Keith Emery, leader of the qual i ty dr ive in

c o m m o d i t y operat ions, and Sue Ward , co l la tor

of the results, look pleased at progress so far.

M i ke Ebert and J o h n S luman d iscuss a qual i ty p rob lem in goods rece iv ing inspec t ion whe re a min iature vers ion of the scoreboard is d isp layed.

What's the score? "I w o u l d n ' t l ike t o be t o n t h e resu l t s , " sa id Ian Hamnni l l , as w e w e n t t o p ress .

As sec re ta ry of t h e QIP c o m m i t t e e a n d t h e p e r s o n r e s p o n s i b l e fo r d o i n g t h e s u m s , he w a s in t h e bes t p o s i t i o n t o assess the o u t c o m e of Char i t y C h a l l e n g e • 8 3 .

But the re w a s n o c e r t a i n t y t ha t t h o s e lead ing t h e f ie ld t h e n w o u l d st i l l be d o i n g so w h e n the c h a l l e n g e e n d e d o n 1 8 N o v e m b e r .

T h o s e w h o r o m p e d a w a y at t h e b e ­g i n n i n g c o u l d , he p o i n t e d o u t , run o u t o f pu f f be fo re t h e e n d , w h i l e t h o s e w h o h a d t o c lear a w a y t h r o u g h va r i ous d i f f i cu l t i es f i rst c o u l d s u d d e n l y p u t o n a f ina l s p u r t a n d surpr ise us a l l .

T h e cu r ren t qua l i t y i m p r o v e m e n t d r i ve has , of cou rse been g o i n g o n ever s ince t h e s p r i n g of 1 9 8 1 . It w a s b o o s t e d last a u t u m n by the i n t r o d u c t i o n o f o u r f i rst Char i t y Cha l l enge w h i c h resu l ted in a 1 5 per c e n t , qua l i t y i m p r o v e m e n t a c r o s s t h e s i te , a n d a c h e q u e fo r £ 3 , 0 0 0 f o r t h e C o b a l t U n i t A p p e a l F u n d .

The idea hav ing p r o v e d its w o r t h all r o u n d , t h e QIP c o m m i t t e e d e c i d e d t o r e i n t r o d u c e it last A u g u s t , in a m o d i f i e d f o r m , t o g ive a d d e d m o t i v a t i o n t o t h e qua l i t y d r i ve .

T h e m a i n d i f f e rence w a s t ha t , i n s tead of o n e s ing le f i gu re r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e w h o l e s i te , t h e p e r f o r m a n c e of i nd i v i dua l d e p a r t m e n t t e a m s s h o u l d b e m e a s u r e d .

a n d t h e f u n d s ra ised g o t o t h e cha r i t y (or be s h a r e d a m o n g t h e char i t ies) c h o s e n by t h e m e m b e r s o f e a c h t e a m .

It w a s a n n o u n c e d t h a t t h e c o m p a n y w o u l d d o n a t e £ 2 5 fo r eve ry 1 per c e n t , i m p r o v e m e n t in q u a l i t y a c h i e v e d d u r i n g t h e t h r e e a c c o u n t i n g p e r i o d s e n d i n g o n 1 8 N o v e m b e r , as c o m p a r e d w i t h resu l ts f o r t h e t h r e e p r e v i o u s p e r i o d s .

T h e y a lso p r o m i s e d a b o n u s o f £ 5 0 t o t h e t e a m t o p p i n g t h e l e a g u e e a c h w e e k ; th i s w o u l d be a d d e d t o t h e s u m d o n a t e d t o c h a r i t y a n d , o n c e e a r n e d , w o u l d be re ta i ned i r respec t i ve o f t h e p e r c e n t a g e a w a r d . (As it h a p p e n e d , t h e r e w a s a t ie r i gh t at t h e e n d o f t h e f i rst w e e k , so both t e a m s w e r e a w a r d e d £ 5 0 ! )

Sa id Ian, " T h e e n t r a n t s h a d t o sat is fy ce r ta in c o n d i t i o n s : t h e y h a d t o d e m o n ­s t ra te t h a t t h e y c o u l d m e a s u r e t h e q u a l i t y o f t he i r o u t p u t m e a n i n g f u l l y , a n d tha t th is m e a s u r e h a d b e e n in p l a c e d u r i n g t h e p r e v i o u s t h r e e p e r i o d s .

" W e h a d t o l o o k ca re fu l l y at t h e w o r k d o n e d u r i n g t h o s e p e r i o d s t o ensu re t h a t w e w e r e c o m p a r i n g l ike w i t h l ike. For e x a m p l e , as t he re h a d b e e n n o f i r s t - t i m e b u y i n g in c o m m o d i t y o p e r a t i o n s fo r t h e ear l ier t h r e e m o n t h s , resu l ts f r o m th i s ac t i v i t y w e r e o m i t t e d w h e n m e a s u r i n g t h e d e p a r t m e n t ' s q u a l i t y d u r i n g t h e c h a l l e n g e . "

T h o s e t e a m s w h o h a d no t d o n e t o o (Continued on page 2)

Charity Challenge we l l ear l ier o b v i o u s l y h a d p l e n t y of o p p o r t u n i t y for i m p r o v e m e n t , w h i l e t h o s e w h o h a d been s u c c e s s f u l h a d t o t r y even harder : b u t , as Ian p o i n t e d o u t , t h e la t ter had on l y t o m a k e t h e s l i gh tes t i m p r o v e ­m e n t in o r d e r t o qua l i f y f o r a d o n a t i o n .

" W e ' r e sa t is f ied t h a t t h e c h a l l e n g e is a fair o n e , r igh t ac ross t h e p l o t , " he sa id .

T e n T e a m s

W h e n t h e s t a r t i ng p i s to l w a s f i r ed o n 2 2 A u g u s t , a t o t a l of t e n t e a m s g o t of f the i r m a r k s .

Posters d i s p l a y e d a r o u n d t h e si te u p d a t e d w e e k l y , have b e e n k e e p i n g eve ryone i n f o r m e d a b o u t t h e resu l ts ach ieved by e a c h t e a m , a n d t h e w e e k ' s t o p t e a m have h a d the i r a c h i e v e m e n t h i g h l i g h t e d b y a n 8 f t x 3 f t b a n n e r ex ­h ib i ted in the i r a rea .

A t t h e h a l f w a y s t a g e , w e d i d a q u i c k r o u n d - u p o f t h e areas c o n c e r n e d t o see h o w t hey w e r e s h a p i n g u p .

Al l t h e a s s e m b l y areas — b i d . 3 2 , 2 3 7 0 , C B A a n d r e f u r b i s h i n g d e p a r t m e n t — w e r e m e a s u r i n g the i r qua l i t y by m e a n s of de fec ts at e n d - o f - l i n e a u d i t .

In C B A , Br ian M o u l d sa id t h a t , d e s p i t e d i f f icu l t ies w i t h pa r t s s u p p l y , t he i r qua l i t y results h a d b e e n g o o d . " In f ac t , w e h a d such g o o d resu l ts in t h e p r e v i o u s t h ree pe r i ods it 's b e e n d i f f i cu l t t o m a k e fu r ther i m p r e s s i o n . T h e nearer o n e g e t s t o zero de fec t s , t h e ha rde r it g e t s . "

Th is w a s e c h o e d by Br ian Greaves (b id . 3 2 ) w h o sa id : " M o s t m a j o r snags have been e l i m i n a t e d a n d w e are n o w d o w n to c o r r e c t i n g m i n o r d e f e c t s . " B i d . 3 2 w a s d i v i d e d in to t w o t e a m s , sh i f ts 1 and 2 . But , sa id Br ian , "If e i t he r t e a m gets to t he t o p o f t h e l e a g u e it re f lec ts we l l o n the qua l i t y o f t h e w h o l e d e p a r t ­m e n t , b e c a u s e m a c h i n e s g o i n g t h r o u g h aud i t rep resen t t h e c o m b i n e d w o r k o f b o t h sh i f t s . "

Like b i d . 3 2 , 2 3 7 0 a s s e m b l y h a d c o l l e c t e d b o n u s e s ear ly o n , a n d t h e y h a d a l ready a l l o c a t e d £ 2 5 0 in b o n u s a w a r d s to loca l char i t i es .

"It he lps t o m a i n t a i n in terest in t h e dr ive a n d keep u p t h e m o m e n t u m , " sa id M i k e Perkins.

In re fu rb ish ing o p e r a t i o n s , Ke i th Gran t t o l d us tha t the i r e f fo r t s h a d b e e n c o n ­c e n t r a t e d on i nc reas ing t r a i n i n g ac t i v i t i es t o i m p r o v e p r o d u c t k n o w l e d g e . D e s p i t e a b a d s tar t , he w a s ab le t o r epo r t t h a t the i r p e r f o r m a n c e w a s s h o w i n g c o n ­s ide rab le i m p r o v e m e n t .

