How can you avoid fires in your factory?

Throughout the country, factory employees are injured and even killed every year in fires and explosions. Needless fire damage to buildings, causing billions of pounds worth of destruction, accompanies this tragic fact. You can easily take some life-saving steps to keep your workforce and business safe.

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There is no such thing as a 100% fireproof building. There are far too many aspects involved – people, materials, areas, emergency response programs, wiring, machinery, chemicals, training, alarm systems, and more – to make such a claim. However, there are certain ways you can reduce the chance of a serious fire.

Taking steps to prevent and protect

By making sure that a minor mishap (for example, a small fire starting in a paper bin) remains minor, and does not escalate into a full scale disaster, you can ensure that you contain the situation – in other words, protection. To stop the small paper bin fire from occurring in the first place is prevention.

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Sometimes the menial, everyday tasks that seem like second nature to employees can become so familiar that they may end up becoming careless or disrespectful of the processes at hand. To avoid this, it is up to you, as the employer, to provide some kind of prevention strategy, for example, by encouraging healthy work habits, pristine housekeeping, regular inspection of the work environment, and consistent and up-to-date staff training. Preventing inadequate work practices will prevent catastrophic outcomes.

Protection is important throughout your factory. This includes fixed protection, like alarm systems, sprinklers, and duct layouts, to the more temporary challenges of storage for hazardous chemicals, blocked fire exits and potential ignition sources during the working day.

Suitable Installations

The transport of industrial chemicals or powders should be done through rigid metal piping, where possible. Dust clouds can be flammable, so employers must provide adequate training in the handling and processing of such materials, as well as ensuring the correct ducts and piping materials are installed (e.g. a galvanised steel spiral duct). For more information, visit the Dustspares site.

Building fire safety

Your emergency response team must know about the factory itself and its potential hazards. This will include structural materials and whether they are fire-resistant, fire suppression systems, emergency markings and signage, local water supplies for sprinkler systems and preventative fire walls and doors.

Five Questions Small Retailers Should Ask When Hiring a Courier Service

Since the Royal Mail’s monopoly on parcel delivery ended, the market has been flooded with new delivery brokers and courier companies.

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The growth of the sector and its importance have also been affected by the change in the nation’s shopping habits, with online purchasing representing a huge part of the market, including for small and medium-sized businesses.

Retailers

Under the Sale of Goods Act it is the vendor’s responsibility to ensure that items reach the purchaser in good time and in a satisfactory condition. This means that small retailers must look at several issues before hiring their courier service.

1. Do you need to outsource a parcel distribution provider or contract a single carrier directly? If you are only sending out a few parcels each week, say 20, you should enter into an agreement directly. If you are sending significantly more locally, nationally and possibly internationally, an agent may be a better option as they will be able to reduce your costs significantly as they will negotiate group rates. Always ensure they are passing these savings on to you.

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2. If you have specialised goods, such as medical or frozen items, you will need to ensure that your chosen courier has experience in carrying these goods safely. Delicate goods such as glassware or toiletries will also need to be carried carefully. If you are selling clothes, you will need to cope with returns, and it is vital that you are dealing with a company that is used to this kind of activity and understands returns are likely across the period of the contract.

3. You may want to ensure quick delivery and so may be looking for same day couriers. Information about such firms is widely available online, including at sites such as http://allaboutfreight.co.uk/same-day-courier-service.

4. You may have clients overseas, and so you will need to ensure your courier also has facilities in the markets you are hoping to exploit. This can help to reduce shipping and customs fees. Your courier should also understand the potential impact of the UK leaving the EU.

5. Finally, your delivery provider’s service should integrate with your own website and platform. This will ensure both parties get automatic notification of new orders and the execution of deliveries.

Answers

Once you have the answers, you are ready to hire.

 

How Is Brexit Affecting Manufacturing Sentiment?

As the Brexit impasse continues to bring Westminster to a standstill, the picture for manufacturing is not looking bright. Though order books remained strong, business optimism fell at the fastest pace since the 2008 financial crisis, while concerns about the ability to obtain export orders are at their highest since the 2016 EU referendum.

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Brexit uncertainty is affecting the manufacturing sector, says the CBI, while an ongoing reluctance to invest has coincided with a crisis in business confidence. Though output continues to grow, uncertainty continues to paralyse manufacturers, who need the certainty that they’ll be able to trade with only minor disruption in global markets.

A Mixed Picture

Although 11% of firms claim to be more optimistic about their situation compared to three months ago, 34% are less optimistic — the biggest drop since 2016. And while over a quarter of firms saw output rise, it was still at a net lower level than before December.

This mixed picture continues in the number of new orders, which saw a net increase of 3% at the end of 2018 with domestic orders unchanged at 0% and export orders actually rising slightly. Output growth is predicted to show a 14% growth over the next three months.

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A No-Deal Brexit?

There’s no doubt that the prospect of a no-deal Brexit and disruption to just-in-time supply lines is weighing heavily on British business. In this scenario a business that’s just invested in a new vacuum conveyor system from aptech.uk.com/pneumatic-conveying-systems/vacuum-conveying/may find themselves with no product to move. It’s the risk of this frightening scenario that makes it vital that Theresa May and her government find a way to end the deadlock.

