
Vision/Mission/Objectives
Culture and Management style
Relevant Background/History
Construction
The structure of the department/ The reporting structure
The title of those with whom you work
Your Obligations
Any relationship with government/political aspects
The market / Market share/Competitors
The Legality
Global company or collaborations? Local or international?
Nature of Operation
Fernite, established in 1832, has gained a worldwide reputation for producing machine blades. Fernite of Sheffield Limited manufactures machine knives and stocks steel. They sell Spring steel and are specialised in providing small quantities of metal to small and mid-sized businesses. Fernite has a wide range of products for the plastics, recycling, food, printing and packaging industries. Print Blades is divided into four divisions including Fernite machine blades, BSS Spring Steel Strips (spring steel strips) and AF Whiteley Granulator Blades.
Machine knives can also be used to cut plastics and recycling. Doctor blades, which are used to reduce the size of plastics in recycling, are also used by industrial printing machines. Granulator knives are used as part of the process for reducing the size.
Vision/Mission/ObjectivesFernite of Sheffield Limited believe in building a great UK manufacturing business. They want to be their customers’ favourite supplier, but they also believe in providing great products and friendly service. In order to achieve this, they invest a great deal of time and effort in customer support to ensure that customers receive the best possible service. This includes reliability as well as problem-solving. In addition, the company wants to make sure that their employees are comfortable and happy at work. The company also invests in technology, and aims to do so in the future. It will even upgrade the technology that is already in place. Fernite pride themselves on their quality products, which makes them a reflection of other companies.
Fernite’s Vision Statement is: “We are committed to building a successful UK manufacturing business that will be recognized by our customers as their favorite supplier. We manufacture great products with friendly, reliable services.” Fernite is a place where great people can work and make a profit.
Fernite of Sheffield Limited has a culture and management style that is unique. The company exports products to many countries including Europe and the United States of America. It also serves Asia and Australia. Their problem-solving approach means that they will try to resolve any issues that customers may have with blades, regardless of whether the issue is related to cutting performance or lead time.
Fernite is an enthusiastic company with a strong belief in its ability to excel at everything it does. The company invests both in technology and in its employees. Fernite’s team has expanded recently with four new roles: “Group Operation Manager”, “Group technical manager”, “Production engineer” and the “Marketing Executive”.
Fernite is investing in new machines. The warehouse packing machine has helped Fernite to deliver products faster and more efficiently. The other is the CNC Vertical Machining Center XYZ 1020. Spindles are mounted vertically on the table of this machine. This machine has a sturdy build, which allows it to cut heavy material faster and with more precision. It is similar in design to older machines but has been upgraded. It also features a user-friendly screen which makes it easier to use.
Fernite invests its employees in order to make them aware of and committed to the company’s goals and values. Team leaders are trained to manage teams and given responsibility for their own departments.
Relevant Background/HistoryThe City of Sheffield’s proud relationship with cutlery making started in the fifteenth century and this is the time when Sheffield first received its charter. In the years that followed, Sheffield’s reputation flourished. The reputation that the city had for producing England’s finest cutlery by the mid-1600s was so high, Chaucer mentions the fact in ‘The Canterbury Tales.’
Sheffield was able to capitalize on the metallurgy advances that were made. This led to incredible improvements in Sheffield’s cutlery production forms from the 18th century.
Sheffield became one of Europe’s top industrial cities because of two inventions: the Bessemer Convertor and Huntsman Technique.
Bessemer Convertors were the first low-cost industrial methods of mass production of steel. Air oxidation is used to remove impurities from the molten steel. This is a very important process.
Huntsmen used a Furnace that was fired with coke and could reach temperatures of 1,600° Celsius. The furnace could hold twelve clay pots, or crucibles. Each pot was capable of holding fifteen kilograms. Before cooling the steel was crystallized, and this gave it greater strength, harderness, and durability than any other steel made up to that point.
Here, cauldron steel and silver-plating made enormous amounts of wealth – at least for the wealthy producers. It was a poor working environment for the majority, with sickness, congestion, and uncontrolled contamination by foundries and processors.
Fernite of Sheffield Limited has been producing machine knives since 1832. Joseph Fearnehough founded the company in 1832 as Fearnehough and Sons Limited.
Joseph and family were responsible for a number of company changes. One of these was the change of name from ‘Fernite,’ which is derived directly from the founder’s last name. The Fernite trademark is synonymous with the Sheffield quality when it comes to the production of machine knifes. Fearnehough and Sons Ltd., which was the original name of the company, changed to Fernite in 1996. Fernite of Sheffield Limited uses the Made in Sheffield brand because all Fernite products are made in Sheffield. Fernite enjoys a great legacy, a stellar reputation, and a growing network of clients worldwide. The organization is happy to continue cultivating and maintaining these relationships.
StructureFernite Limited is owned by the managing director. The company employs 37 people.
Fernite of Sheffield Limited’s structure is built on teams. These are the teams:
Team Dispatch
Group Formation
Team Sales
The technicians
Operation’s Group
Administrative Crew
Each team is led by a team lead, who is in charge of running the section. Team leaders have received training in the management of people, as well as how to organize their departments.
I think that overall, the company is very clear about what it wants to achieve. It is this, combined with the company’s past and their appreciation and value of their customers that will help them grow.
The organisation chart/The structure of your department/The reporting structure. The members of the shop-floor teams Dispatch, and the other two Dispatch teams (Production) report to their respective leaders. Then the team leader reports to ‘Operations Manager’, who in turn reports to ‘Managing director’.