"A f te r a shaky s ta r t , pa r t s m a n u ­f a c t u r i n g have n o w b e g u n t o m a k e real p r o g r e s s aga ins t t he i r p r e v i o u s g o o d base, w h i c h is t h e m o r e s i gn i f i can t w h e n v i e w e d in re la t ion t o t h e t r e m e n d o u s w o r k l o a d c h a n g e s n o w o c c u r r i n g in t h e d e p a r t m e n t , " c o m m e n t e d G r a h a m B u n t .

C o m m o d i t y ope ra t i ons ( i nc lud ing S Q A and g o o d s rece iv ing inspec t ion) m e a s u r e d their qua l i ty in t e rms of de fec ts in i n c o m i n g ba tches .

Stephen Powel l hands a cheque for £ 1 0 0 , represent ing 2 3 7 0 assembly 's f i rst t w o bonus awards, to Mrs. Margare t Seymour of the W e s t Dean Cancer Research Campa ign . Subsequen t awards of £1 5 0 w e r e d iv ided be tween three local hosp i ta ls — the Di lke, Lydbrook and Lydney.

Cycle coun t i ng superv isor Huber t S tephens w i t h Ross

Stevenson (centre) and (r ight) J o h n Hurley, carry ing out a

stores audit in the to te area.

Sa id Kei th E m e r y , leader o f t h e d r i ve : " W e h a d th ree g o o d m o n t h s p r io r t o t h e start of t he c h a l l e n g e a n d w e are t r y i n g t o i m p r o v e o n t h a t . W h i l e t h e overa l l t r e n d is g o o d , w e d o t e n d t o have peaks a n d t r o u g h s .

" W i t h regu la r o n - g o i n g j o b s w e rarely have re jec ts , bu t w i t h s m a l l e r a n d s p a s ­m o d i c b u y i n g it is m o r e d i f f i cu l t t o c o n t r o l t h e q u a l i t y o f s u p p l y . "

A s a c o n s t a n t r e m i n d e r t o staf f t o k e e p u p the e f fo r t , a d e p a r t m e n t a l s c o r e b o a r d w a s p u t o n d i sp lay . Th is s h o w e d t h e n u m b e r o f b a t c h e s a n d re jec ts w i t h t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f q u a l i t y c o n f o r m a n c e f o r t he p r e v i o u s w e e k a n d t h e c u r r e n t w e e k .

A m i n i a t u r e v e r s i o n o f th i s w a s d i s ­p l a y e d in g o o d s rece i v i ng i n s p e c t i o n w h e r e T o m m y Kn igh t ' s s ta f f w e r e f e e l i n g s o m e w h a t l ike Dev i l ' s a d v o c a t e s .

" A s pa r t of t h e c o m m o d i t y o p e r a t i o n s t e a m w e are na tu ra l l y keen t o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e d e p a r t m e n t a l s c o r e , bu t at t h e s a m e t i m e it 's o u r j o b t o l o o k f o r a n d r e c o r d a n y d e f e c t s in i n c o m i n g b a t c h e s . " ( W e a d m i r e y o u r i n teg r i t y , fo lks ! )

In p r o d u c t i o n s t o r e s , J u l i a n Haze l l t o l d us t h a t t h e y w e r e ab le t o use t h e n o r m a l i n te rna l aud i t ( cyc le c o u n t i n g ) as a m e a n s o f m e a s u r i n g q u a l i t y in t e r m s o f l o c a t i o n a c c u r a c y , so n o ex t ra w o r k w a s i n v o l v e d — a n d t h e resu l ts w e r e u n ­d e n i a b l y u n b i a s e d ! H e w a s ab le t o r e p o r t a s l o w u p w a r d t r e n d ove ra l l , a n d m o u n t ­ing in te res t as t h e f ina l w e e k s o f t h e c h a l l e n g e d r e w near.

" W e are a i m i n g to c u t d o w n t h e n u m b e r o f u n s c h e d u l e d d e m a n d s o n s to res w h i c h are c a u s e d b y v a r i o u s

f a c t o r s , m o s t o f w h i c h are b e y o n d o u r d i rec t c o n t r o l , " sa id Roge r S m i t h , w h o w a s c o - o r d i n a t i n g t h e e f fo r ts o f h is o w n area of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ( C B A / C M S A s h o p c o n t r o l ) w i t h t h o s e o f r e f u r b i s h i n g s h o p c o n t r o l ( M i k e M e e ) a n d c o n f i g u r a t i o n c o n t r o l ( D a v i d Dav ies ) .

" T h e C h a n t y C h a l l e n g e has ce r ta in l y f o c u s s e d o u r a t t e n t i o n m o r e sha rp l y o n t h e p r o b l e m a n d it has t r i g g e r e d of f s o m e n e w ideas .

" T h e s i t u a t i o n has b e e n u n s t a b l e a n d o u r p e r f o r m a n c e has been a l i t t le r a g g e d bu t f i g u r e s are s t a r t i ng t o s tab i l i se . W e are d e t e r m i n e d t o m a k e a s i gn i f i can t c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e c h a l l e n g e . " (As we went to press they topped the league/)

" C h e c k i n g t ha t s t o c k s are in t h e r igh t p l a c e a n d in t h e r igh t q u a n t i t y is of c o u r s e par t o f o u r s t a n d a r d h o u s e k e e p i n g , " sa id Char l ie W a l k e r ( supp l y w a r e h o u s e ) " b u t f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f t h e c h a r i t y c h a l l e n g e w e are d o i n g an i n c r e a s e d c h e c k , u s i n g t h e resu l ts t o m e a s u r e o u r qua l i t y a n d a n a l y s i n g t h e areas t h a t n e e d spec ia l a t t e n t i o n .

" T h e d r i ve has g e n e r a t e d a lot o f e n t h u s i a s m w i t h t h e w o r k f o r c e here a n d so far w e have h a d o n e hi t o n t a r g e t . "

A t o u g h o n e

Cur ren t c i r c u m s t a n c e s have cer ­ta in ly m a d e th i s Cha r i t y C h a l l e n g e a pa r t i cu la r l y t o u g h o n e .

N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e p o s t e r s have c lear ly s h o w n tha t o u r qua l i t y is i m p r o v i n g ove ra l l , a n d w e ' d h a z a r d a guess t h a t t h e f ina l h a n d o u t w i l l b e a ve ry hea l t hy o n e !

2

?romotion on the move

Up on the Downs The cho ice of the ' M a r a t h o n ' t h e m e for our new 1 0 Series mach ines is p rov i ng a w inner .

The name 'Ranl< Xerox ' has been ge t t i ng full f ron tage exposure — no t just in t he med ia , but on the man ly and w o m a n l y chests of t housands of runners all over the coun t ry .

It s tar ted w i t h t h e L o n d o n M a r a t h o n whe re a t e a m of runners c o m p e t e d in Rank Xerox co lou rs ; banners and marshal ls ' jackets spo r ted our l o g o : 1 0 Series m a c h ­ines p rov ided a useful repor t i ng faci l i ty : and the m o b i l e exh ib i t i on 'Showl ine r ' d is­p layed a c o m p l e t e range of 1 0 Series p roduc t s .

This w a s f o l l o w e d by ma ra thons at four reg ional venues o rgan ized by the UK C o m p a n y , w h i c h reached the f inish w i t h the No r th Kent event on 11 Sep tembe r .

Field events m a n a g e r Graham Mi tche l l t o ld us that they w e n t very we l l i ndeed . He w a s also de l igh ted to repor t tha t the 1 0 Series Games at Gateshead at the end of July (the f inal t rack and f ield mee t i ng before the W o r l d C h a m p i o n s h i p s in Helsinki) a t t rac ted star pe r fo rmers like Coe and Ovet t and earned 1 hr 2 0 mins . of BBC TV coverage — qu i te a c o m m e r c i a l !

Then on Sunday , 1 8 Sep tembe r , a p r o g r a m m e of 1 0 Series road races go t off the marks w i t h t he Bristol Festival of Runn ing .

There w a s no sho r tage of w i n d on the exposed expanses of t he Br isto l D o w n s that day, even if one cou ldn ' t say the s a m e of all t hose w h o pa r t i c i pa ted in t he f irst Rank Xerox 1 0 Series A A A 1 0 - k i l o m e t r e event (that's six mi les p lus, or a Va-mara thon) .

Steve Jones ( N e w p o r t Harriers) p roved an easy w i n n e r in 2 8 m ins . 4 3 sees, wh i l e W e s t b u r y (on-Trym) Harr iers t o o k the t e a m t i t le .