Looking Ahead

However, with both domestic price inflation and export price inflation expected to rise by nearly 20% in the next quarter, the outlook is definitely unsettled as a result of the Brexit uncertainty. 60% of businesses expect that uncertainty to impact on sales orders and limit output, and planned investment in training, product innovation and infrastructure is at a standstill and expected to fall as business meets the challenges of 2019 on Brexit Day in March.

But it’s demand uncertainty that remains the big challenge to manufacturers, with 58% saying it would limit capital spending. According to the CBI, a no-deal would be a disaster for British business.

5 Tips for Overhauling Your Office

How an office workplace environment is designed and fitted out can have a big impact on the productivity of employees. If you’re noticing that the performance of your employees isn’t as strong as it could be and workers are lacking motivation, it may be time to overhaul the office. After all, the workplace is where employees spend most of their time, so it’s important for the environment to be pleasant to work in. Here are five tips to help you overhaul your office and improve your workplace environment.

Go Back to Square One

Square one is how your office was before you introduced the items it currently has now. Over time, you will have likely collected a large amount of files, documents, letters and books that may not be needed anymore. Identify the items that you must keep by emptying all desks and drawers. Cleaning out the workplace and getting rid of clutter and unnecessary fixtures can make room for more important things that may come your way in the future. Removing clutter can also minimise distraction and boost productivity.

Have a Plan

It’s important to plan out exactly what your commercial office fitouts will involve before you begin. Buying random items without a plan can lead to doubling up on certain items, or buying pieces that aren’t suitable for your space. It’s therefore essential to research furniture that will suit the space. A mood board is a great way to experiment with styles before you start buying items, as you can easily edit and refine the board as your ideas develop and grow.

Assign Activity Areas

When you’re overhauling your office, it’s a good idea to allocate areas for different activities. For example, if your office often holds meetings with clients, you should have a specific space in your office for meeting rooms. Your office should also have break rooms and relaxation spaces where employees can go to unwind and relax on their breaks.

Invest in a Bulletin Board

Your office may be the centre of the day-to-day operations of your business, but it’s essential to show your employees that having a work life balance is important. To do this, place a bulletin board in a prominent spot in the office, such as the kitchen. On the bulletin board, place pictures of inspirational quotes along with business performance statistics. You can also put up details of events and activities that employees can participate in, such as fundraising events and team building days. This can help improve staff morale by making employees feel more like part of a team.

Make Use of Wall Space

An overhaul of existing commercial office fitouts can also involve maximising the space you have available by using any blank walls. The more you’re able to utilise wall space, the more space you’ll have to move around in the office. For example, you can choose to install floating shelves to hold books and documents, or hang pegboards to store office supplies.

 

 

How to Make Your Business Idea Fit for Crowdfunding

Launching a business is a daunting prospect. Many budding entrepreneurs often fail to succeed either because of lack of funding or because they don’t have the right business strategy. Getting the exposure and funds, you need to get the ball rolling can be done through several sources. People in business typically apply for a loan in a bank as starting capital. But what if a bank loan is not the most suitable option for your business idea? The possibility exists to use crowdfunding as an alternative method of getting investors to launch your business.

 

Crowdfunding is quite popular these days, and there are many crowdfunding for business websites that have been instrumental in the success of start-up companies. One famous example is the Oculus Virtual Reality Headset which began as a crowdfunding campaign and later on was bought by Facebook. If you have a unique and exciting concept, product, or invention, how do you transform your idea into a viable crowdfunding campaign?

 

Determine if crowdfunding is suitable for your business plan

 

It is essential to understand that crowdfunding is not a “one size fits all” solution. There are specific ideas and business plans that aren’t compatible with this method of receiving financial support to launch a business. The rule of thumb in identifying whether your campaign is fit for a crowdfunding platform is whether it provides value for a specific population and there is a possible reward you can offer the investors or backers.

Many ideas fit well with crowdfunding sites. Typical examples include tech gadgets and home inventions. But there are times when backers offer their support to ideas that don’t have tangible rewards. Overall, it depends on how you package your campaign and attract the interest of potential supporters.

 

Be ambitious with your goals

 

You need to begin your campaign with success in mind. While crowdfunding helps you gather funds, you don’t need to stop at this point. Aside from raising money for your campaign, you also need to set other goals for your business that you wish to achieve with the help of crowdfunding. For example, think about how to increase traction and exposure for your product so that when you launch, you already have a steady following and loyal customers.

 

Have a good incentive plan

 

Your incentive plan will help bring supporters to your campaign; therefore, it needs to be of value. You can either offer rewards to your backers or offer them shares in your business. In devising the right incentive plan for your campaign, consider how it helps motivate backers and encourage them to participate and invest in your campaign.

 

Have a strong marketing strategy

 

Your project page presents the campaign to users of a crowdfunding site. You need to create a page with high-quality graphics and videos. Aside from your project page, you also need to invest in marketing strategies such as Facebook and social media advertising. If you lack the confidence to market your campaign, you may also enlist the help of a marketing expert.

 

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