The ‘Sales manager’ is responsible for the people with the titles of ‘Accounts,’ ‘Steel sales’ as well as the Marketing Executives’, Senior Customer Service Executives’ and the Customer Service Executives. The ‘Sales Director’ then reports to ‘Managing director’.
Technical Manager reports to Managing Director.
I am a Software Developer. I have to work closely with Fernite of Sheffield Limited’s Managing Directors and management team. The management team is made up of:
Managing director, who is responsible for the strategy and the management of the company.
The group sales manager is in charge of the entire sales team. He or she will also be responsible for building relationships with existing customers and exploring potential new markets both in the UK, and abroad.
Fernite is looking for a Group Operations Manager to oversee the daily operations of the Fernite factory.
Fernite’s Technical Group Manager, responsible for cutting production lead time and optimizing Fernite’s process.
Working with Steel Sales Engineers, the Warehouse Team Lead, Production Team Lead, and Senior Customer Service Representatives is a regular part of my job. What you are required to do/ how they relate to overall organizational objectives.
I am a part of Fernite’s team and my role involves developing software that helps Fernite automate certain processes. Two software applications have been created so far.
Fernite’s team of salespeople uses one application from the two.
Its main purpose is to boost sales by accelerating the sales process. This will allow sales representatives to give a customer a more accurate quote. Sales executives can create a simple enquiry by filling in a little detail on the software. It has all of the logic required to do so built into it. The software will automatically generate an enquiry once all the information required is entered.
The application is a WindowsForm program created in VisualBasic.NET. It has a friendly design, and it is easy to navigate through the various windows. You can choose to either use a text file that the customer has sent or manually enter the information over the phone if he doesn’t have it. For this to happen, the program interacts with many databases. There are many queries like ‘Insert, Update and Select’. These queries are used for storing, updating or exporting data.
The other software piece is for managing the top priority jobs at the shop. I was tasked with developing a piece that displayed a list urgent tasks to each operation in the facility, improving flow through the facility and ensuring orders were completed by the due date.
The table is filled with information on all the active and open jobs in the shop. The application exports data from a live database with SQL queries. In addition, it prioritizes jobs so the team at every location can know what to do first. It will then change the colour of the row containing that information if that job has been given a priority higher than the others. This means that it’s urgent to finish this job, so I will start the application as soon a possible. The application was created using VisualBasic.Net and is a WindowsForm application. The data extracted is displayed by a DataGridView customized from the Toolbox found in the designer’s tab.
Fernite’s orders will be better managed without any delays.
Your ResponsibilitiesMy responsibility is to update and provide support for existing software in the company. This means that whenever a software fails, whether it be with exporting data from a database or anything else, it’s my responsibility to fix the problem and ensure it doesn’t happen again. It is also my responsibility to make sure that the databases do not have any errors and to design new ones.
A daily responsibility is also to provide IT assistance for the computer technologies in the facility. My responsibility is to resolve any issue that may arise with the computer or the printers. I have helped to install and configure new PCs for new employees.
I am often asked to help colleagues with questions about software, cable management, and accessing company databases.
Any Relations With Government/Political AspectsFernite exports and reports sales to the government.
Payment of the necessary duties and tariffs on imports and exported goods set by government is considered a part of political aspects. Customs authorities in a country collect import duties, which are payments made on imports or exports based on their value.
Fernite has joined the local Chamber of Commerce, a business network that offers support, guidance and a voice on behalf of businesses in the region. Chamber of Commerce members interact with local, state and national governments on their behalf.
The UK Government will also require that the managing Director submits statistics. The government can use this information to calculate the economic growth and sectoral growth.
Governments and non-governmental organisations monitor controlled goods by using commodity code which are codes referring to the Harmonized System. Commodity codes can also be used to identify products for taxation purposes. These commodity codes are also used to implement export and import quota and price regulations.
ISO 9001 is a certification that a company has met internationally recognized standards. This standard was created to improve customer satisfaction by delivering quality products.
Market share/Competitors/The marketplaceMachine knives can be found in production lines, industrial machinery, and other cutting applications.
Fernite is present in many countries including Europe, the United States of America and Asia. The company is divided into four divisions:
Print Blades is a company that produces the doctor’s blades.
Fernite, a manufacturer of machine blades.
BSS stocks Spring Steel Strip.
AF Whiteley looks after the granulator’s blades.
Fernite can compete in a variety of markets with the help of its four divisions.
Print Blade is mainly a foreign company with customers in Europe or Asia. AF Whiteley, on the other hand, has a lot of customers from the United Kingdom. Fernite, BSS and other companies are known to many customers throughout the world.
Fernite, a manufacturer of high quality products, is concerned more with securing its position in the market for quality than it is about the one for quantity.
Sheffield and UK firms have concentrated on higher-value products that require precision and advanced engineering.
Fernite is a UK-based company that uses high-quality European steel. Fernite competes on the basis of quality, not price. Many of Fernite’s rivals are also UK-based or European companies.
Legal PositionFernite of Sheffield Ltd. operates as a limited liability company. The company is considered a separate legal entity and its owners are limited in their liability.
Limited Companies are subject to certain ownership restrictions, while their shareholders enjoy legal protection. These restrictions aim to stop hostile takeovers. Usually, they are defined within the company’s bylaws. These are the main ownership restrictions.
A shareholder can’t sell his stock if he doesn’t offer it to the others.
The owner of the shares cannot offer them to the public on the stock exchange
Shareholders are limited to a certain number.
Global company or collaborations? Local or international? Fernite had worked closely with the Department of International Trade of the UK Government, which has export specialists and researchers. This department gives support to businesses that want to grow and export services overseas.
Fernite are distributed worldwide by distributors who identify and contact new customers. Fernite products are then supplied to them.