A l o n g w i t h t he el i te a th le tes race, a 4 0 0 - s t r o n g f ie ld en tered the 1 0 - k i l o m e t r e Corpora te Shie ld race for m e n and w o m e n in bus iness, the pro fess ions and pub l i c serv ice.

Lead ing ind iv idua ls and t e a m w inne rs in bo th these events w i l l g o on to take part in the f inal A A A c h a m p i o n s h i p event next Apr i l at C a n n o n Hill Park, B i r m i n g h a m , w h i c h wi l l be te lev ised.

The day's p r o g r a m m e c losed w i t h a 3 , 0 0 0 met re C o m m u n i t y Run for m e m b e r s of t he pub l i c , in w h i c h a g o o d many youngs te rs t o o k par t .

W i t h so m a n y peop le c o m p e t i n g , the D o w n s mus t have taken a h a m m e r i n g and are n o w p r o b a b l y s o m e w h a t l owe r than as s ta ted in t he loca l g u i d e b o o k s .

As m e n t i o n e d in an earl ier issue, th is series of road races ex tends in to spr ing 1 9 8 4 w i t h events at L i ve rpoo l , L o n d o n , N o t t i n g h a m a n d G l a s g o w : there wi l l a lso

Elite a th le tes at Bristol — Newpor t ' s Steve Jones , w i n n e r of the A A A 1 0 - k i l o m e t r e event is p ic tu red (centre) w i t h the runners-up. A n d the 10 Series s ign was we l l p laced too l

be a 1 0 - k i l o m e t r e in ternat iona l c ross ­coun t ry race o n 1 7 D e c e m b e r at I p s w i c h w i t h ch i ldren 's races and a fun run.

Down by the riverside

Enthusiast ic runners at Westbury -on-Severn — just some of the 1 2 0 w h o ran 'Round Rodley' .

Back in A u g u s t , Rank Xerox M i t c h e l d e a n also s u c c e e d e d in ge t t i ng s o m e p r o m o ­t iona l m i l eage ou t of an event w h i c h , t h o u g h no t on such a big sca le , p roved h igh ly popu la r in the loca l i ty .

Th is w a s the W e s t b u n / (on-Severn) Harvest W e e k e n d , a jo in t ven tu re by W e s t b u n / Parish Hall and W e s t b u n / Church.

The prev ious Sa tu rday , Kate Phil l ips had chosen the harvest queen and her a t t endan t s , a n d j u d g e d the c o m p e t i t i o n s for t he best m a n - m a d e vege tab le and the best s u n f l o w e r g r o w n by ch i ld ren .

Then on 2 7 A u g u s t t he ma in p ro ­g r a m m e s tar ted w i t h t he ' R o u n d Rodley Road Race' — a ' A - m a r a t h o n a round Glouces tersh i re lanes w h i c h a t t rac ted s o m e 1 2 0 enthus ias t ic runners, p lus t w o d o g s .

Rank Xerox M i t c h e l d e a n s p o n s o r e d the runn ing n u m b e r s , w h i c h w e r e s u r m o u n t e d by the RX l o g o , and w i t h these p inned o n the i r f ron ts , the par t i c ipan ts set off at m i d d a y in b laz ing hot sunsh ine .

First t o c ross the f in ish ing line w a s Billy M c L e o d w h o m a d e it in 3 7 m ins . 3 4 sees. , wh i l e his b ro the r Kenny c a m e sixth w i t h a

t ime of just under 4 0 mins . Billy w o r k s in t he fuser /p ressure rol l area

at M i t che ldean and Kenny in p r o d u c t i o n stores: they and their b ro ther R o y s t o n , w h o used t o be in eng ineer ing d e p a r t m e n t , we re fea tu red in V I S I O N over a year a g o a long w i t h o ther l ong -d i s tance runners on site.

The t r io is n o w a d u o (Roys ton is busy ' runn ing ' his o w n business) bu t Bil ly and Kenny are as keen as ever, t ak i ng par t in fun runs and ser ious c o m p e t i t i v e races over a w i d e area.

No t conten t w i t h that , they we re involved w i t h o rgan iz ing the n ine -m i l e road race round R o s s - o n - W y e he ld fo r t h e first t i m e last M a y under A A A rules.

" W e ran it o n a f i f ty - f i f ty bas is , " said Kenny. "Ha l f the p roceeds w e n t t o char i ty a n d half cove red the cos t of prizes and meda l s . There w e r e 2 6 7 entr ies and we ' re h o p i n g tha t 1 9 8 4 wi l l see many m o r e tak ing par t . "

(That m a y we l l t r igger off m e m o r i e s for s o m e p e o p l e of the 1 4 - m i l e road race — to Ross and back — w h i c h used to be an annua l event at M i t che ldean ! )

3

Our first robot

I weight

off their hands

The introduction of a robot into Mitcheldean, and in particular into building 32, is valuable from a number of viewpoints", says Kevin Horrobin, manager, low volume product assembly.

"Firstly, it has added to the building 32 small copier generic facility, in that it is a flexible facility able to adapt very easily to any change in our programme or model mix requirements.

"Secondly, and as important, it introduces us to the technology of robots, and in so doing provides valuable learning."

Supervisor Roger Preece presses the bu t ton that gets the robot go ing . A l l the programs are held on cassette and are fed in to the control console . To change the sequence of p ick ing, Roger has only to s w i t c h to the required program and turn a key.

The camera gets a c lose-up of the robot p lac ing a mach ine on a dol ly .

The very first industr ia l robo t t o be instal led, not just at M i t c h e l d e a n but in any E M S D loca t i on , arr ived in b i d . 3 2 this s u m m e r .

W h a t w a s the init ial react ion of i the shop f loor , w e w o n d e r e d ? Did peop le v i e w this n e w t e c h n o l o g i c a l species as s o m e k ind of mons te r?

Ope ra to r Lynne W a r d w a s surpr is ing ly ma t t e r - o f - f ac t a b o u t it. "I w a s g lad w h e n it w a s ins ta l led , " she sa id . "I t 's sav ing us a lot of t i m e and e f fo r t . "

Be ing a safety rep . , Lynne nevertheless app roves of its be ing kept inside a 2 0 f t square cage . N o t because it is likely to g o berserk and b i te peop le , but in o rder t o prevent a n y o n e ge t t i ng in the w a y of its a rm w h e n th is is m o v i n g .

If anyone opens the d o o r of t he cage , a safety dev ice cu ts off t he current i m ­med ia te l y , i m m o b i l i s i n g the robo t .

S t a n d i n g a b o u t 8 f t tal l (if y o u c o u n t its 3 f t s tand) , it has been instal led in t he f r a m e assemb ly area t o d o a l i f t ing j o b .

Th is area, w h i c h marks the start of t he ma in bu i l d , is basical ly w h e r e the s ide f rames are a s s e m b l e d t o the base o f t he mach ines . These are t hen p laced o n bu i ld dol l ies ready for c o n v e y i n g to t he ma in assemb ly l ines.

The 2 8 3 0 a n d 1 0 3 5 mach ines w e i g h qu i te a f e w p o u n d s at th is s tage , and a l though a w o r k handler w a s used or ig inal ly t o lift t he mach ines , it still had t o be o p e r a t e d manua l l y .

The 'Daros ' r obo t , h o w e v e r , be ing fu l ly

a u t o m a t i c a n d c o m p u t e r - c o n t r o l l e d , can c o p e w i t h t he w o r k una ided . It ' f lexes its musc les ' t o lift m o d e l s w h i c h dif fer in size a n d w e i g h t , m o v i n g t h e m f r o m the t w o separate t racks o n w h i c h they arr ive and p lac ing t h e m on a t h i r d .

Its in te l l igence, of cou rse , is due to its p r o g r a m m i n g , a n d its abi l i ty t o recogn ise s ignals f r o m a sys tem of sensors.

P i c k i n g a n d p l a c i n g

Af te r i nspec t i on , the mach ines f r o m each of t he t w o separate f r ame assemb ly l ines are g rav i t y - fed a long thei r t racks to a po in t outs ide the cage, then are fed th rough o p e n i n g s t o a set pos i t i on ins ide.

Index ing conveyors f inal ly pos i t i on the f rames ready for p i c k - u p by the robo t .

The r o b o t is p r o g r a m m e d to p ick t he m a c h i n e s up in a cer ta in sequence — say, a l ternate ly t w o 2 8 3 0 s , t h e n three 1 0 3 5 s .

Hav ing been s w i t c h e d o n , it t u rns first t o w h e r e a 2 8 3 0 shou ld be w a i t i n g . If a m a c h i n e is there , a sensor sends a s ignal t o say it can be p icked up : if it hasn't a r r ived, the r o b o t wa i t s pa t ien t ly unt i l it has.

