Member Article

Graduate funding benefiting manufacturing company Laminform

Manufacturing company Laminform has recruited Northumbria University graduate Grace Choi Hoong Chia to add Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) expertise to the business and help stay up-to-date with industry regulation.

The South Tyneside company made the appointment through the Northumbria Enterprise and Business Support (NEBS) project, which has recently secured a £1 million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). NEBS can provide graduate interns for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Tyne and Wear.

With a BA in Interior Design, Grace has brought with her some valuable skills: her up-to-date Computer-Aided Design (CAD) training has boosted expertise in that area for the company. This has come at a time when SMEs are under increasing pressure to participate in technically demanding processes needed to bid for professional construction contracts.

Laminform’s specialism is in the production of smart, durable washroom furniture—vanity units, Integrated Plumbing System duct panelling, toilet cubicles using decorative laminate.

The business uses Computer-Aided Design to assist in the sales and production processes, work in all kinds of sectors, and have in place multiple certifications and accreditations, like the ISO9001 quality system.

Company Secretary Dave Presland said: “With any manufacturing business—no matter the size—it’s an ongoing task to ensure we continually demonstrate and prove our high quality. We have ISO9001, environmental Chain of Custody certification, we’re Achilles, we’re Construction Line… small as we are, we are required to have all these things. It’s very difficult; because in a company of our size each member of a small management team has to cover a number of business areas. So maintaining all these certifications is one of our big challenges”.

The post that Grace has taken on at Laminform covers two broad areas, one of which will help to mitigate this task. Firstly, she is fulfilling a sales processing role to cover staff who have retired. In time, she is also likely to carry out estimating tasks. Secondly, she will utilise her up-to-date AutoCAD and drawing skills.

Dave said that this was a key part of what they were looking for, and why they went for a graduate: “We really wanted someone with AutoCAD or drawing skills, because they would be able to get started straight away, and they would have the knowledge and the expertise to start drawing, and we could teach them the rest. We had very few formally CAD-trained staff before Grace. Most people at the company’s CAD skills are self-taught, whereas Grace obviously has very up-to-date CAD skills.”

Grace will be also using her skills to help Laminform with its next big compliance project: increasing its adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM). As in many countries, the UK has adopted national guidance aimed at encouraging all construction professionals to adopt a system whereby CAD-modelled furniture and other objects/building characteristics will have their data files stored in a central repository.

Dave added: “We’ll eventually need to be BIM certified. We’ve kicked that off, but Grace will almost certainly get involved in doing that. So from that point of view her skills were important, because BIM is CAD-related: the BIM software we’re using is REVIT, by Autodesk who produce AutoCAD.”

Victor Ottaway, Graduate Internship Manager at Northumbria University, commented: “I’m really pleased Laminform has appointed Grace as their Graduate Intern. Laminform is a great example of one of the aims of the funding - businesses that do not regularly recruit graduates. Dave identified the type of skills he was looking for, spotted the funding opportunity and employed Grace, for what we all hope will be a long term appointment beyond the internship.”

While bringing in expertise to help comply with crucial industry standards, it is not always easy for SMEs to spend the time and justify the cost of taking on a new graduate. Laminform, though, have mitigated that risk and saved time with their participation in the NEBS project

Dave concludes: “It obviously helps. It was a way of finding graduates that was reasonably simple, and co-ordinated by people with experience and knowledge of the graduate system. Also, the funding is very useful and gives you an opportunity to look at someone over a period of time for a reduced cost. Grace was able to contribute almost from day one and so the initial signs are very positive.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Victor Ottaway .