T h e n , w i t h a bi t of heavy b rea th ing , it reaches d o w n . Its 'hands ' g r ip t he base o f the mach ine , lift it up and s w i n g it smoo th l y r o u n d to s lo t in to a bu i ld do l ly , fed au to ­mat ica l l y f r o m the pack ing area.

S ince the base m u s t fit exact ly in to the grooves of the dol ly , the cor rect pos i t ion ing o f t he lat ter is cruc ia l — and the robo t

4

w o n ' t release the mach ine unless all is as it shou ld be.

Sensors o n the side of the c o n v e y o r and sensing tape o n the do l ly itself s ignal if the latter is cor rec t ly o r i en ta ted . If no t , a red l amp f lashes a w a r n i n g a n d an ope ra to r c o m e s to adjust it. On ly then is the do l ly a l l o w e d to m o v e f o r w a r d in to the cage .

Sensors carry out a s e c o n d check inside the cage and the do l ly is u rged p n e u ­mat ica l ly in to its f inal pos i t i on .

Hav ing safely depos i t ed its bu rden , t he robo t returns to co l lec t the second 2 8 3 0 mach ine , then tu rns its a t t en t i on to the 1 0 3 5 s .

Al l th is is just one p r o g r a m e x a m p l e out of the robo t ' s to ta l 8 1 - p r o g r a m capabi l i ty .

The makers of the robo t , Da in i ch i -Sykes Robo t i cs L t d . , w h o are a Japanese-Engl ish a m a l g a m a t i o n , d id the init ial p ro ­g r a m m i n g for us.

Earlier this year a g r o u p cons is t i ng of M ike Gunn (TED), T o n y Tovey (MED) , Phil Davis (IE) and Roger Preece ( p r o d u c t i o n fo reman) w e n t t o t he c o m p a n y ' s Preston w o r k s for a t ra in ing course .

Ma in tenance peop le also a t t e n d e d a t ra in ing course pr ior t o the robo t ' s in ­sta l la t ion.

U s e f u l c o n t r i b u t i o n

This first s tep t o w a r d s robo t i cs invo lved a great deal of d e t e r m i n e d effort on the part of the team led by pro jec t m a n a g e r D o u g B rough ton .

There were some initial p rob lems, chief ly conce rn ing the t rack, but our robo t w a s s m o o t h l y 'p ick ing and p lac ing ' and m a k i n g a useful con t r i bu t i on to p roduc t i v i t y as w e w e n t to press.

V is i tors w i l l doub t less be very in terested in this latest add i t i on to t he a d v a n c e d t e c h n o l o g y e m p l o y e d in b id . 3 2 . Our engineers are just h o p i n g tha t the a t ten t i on w o n ' t tu rn the robo t ' s head — that c o u l d really fou l up the p r o g r a m m i n g !

A b o v e : A go -no go' po in t for do l l ies fed in f rom the pack ing area. Ind ica t ing the sens ing tape on a dol ly is M i ke Gunn of TED; w i t h h im are (centre) Dave Hart ( tool room) and M a l c o l m Wa lke r (works eng ineer ing) . L e f t : A 1 0 3 5 f rame assembly is inspec ted by Graham W h i t t a k e r pr ior to en ter ing the cage. Seen left is assembly operator M ike Humphr ies .

Tony Tovey (MED) and industr ia l eng ineer Phil Davis talk techn ica l i t i es .

Surrealist in the stores

m

Robin Phelps w i t h s o m e of his p ic tures.

Track ing d o w n u rgen t l y n e e d e d par ts keeps p rogress chaser Rob in Phelps o n his toes.

But c o m e l u n c h t i m e , he reaches fo r his ba l lpo in t a n d , escap ing in to t h e w o r l d of fantasy, c reates his o w n very ind iv idual sty le of p ic tu res in b lack a n d w h i t e . "It helps t o take the pressure o f f . " he says. As ou r p h o t o s h o w s , his c o m p o s i t i o n s are ful l o f s t r ange shapes — s o m e beaut i fu l , s o m e b izarre .

A c i ty of the fu tu re w i t h m o t o r i s e d h e d g e h o g s z o o m i n g a long the h i ghway ; a n igh tmar i sh f igure s t r i d ing t h r o u g h a forest ; t o u c h e s of h u m o u r a n d a lways lots of t rees and m o v e m e n t .

'Sur rea l i s t - type ' , is h o w he h imsel f descr ibes t h e m . "I l ike t o t ake p lenty of t ime over m y d r a w i n g s ; I g o o n add ing bits and s o m e t i m e s it's a year before I a m sa t is f ied . "

He confesses he w o u l d have l iked to be a f u l l - t ime art ist ; as it is, he puts his ta lents t o p rac t ica l use in o u t - o f - w o r k hours p r o d u c i n g ong ina l le t terheadings, bus iness and C h n s t m a s cards , and the occas iona l bit of s i g n - w r i t i n g .

5

New European centre

Don Brain of MED discusses the coun te rbo r i ng of the Haro ld Ennis f i ts a 9 4 0 0 fuser roll in the ho lder of a s ta in less magnet ic brush roll w i t h operator Lewis Brooks. s teel spray ing mach ine .

ROLLING OUT THE ROLLS The fo rmer fuser roll area in b id . 3 6 has doub led in size and increased its o u t p u t of rolls s ix fo ld.

This has come ' abou t as a result of a dec is ion, m a d e in A u g u s t 1 9 8 2 , tha t M i tche ldean shou ld b e c o m e the European centre for fuser /pressure roll p r o d u c t i o n .

The exist ing fac i l i ty w i t h i n the m a c h i n e shop was a l ready p r o d u c i n g C B A / D B A a n d 1 0 4 5 fuser rol ls. It n o w had t o be expanded to a c c o m m o d a t e manufac tu r ing faci l i t ies, t ransferred f r o m Venray , for t he p r o d u c t i o n of 1 0 4 5 pressure rol ls, 3 1 0 0 magne t i c brush rolls a n d 3 6 0 0 refurb ish fuser rolls.

Al together, the centre had to be capab le of hand l ing nine di f ferent t ypes of rol ls, rang ing in size f r o m one- t o 1 8 - p o u n d e r s .

Said J o h n Haggar , manage r of the pro ject : "The transfer of t he Venray fac i l i ty w o u l d , w e knew, require a ma jo r area re layout , and it w a s dec ided at an early stage t o take advan tage of th is and revise the layout of exist ing mach ines to imp rove w o r k f l o w and p roduc t i v i t y .

"The mos t cr i t ical part of the act iv i ty was the transfer, insta l la t ion and s ta r t -up of the 1 0 4 5 pressure rol l manu fac tu re .

"It was abso lu te ly v i tal tha t th is shou ld

not af fect Venray p r o d u c t i o n of t he 1 0 Series mach ine . At the same t ime d isrupt ion to ex is t ing C B A / D B A rol ls had to be kept t o a m i n i m u m . "

This m e a n t bu i l d ing up a buf fer s tock , bo th at M i t c h e l d e a n and at Venray , t o t i de us over t he six w e e k s du r i ng w h i c h the t ransfer w a s to take p lace.

W e have car r ied ou t a n u m b e r of m o v e s of m a n u f a c t u r i n g faci l i t ies in past years , but th is w a s the f irst t i m e e q u i p m e n t of such bulk had had t o be b r o u g h t across f r o m the Con t i nen t by road and sea.

Grit blast mach ines , me ta l a n d Te f lon spray ing m a c h i n e s , th ree mass ive ovens , c o o l i n g cab ine ts , lathes a n d s o m e h igh t e c h n o l o g y i nspec t i on e q u i p m e n t plus anci l lary i t ems a n d d o c u m e n t a t i o n m a d e up the l oad .

It w a s a b ig a n d c o m p l e x task ca l l ing for the c o m b i n e d exper t ise o f a t e a m d r a w n f r o m p r o d u c t i o n , Q A , w o r k s e n g i n e e n n g , M E D , IE, and the mater ia ls f unc t i ons .

In o rder t o ga in exper ience and t o p r o d u c e suf f ic ient buf fer s tocks of the 1 0 4 5 pressure roll t o cover the s i x -week t ransfer pe r i od , a t e a m of 1 1 (seven set ter ope ra to rs , th ree QC inspec to rs a n d f o re ­m a n T o n y W o o d ) w o r k e d fu l l - t ime in

Venray for a p p r o x i m a t e l y four m o n t h s pr ior to the m o v e .

P roduc t i on over there had t o c o n t i n u e r ight up t o t h e last poss ib le m o m e n t . " W e ope ra ted o n a blitz bas is , " says Dave M o n a g h a n (div is ional personne l ) , w h o w e n t over t o c o - o r d i n a t e t he m o v e .

First t o g o w a s the M e t c o C o m b i — an e i g h t - t o n gri t blast m a c h i n e — w h i c h had to be d i v ided into four sec t i ons before s tar t ing its journey .

The rest of the fac i l i ty f o l l o w e d in ins ta lments . On ly a shor t t i m e after a mach ine had ceased o p e r a t i o n , it w a s on a lorn/ and head ing for Eng land .

P roduc t i on at Venray f in ished on 2 0 Ju ly a n d the f inal s h i p m e n t of t he bulk e q u i p m e n t w a s car r ied o u t o n the 2 1 s t , w h e n the Venray p lant c l osed d o w n for the s u m m e r ho l iday .

The t i m i n g w a s cruc ia l a n d o n ou r s ide of t he Channe l J o h n H a g g a r w a s hav ing n i gh tmares a b o u t ferr ies s ink ing !

H o w e v e r , all e igh t lorry loads tu rned up safely. N o t tha t t he ope ra t i on w e n t w i t h o u t a h i t ch .

Says Dave: " D u r i n g the f inal w e e k there w a s a r e d e p l o y m e n t exerc ise at Venray — m a n y o f our c o n t a c t s m o v e d .

6

These three huge ovens were among the e q u i p m e n t b rought over f rom Venray for p roduc ing the 1 0 4 5 pressure rol ls. Here Dennis Pick is pu l l ing out a batch w h i c h have just been s toved at 4 0 0 ° C f o l l o w i n g thei r f i rst PTFE coa t ing opera t ion . Af ter coo l i ng they w i l l receive a second app l i ca t ion of coat ings .

B e l o w : J o h n Bush un­loads a batch of pressure rolls after the i r second coa t ing opera t ion . Fur-

\r s tov ing and coo l i ng fo l l ow .

all (works eng in -t of the centre low retired) co-Venray move.

A b o v e : Ferruccio Marangon (works eng ineer ing) and Roger Imm (MED) d iscuss d iamete r re la t ionsh ips of the pressure roll w i t h Steve W i l l i ams , copy lathe operator. F in ish - tu rn ing is the f inal opera t ion before inspec t ion .

Bill Hat ton (r ight) f i ts bear ings to the inspec ted rol ls, after w h i c h Dave Jones packs t h e m for despa tch to Venray.

"A dock str ike shut Fe l i xs towe and this led to conges t i on in the d o c k s on b o t h sides of the Channe l .

"Then r ight at the e n d , w h e n all else had gone , w e hit a snag w i t h the qual i ty e q u i p m e n t .

"This inc luded t w o laser m i c r o m e t e r s w h i c h c a m e into the ca tego ry of 's t ra tegic goods ' and the D u t c h author i t ies w e r e reluctant t o grant the necessan/ expor t l i cence."

There w a s a t w o - w e e k delay in ge t t i ng the vital papers t h r o u g h and fur ther nai l -b i t ing ensued!

But, desp i te e v e r / t h i n g , all w a s instal led in its n e w h o m e a n d re-qua l i f ied on schedu le , and w i t h i n six w e e k s of p r o ­duc t i on ceasing in Venray , w e w e r e p r o ­duc ing parts at M i t c h e l d e a n .

Wh i l e the remova l con t rac to rs w e r e respons ib le for carry ing ou t the re- insta l l ­a t ion of the mach inery , our o w n w o r k s eng ineer ing peop le s a w to it tha t t he r ight env i r onmen t and services w e r e p rov i ded .

Cleanl iness is essential in t he spray ing stage, and par t i t i on ing r ight up t o the roo f was erec ted to enc lose the n e w spray ing area, wh i l e non-s l ip safety f l oo r ing w a s laid in bo th spray ing and Q A areas.

Air capac i t y had v i r tual ly t o be d o u b l e d , electr ical runs increased, and a 2 , 0 0 0 -litre p ropane insta l la t ion p rov ided for the M e t c o - C o m b i ; for safety reasons th is had to be set into the bank on the w e s t s ide of

the bu i l d ing and a t r ench d u g across the road t o c a m / the p ipe l ines.

O u t g o i n g services had to be p r o v i d e d t o o — in t he curvy shape of e x t r a c t i o n / ven t i la t ion t r unk i ng .

"Cons ide r i ng the comp lex i t i e s of t he p ro jec t a n d the t i gh tness of the schedu le , the w h o l e ope ra t i on w a s a ma jo r ach ieve­m e n t and all t hose invo lved are to be c o n g r a t u l a t e d on the i r e f fo r ts , " says Graham Bunt , p r o d u c t i o n manager , par ts m a n u f a c t u r i n g , CBA and re fu rb ish ing .

K e e p i n g c o m p e t i t i v e

In a d d i t i o n to the mach ines t rans fer red f r o m Venray , w e have pu rchased t w o n e w m a c h i n e s f r o m Sw i t ze r l and w h i c h w i l l be used t o p r o d u c e b o t h t ypes of 1 0 4 5 rol ls. The mach ines , w h i c h w e r e u n d e r g o i n g ' p re -de l i ven / tests as w e w e n t t o press, have bu i l t - in qua l i ty checks and are l inked t o f o r m a m a c h i n i n g cell w i t h t he c o m ­p o n e n t s be ing au toma t i ca l l y t rans fer red f r o m one m a c h i n e t o ano the r , t hus great ly i m p r o v i n g p roduc t i v i t y .

Says G r a h a m , " W e w i l l c o n t i n u e to rev iew m a n u f a c t u r i n g m e t h o d s fo r means of ach iev ing fu r ther p roduc t i v i t y i m p r o v e ­m e n t s ; th is is v i ta l in o rder t o rema in c o m p e t i t i v e in p r o d u c i n g our cur ren t rolls, and also t o increase the o p p o r t u n i t y t o c o m p e t e for n e w w o r k . "

(See page 8 for the 'High-tech quality' approach)

G o o d teamwork "I don't think any other group from Mitchel­dean has ever gone to work in another Rank Xerox location in the same way, so f rom that point of view it was a unique project," said foreman Tony Wood , who led the team in Venray.

"We worked very closely as part of the Venray team, building up buffer stock and gaining experience. Some of the machines were fairly new to the people over there too.

"We found the Dutch very co­operative and they made us feel ven/ welcome. We got a good relationship going."

While three men stayed in Venray itself, the rest were accommodated at a hotel in Wanssum. "We felt part of thefami ly there," said Dennis Pick, who had never been abroad before, "and the food was the best we found anywhere. Beer was a lot stronger (we wondered why we couldn't keep up wi th the Dutch at first) and the TV commercials were a lot longer."

The RXMP team worked three shifts: they went home alternate weekends, and made full use of their weekends in the Netherlands to explore the country and see something of Belgium and Germany too.

Steve Will iams recalls one evening when they went to Venlo. "It was a terrible night and we got lost on the way home. We arrived at what we thought was a level crossing and waited for the train to pass. But it turned out to be the German border!"

7

Measuring results

Hi-tech

quality

Since they f u n c t i o n ' w h e r e the rubbe r hi ts the road ' (or rather w h e r e the i m a g e is f i xed on the copy paper) the rolls w e manu fac tu re have t o mee t the m o s t s t r ingent qua l i t y requ i rements .

A b lemish o n the rol l w o u l d m e a n a b lemish on the c o p y , and fo r th is reason 1 0 0 per cen t , i nspec t ion is essent ia l .

The rol ls are ind iv idual ly w r a p p e d or earned o n specia l rack ing to p ro tec t t h e surface, but never theless they are f i rst checked visual ly in t he Q A area fo r any s ign of d a m a g e : the insides t o o are e x a m i n e d for any sca l ing us ing a ' scope ' w i t h a spot l igh t at o n e end and an eyeg lass at t he other.

I n t e r p r e t a t i v e g a u g i n g In add i t i on to visual checks , i nspec t i on

involves the use of a var iety o f g a u g e s — f rom those w h i c h veri fy t he th ickness o f t he PTFE or PFA coa t i ngs t o a n e w in terpre t ­at ive gauge for check ing the 1 0 4 5 fuser and pressure rolls pno r t o c o a t i n g .

Explains Geoff Darke, par ts manu fac tu r ­ing QA manager, "This n e w gaug ing checks all cr i t ical d imens ions by means of e lec­t ron ic p robes and the results are d isp layed in co lumns for check ing by set ter , ope ra to r and inspector . The da ta can a lso be interfaced in to a 's tats analyser' w h i c h w i l l def ine the process capab i l i t y a n d assist in ongo ing p r o d u c t i o n qua l i ty c h e c k s . "

The 1 0 4 5 pressure roll has a m a c h i n e d prof i le w h i c h mus t be m a n u f a c t u r e d t o very t ight to le rances , and w h e n it c o m e s t o

T o p : T o m Davis places a 1045 pressure roll on one of the ' laser mikes ' for measurement ; the data is recorded on a f l oppy disk. A b o v e : f l oppy disk in to the m in i - compu te r for analysis of the data.

measu r i ng th is , it all starts t o s o u n d a l i tt le the leng th of bi t l ike sc ience f i c t i on — or at least like a w e l l - k n o w n Ital ian car adver t i sement : m e a s u r e d by a laser, w r i t t en o n a f l o p p y disk, ana lysed by a c o m p u t e r .

These rolls t ravel by conveyo r in to a special tempera tu re -con t ro l led r o o m whe re each is m o u n t e d o n o n e o f t w o ' laser mikes ' — op t i ca l scann ing m i c r o m e t e r s tha t use a laser l ight source and are capab le of measu r ing to an accuracy of t w o m i c r o n s ( . 0 0 0 0 8 Ins.).

The roll is he ld on l i t t le axles and s p u n , and the measur ing carr iage s lowly traverses

Roger M e e k feed ing a

the

Wayne Ruddy carries out an in ternal i nspec t ion of a 9 4 0 0 fuser ro l l .

the leng th of t h e ro l l , m e a s u h n g d iame te r var ia t ion all t h e w a y a l o n g .

Al l the i n f o rma t i on is r e m e m b e r e d a n d then d u m p e d o n t o a f l o p p y disk. A pair of f l o p p y disks ho lds all the i n f o r m a t i o n o n a ba t ch of 7 2 rol ls, p lus t he m e a s u r e m e n t s of a mas te r ro l l , for re ference.

The m e a s u r e m e n t s are so f ine tha t specks of dus t o n the rol l are d e t e c t e d .

The f l o p p y d isks are t hen passed across to a m i n i - c o m p u t e r , w h i c h reads in t he data for analysis. A short report is generated o n each b a t c h , w i t h t he v i ta l s tat is t ics o f each roll l i s ted.

A n y tha t appear t o be o u t - o f - t o l e r a n c e , or o t h e r w i s e of par t i cu la r in terest , can be g iven a ful l analys is , w h i c h gives all the impor tan t results at fou r -m i l l ime t re intervals d o w n the leng th of t ha t rol l — a n d even p lo ts ou t t he pro f i le , so t ha t y o u can see at a g lance w h e r e a b o u t s on the rol l t o look for the f l aw .

The m i n i - c o m p u t e r be ing used is one recent ly re t i red f r o m b i d . 3 2 w h e r e it w a s the n o r t h l ine D A A S s y s t e m .

D o n S o u t h e y of M E E a n d o thers pu t in a lot of w o r k in a shor t t i m e to get it runn ing the analys is p r o g r a m s , and the dead l ine w a s just me t .

At t he t i m e of w r i t i n g , t he c o m p u t e r w a s t empo ra r i l y set up in the foyer of b id . 3 6 , a m o n g s t the po t t ed p lants and nat ional f lags , w h e r e it w a s ope ra t i ng happi ly .

8

Letter O B I T U A R Y

W e report wi th regret the deaths of the fol lowing: —

George F r i cke r

George was one of the 'pioneers' who came down from London in 1 9 4 1 to help set up British Acoustic Films, as the company was then known, at Mitcheldean.

He became supen/isor of the tool room in 1 9 4 6 and, when he retired in October 1 9 6 8 after 4 0 years wi th the company, he was our longest serving employee.

George is remembered as a deeply re­ligious man (he was, in fact, a lay preacher) who was intensely loyal to the company, setting high standards and expecting them of his staff,

"At the same t ime, he was a very human person," recalls Ted Chadd, who worked in the tool room during George's time. "Every morning at 8 a.m. he would walk round the shop and greet everyone, and he took a personal interest in all of us and our families."

He was 61 when he died on 5 August.

Cyr i l Beard Cyril, who died on 5 September aged 6 3 , was one of the best known personalities at Mitcheldean.

Having come to us originally as a stock-checker in 1 9 4 7 , Cyril left after a few years, but returned to production control in 1 9 5 7 . Then in 1 9 5 9 he and his wife Nancy were 'called to the bar' as joint stewards of the club house.

Their energy and reliability in this role were almost legendary, and they were delighted when greatly improved facilities became available wi th the opening of the new club house.

In 1 9 8 0 , not long after Nancy's death, Cyril retired, having completed over 2 0 years' service wi th the company and the club. It was sad that what was a notable day for the latter (see page 10) should also have been the day of Cyril's funeral.

Les Ler igo Les was only 46 when he died suddenly on 10 September.

He started at Mitcbeldean back in 1 9 6 2 , working on the assembly of the 9 1 4 and its successors. He was most recently a mech­anical adjuster in the final run and test area (north line) in bid. 3 2 .

A bachelor, Les was always a keen darts and skittles player and he regularly took part in the interdepartmental skittles tournament.

Our sympathy goes to the families of all three men.

New venue for social It's n ice t o have s o m e t h i n g t o look f o r w a r d t o w h e n all t he Chr is tmas fest iv i t ies are over, so make a no te of th is da te , all y o u long-servers :

S a t u r d a y , 2 1 J a n u a r y , 1 9 8 4 a t 8 . 0 0 p . m .

That 's w h e n the annua l social of t he Long Serv ice Assoc ia t i on w i l l be he ld in the Spor t s & Soc ia l Club f u n c t i o n r o o m (not t he b a l l r o o m as in p rev ious years).

Recent changes have had their ef fect o n the assoc ia t i on , and the event w i l l be s o m e w h a t d i f ferent in sty le bu t , as a lways , it's a great o p p o r t u n i t y t o r enew o ld f r iendsh ips and en joy a cha t w i t h o the r long-servers .

All m e m b e r s , and t hose ret i red m e m b e r s w h o qual i fy , are w e l c o m e t o c o m e a long and , if they w i s h , t o b r ing one guest each ( m e m b e r s f ree, guests £ 2 , re f reshments inc luded) .

If you in tend t o c o m e , just fill in the f o r m b e l o w and send it t o arrive no t later than M o n d a y , 1 2 Decembe r .

W e shou ld po in t ou t , h o w e v e r , tha t s ince the a c c o m m o d a t i o n in the c l ub house is l im i ted t o 2 0 0 , it w o u l d be w i se t o reply as s o o n as poss ib le , enc los ing a rem i t t ance if app l i cab le ( cheques /POs t o be m a d e ou t t o t reasurer A lan Cr /er ) .

Please no te tha t t ranspor t w i l l no t be ava i lab le .

1 1 ] TO: A l a n Cryer, LSA Treasurer , , I I P a y m e n t O p e r a t i o n s , B id . 2 3 / 2 , I I Rank X e r o x L i m i t e d , I I M i t c h e l d e a n , G los . [

I I w i l l be c o m i n g t o t h e soc ia l o n 2 1 J a n u a r y , 1 9 8 4 , a n d j ] I w i l l / w i l l n o t be b r i n g i n g a gues t . j

I I e n c l o s e my r e m i t t a n c e of £ 2 . i

I (Please delete where not applicable). i

I N a m e ( b l o c k le t te rs) i

! A d d r e s s [

Autumn intake

W i t h m o s t of today 's mach inery be ing compu te r - con t ro l l ed , an i n t roduc t i on to compu te r t e c h n o l o g y and the w r i t i n g of p rograms for eng ineer ing app l i ca t ions is n o w a part of our appren t ice t ra in ing . " W e try t o get t h e m invo lved at an early s tage" , says ins t ruc tor Dave M a t t h e w s , p ic tu red d e m o n s t r a t i n g a m i c r o c o m p u t e r to the six f i rst -year s tuden ts w h o j o i n e d us in Sep tember . They are ( f rom left) Jan ie Phelps, Steven Davis, Ju l i an Priest, Carl Beizsley, A n d r e w Por t lock and Ian Br i t ton .

9

Clubs

The slate

is wiped clean

On Friday, 9 S e p t e m b e r , exact ly f ive years to the day since the off ic ial o p e n i n g of t he c lub house by the then cha i rman of Rank Xerox, the Spor ts & Socia l C lub f inal ly pa id off the m o r t g a g e on the p roper t y .

Club cha i rman Reg Tay lor h a n d e d over a b u m p e r cheque for £ 3 5 , 0 0 0 to d i rec to r Chris W o o d at a l unch t ime ga the r ing of members , and rece ived in return t he lease of the bu i l d ing .

For the past f e w years the c lub has been paying off an interest- f ree loan f r o m the c o m p a n y of £ 1 2 7 , 7 6 2 ; th is s u m enab led it to put up the m u c h needed n e w bu i ld ing to be held on a 9 9 9 - y e a r lease f r o m the company .

One for the a lbum — the S&SC c o m m i t t e e and personne l manager Derek Kn ibbs at the presenta t ion of a £ 3 5 , 0 0 0 cheque to d i rec tor Chris W o o d by c lub cha i rman Reg Taylor.

It w a s a n n o u n c e d at the last annua l genera l mee t i ng that on ly t w o years' pay­m e n t s rema ined to be m a d e in o rder t o d i scha rge the to ta l deb t .

But t he c o m m i t t e e later dec ided tha t , s ince f unds w e r e avai lable, the slate shou ld be w i p e d c lean w i t h a s ing le f inal paymen t of £ 3 5 , 0 0 0 .

M r W o o d , w h o had k indly agreed to be pres ident of t he c l ub , o f fered m e m b e r s his cong ra tu l a t i ons . " I t is s o m e t h i n g y o u can be yen / p r o u d of , " he sa id.

To ce lebra te , Reg Tay lor a n n o u n c e d that all dr inks tha t n igh t in the c lub house w o u l d be 4 0 p , w h i c h me t w i t h an en thus i ­ast ic r ecep t i on !

It m i g h t be t h o u g h t tha t c lub m e m b e r s mus t have g o n e in for s o m e heavy dr ink ing recent ly t o make the d i scha rg ing of the deb t poss ib le !

But t he fac t is tha t the ma jo r c o n ­t r i bu t i ons t o t he c lub 's i n c o m e c o m e f r o m the h igh ly success fu l bonanza d r a w , sub ­sc r ip t ions ( w h i c h rece ived a n e w in jec t ion thanks t o the i n t r o d u c t i o n of fami ly m e m b e r s h i p ) , snooker , fruit m a c h i n e and juke box pro f i ts and soc ia l ac t iv i t ies .

The c o m m i t t e e w e r e c a u t i o u s a b o u t say ing w h a t t he ef fect of no longer hav ing to make th is annua l p a y m e n t t o the c o m p a n y w o u l d be , but t hey d i d say tha t they h o p e d to be ab le to stabi l ise pr ices, w h i c h is g o o d n e w s !

Golfers hit a new high Twenty m e m b e r s of the Golf Soc ie ty travel led, f r o m var ious po in ts of G louces ­tershire, to H e n b u r / Golf C lub last A u g u s t to c o m p e t e for the Amer i ca ' s Cup over 3 6 holes of s tab le ford c o m p e t i t i o n .

On a day m o r e su i ted to s u n b a t h i n g than a 1 2 - m i l e t w i c e - r o u n d - t h e - c o u r s e hike, the overal l s tandard of go l f p layed was probab ly the h ighest ever ach ieved by the society.

Emerging f r o m the m o r n i n g r o u n d w i t h a score of 41 p ts , Des G ibbs w a s the leader at l unch t ime , c losely f o l l o w e d by Frank Baker and Nige l Bayliss w h o b o t h scored 4 0 pts.

Forti f ied by a p l o u g h m a n ' s l unch , an assault on the course w a s again under taken by a valiant t w e n t y . The best a f t e rnoon per fo rmance c a m e f r o m Denn is Ede w h o accumu la ted 4 2 pts. S e c o n d in the af ter­noon w i t h 4 0 pts w a s Dav id J a m e s — Trevor Jones and D o n M e e k shar ing th i rd place w i t h 3 6 pts.

W h e n the morn ing and a f te rnoon scores were a d d e d , the f inal p lac ings w e r e : 1st Dennis Ede w i t h a score of 7 6 p ts ; 2 n d David James w i t h 7 5 pts and 3 r d , o n coun t -back , Des Gibbs , also w i t h 7 5 p ts .

W i n d y C l e v e d o n

On a Sep tember day w h e n the w i n d s b lew at gale force, the soc ie ty v is i ted

C levedon Golf C lub , s i tua ted on the banks of the Severn Estuary.

The p u r p o s e of the visit w a s to c o m p e t e for the In te rdepar tmen ta l Cup over 3 6 holes of m e d a l play, t he c o m p e t i t i o n be ing open t o t e a m s of th ree, w i t h t h e t w o best scores fo r each r o u n d t o c o u n t t o w a r d s the t e a m t o t a l .

Ind iv idua l pe r f o rmances in the m o r n i n g i nc luded a remarkab le score f r o m Mark Barnard of 7 2 g ross ( 6 6 net) ; s e c o n d w a s Keith W i n t e r w i t h 8 9 gross ( 7 0 net) , a n d th i rd p lace w a s shared by M i k e N e w l o v e 7 8 g ross (71 net) and Bill Meek 8 0 g ross (71 net) .

A f ter lunch the w i n d s b l ew harder a n d cer ta in ho les — the 'cast le ho le ' , in par­t icu lar — c a m e c lose to be ing d e e m e d unp layab le .

The tee r e s e m b l e d a dr iv ing range w i t h the n u m b e r of bal ls be ing s t ruck off t he tee, on ly t o d i sappear in to the u n d e r g r o w t h t o be f o u n d at a later da te by the m a n a n d his t w o d o g s .

In these c o n d i t i o n s a t ru ly as ton i sh ing score w a s re tu rned by Ron Carter w h o , p lay ing off a h a n d i c a p of 1 9 , re tu rned a net score of 6 2 (yes, 621). S e c o n d w i t h a g ross 8 6 ( 6 6 net) w a s Dave Tyler, w h i l e Kei th W i n t e r , 9 1 g ross ( 7 2 net) , a n d Nige l A l l s o p p , 8 8 g ross ( 7 2 net) shared th i rd p lace.

W h e n the scores w e r e ana lysed for the t e a m phze at the end of t he day, the 'R iggers ' , cons i s t i ng of M a r k Barnard , Dave Tyler a n d Dave J a m e s , w e r e f o u n d to be the r u n a w a y w i n n e r s , bea t ing by 1 6 sho ts t he 'Ou tsou rce rs ' — D o n Meek , Bill M e e k a n d N ige l A l l s o p p .

Cong ra tu la t i ons to the t e a m f r o m bu i l d ing 3 2 — yet ano the r success s tory for tha t area.

P e n H i g h

A N Y N E W S F O R V I S I O N ?

If you have, t hen p lease — mai l it to me c /o Corporate Affairs, Bid 4 4 / 4 , or leave it at any Gate House for co l l ec t i on by me, or pos t it t o me at Tree Tops, P lump Hi l l , M i t che ldean , or r ing me — ext 5 6 6 or Dean 5 4 2 4 1 5. Myrtle Fowler, Editor

10

Clubs

Mixing their drinks! The in terdepar tmenta l skitt les m ixed sect ion has been m ix ing its dr inks .

Last year all those w h o t o o k part in the t o u r n a m e n t w e r e inv i ted t o b r ing a guest a l ong t o the f inals even ing w h e n they en joyed d a n c i n g , en te r ta inmen t and a free 'dose ' of Dr Pepper 's dhnk .

This year it w a s a case of ' same again ' , excep t tha t W h i t b r e a d F lowers sponso red the even ing and there w a s a p int of their n e w e s t b r e w . Poacher Bitter, at a specia l ba rga in pr ice, t oge the r w i t h free p ints for t h o s e w i t h lucky cards .

The tournament had been wel l suppor ted a n d the f u n c t i o n r o o m w a s b r i m m i n g over o n the even ing of Saturday , 8 Oc tobe r .

The f inal ists we re the Tens & Eights (b id . 3 2 ) and Half & Half (a l as t -m inu te en t ry f r o m elec. subs, gir ls and CBA chargehands ) w h o beat the P O W s Lydney a n d T e a m Spir i t in the semi- f ina ls .

The Tens & Eights, cap ta ined by M a r y Davis , c a m e top w i t h a score of 2 9 9 aga ins t the 2 7 9 scored by Half & Half (capta in Trevor Jones) .

W i n n i n g t eam m e m b e r Dave E lsmore p roved the t o p men's ind iv idual scorer w i t h 6 0 pins, after a bow l -o f f w i t h J o h n W a l b y of the POWs, wh i le Ellen Ba ldw in , one of Nora's Batty's (f inance) w a s 'f irst lady' w i t h 4 4 pins.

Chai rman Reg Tay lor pa id a w e l l -deserved t r ibute to Graham W e l c h ' w h o has d o n e a great j o b over the past f e w years in organ is ing the t ou rnamen t ' .

A n add i t iona l p resenta t ion of tankards w a s made by local sales manage r G r a h a m Marshal l to the w i n n e r s of t h e ' p u b spor ts contests o rgan ised by W h i t b r e a d F lowers as fo l lows: skitt les — Chris W a r r e n , runner-up Ben Butler; dar ts — Graham Gr ind le , runner -up Phil Burns and p o o l — Dave Bennet t , r unne r -up Mar t i n Powe l l .

T o p : W i n n i n g smi les f rom the Tens & Eights, capta ined by Mary Davis; far r ight is Dave Elsmore, the men 's h ighes t ind iv idua l scorer. C e n t r e : The runners-up. Half & Half, capta ined by Trevor Jones ; far left is A l i s o n Marshal l , w i fe of the W h i t b r e a d F lowers sales manager, w h o presented the t roph ies . L e f t : Ellen Ba ldw in , t o p ladies ' ind iv idua l scorer, receives her award f r o m Mrs . Marshal l .

Busy winter programme Hav ing lost the major i ty of their c o m m i t t e e m e m b e r s , the Ama teu r C o m p u t e r Club held an ex t raord inar / general mee t i ng at the end of Sep tember to take s tock of the present s i tuat ion and d iscuss the fu ture d i rec t i on of the c lub .

The large number of a t tendees at mee t ings these days are under 2 1 years of age ( t hough they make up in en thus iasm for w h a t they lack in age!) and they are want ing to do some th ing more const ruct ive than just p lay c o m p u t e r g a m e s .

" W e in tend to run the c lub in a f r iend ly and in formal w a y , and w e are all set for a very busy and cons t ruc t i ve t i m e , " Keith Jones to ld us.

"The w in te r p r o g r a m m e wi l l i nc lude a series of talks on Basic and mach ine c o d e p r o g r a m m i n g ; we' l l also have talks by

ou ts ide speakers, rev iews of a d d - o n equ ip ­men t and o ther c o m p u t e r sys tems b o t h for h o m e and business use . "

J o i n i n g t h e s c o u t s

Early in the N e w Year the c lub are leaving their n o r m a l venue , Bern/ Hill Soc ia l C lub, t o jo in t he c u b - s c o u t s of N e w e n t for an even ing in our o w n c lub house w h e r e lots of c o m p u t e r s w i l l be avai lab le fo r all t o see.

The m e e t i n g is be ing a r ranged t h r o u g h Peter Street w h o organ izes ou t i ngs for the pack. " W e ' r e e m b a r k i n g o n a t h e m e of ' c o m m u n i c a t i o n s ' and th is w i l l be our f irst mee t i ng o n tha t sub jec t , " he t o l d us.

The c o m p u t e r c lub are a lso a im ing to increase pub l i c awareness of the i r act iv i t ies t h r o u g h the local press.

" M o r e and more peop le are buy ing h o m e c o m p u t e r s ; even grann ies are ge t t i ng t h e m for the i r o w n use , " said Kei th , " a n d w e ' d be g lad to have t h e m c o m e a long to the c lub to ta lk t o ex is t ing users a n d ge t s o m e u n ­b iased adv i ce before m a k i n g a pu r chase . "

W e d d i n g

Jill Smith (central data services) to Wi l l iam Jones at the Wesley Chapel, Cinderford, on 2 4 September.

Bi r ths

Nicholas Brian, a son for Brian Bell (PCD) and his wife Lynne, on 1 4 April.

Marc Robert, a son for Robert Butler (production control) and his wife Deborah, on 31 August.

Lisa Jane, a daughter for Colin Goodrum (production control) and his wife Jane (formerly finance dept.), on 15 September.

Ob i t ua r y

W e report w i th regret the deaths of the fo l lowing: Peter Basten (assembly) on 18 August aged 49 after five years' service; John Sawyer (engineering) on 3 October aged 42 after 12 years' service; pensioners Bert Hawkins on 21 September aged 66 : Fred Hendy on 1 5 August aged 6 9 : Leslie Hamblin on 2 8 September aged 63 ; Fred Hillman on 1 October aged 5 9 ; Les East on 10 October aged 69 .

1 1

umping to r: If you're seeking a challenging sport, or the Ghost of Christnnas Calones to Conne is haunting you. or you are simply eager to find out nnore about the ganne of volleyball, then this article by Rod Ireland is for you:

What is volleyball? Vol leybal l is c o m p a r a t i v e l y a m ino r i t y

sport in Br i ta in, in con t ras t t o the rest of t he civi l ised w o r l d .

It is a fast and exc i t i ng g a m e , but i ronical ly it began as an a l ternat ive for ove rwe igh t A m e r i c a n s unab le to c o p e w i t h the stress of basketba l l at the tu rn of the cen tu r / .

As the g a m e d e v e l o p e d , its popu la r i t y was spread overseas by US se rv i cemen , and t oday it is t he na t iona l spor t of m a n y countr ies.

The beauty o f vo l leyba l l is tha t it can be played at any level , f r o m a fami l y soc ia ge t - together , t o the he igh ts of t o p inter­nat ional c o m p e t i t i o n w h e r e the ball has been measured at speeds of up to 1 2 0 m p h .

The g a m e takes p lace, i ndoors or ou tdoo rs , on a cour t s o m e w h a t smal le r than a tennis cour t and d i v ided by a net eight feet ta l l .

The ball itself is leather, and smal ler and l ighter than a foo tba l l .

It is also ex t remely expens ive and ex­t remely w h i t e , and in o rder t o keep it in th is prist ine cond i t i on , the ob jec t of t he g a m e is to prevent it h i t t ing the g r o u n d w i t h i n the court on you f s ide of the net. H o w e v e r , y o u score po in ts by in f l ic t ing th is i g n o m i n y o n your o p p o n e n t s .

There are six players in a t e a m , and as the ball f l ies back and fo r th over t he net , each team may have up to three t o u c h e s before the ball is re tu rned .

Contact mus t be m a d e w i t h a rms and hands (and occas iona l l y the face if c o n ­centrat ion is lost!) t o be legal .

Vol leybal l has recent ly been g iven te le­vision coverage on Channel 4 , a n d w i l l be given p rom inence in the next O l y m p i c Games.

Its deve lop ing a t t rac t i on as a spec ta to r sport is unders tandab le w h e n the cour t ac t ion cu lminates in a p layer soar ing a b o v e the net to smash the ball d o w n w a r d s past his (or her) o p p o n e n t s ' f la i l ing a r m s to t he rapturous applause of a packed s t a d i u m .

For m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n . Rod advises you t o c o n t a c t e i ther you r local spor ts cent re , or get in t o u c h w i t h h im (Dean 5 6 3 0 4 6 , or in area personne l senyices, b i d . 4 4 / 4 ) .

As cha i rman of the Coun ty Vo l leyba l l Assoc ia t i on , Rod is a m ine of i n fo rma t i on o n the sub jec t : he is ven / keen t o p r o m o t e the spor t and w a s p leased to tel l us tha t beg inners ' classes have n o w been s tar ted up in th is area — at N e w e n t , C inder fo rd , a n d m o r e recent ly at Lydney (a d o n a t i o n f r o m the c o m p a n y has he lped to f inance the latter).

R o d , inc identa l ly , cap ta ins three s ides: the Coun ty s ide: Du lux Glos. (Lydney) w h i c h plays in the S o u t h - W e s t Nat iona l League: and Doub le V i e w Club (Cinderford) w h i c h plays in the N o r t h Gloucestersh i re League .

He recent ly l imped back in after tak ing the Du lux Glos . s ide t o a th ree -day inter­nat ional vol leybal l t o u r n a m e n t in Guernsey! Un fo r t una te l y he in jured his ankle and w a s unab le to p lay after t he first day, but the t e a m c a m e a respec tab le f ou r th ou t of 1 2 , so he wasn ' t t o o d i s a p p o i n t e d .

But such nob le events are inevi tably born of h u m b l e or ig ins , and this p laces great i m p o r t a n c e o n the coach ing faci l i t ies avai lable at g rass - roo ts level.

They start t e a c h i n g ch i ld ren vo l leybal l at six years o l d o n the Con t inen t : beg inners in England are e i gh teen , t w e n t y or even m u c h o lder . But t he last three years have seen the g a m e deve lop w i t h i n Gloucester ­shire to t he ex ten t tha t there is n o w a vo l leybal l c l ub at v i r tual ly every spor ts cent re , a th r i v ing league, and a f i rs t -c lass c o u n t y s ide , as we l l as representa t ion in the t o u g h S o u t h - W e s t Nat iona l League .

Drawing by Eric Weeks

n§on*§ flf§@tin< toall3yrf@allaf "^'^ yt.'^

Eyes on Safety Total number of

accidents for period:

Aug/Sept '82 Aug/Sept '83

The cumulative total for the current safety year up to September is 44 compared with 53 forthe same period a year ago.

12 Printed in England by Severnprint Ltd, Gloucester