This qualification has recognised their skill in managing lean practice initiatives through effective team working, the projects they carried out in gaining their NVQ have resulted in direct process improvement.   Another high achieving SFL employee is Philip Walker Research & Development apprentice at SFL who has achieved Petroc ‘Best Student’ award in Mechanical Design & Manufacture Year 1.  

Above row from left Nigel Thomas, Shaun West, Dave Smith, Tant Grice
Below from left Stewart Hampshire, Paul Lock

Sami Caglar Managing Director said ‘We are very lucky at SFL, we have a very low turnover of staff with a high percentage of our skilled operators being here for many years.  Our 3 apprentices came to us originally as agency temporary workers but their hard work and commitment to quality was recognised and we are really pleased that they wanted to join us both to develop their skills and to be a part of the future success of SFL.  Philip was recruited for his apprenticeship in our Research & Development Facility after the retirement of our Senior Technician, he is making great progress in what is a very specialised niche field, although he has only been here a year he is capable of running complex thermal  tests (almost) unsupervised. I am very proud of the team we have here at SFL and I know our apprentices will do well here under the guidance of their mentors’.   

Viktorija, Dean and Sarunas will be undertaking an in house training plan along with an NVQ in Fabrication and City & Guilds Mechanical Engineering. Philip too has been undertaking in-house training as well as an NVQ and a degree in Engineering.  

Picture from left Philip Walker, Sarunas Klebauskas, Viktorija Indriulyte (above) and Dean Delahaye

Presented at a prestigious ceremony in Bristol, the judges, which included Cranfield University, praised SFL as "a credit to the industry".

SFL introduced a continuous improvement process in 2008 based on the Japanese kaizen concept, which enables people from both within and outside the company to identify and implement improvements in a short time-scale, and has held five kaizen events to improve specific working practices.

"At each kaizen event eight to 10 people from the business meet with customers and suppliers to focus on one area to be improved and finish it within a week," explained Sami Caglar, managing director of SFL.

"This has improved our sales and profits significantly and has reduced our operation from two buildings to one by reducing inventory."

As well as improving financial performance by removing any waste from the business, the changes have also had a big impact on employees. It improves morale by giving empowerment to people and gets buy-in from employees because they realise that it is possible for them to make changes."

In addition to the EEF award, SFL's kaizen improvement programme enabled it to win the North Devon Manufacturing Association's Best Transformation award for 2009.

SFL's products range from 60mm diameter flues and chimneys suitable for domestic gas boilers to 1.5m products for the biggest commercial installations. As well as supplying UK distributors and installers, it exports up to 40% of production worldwide, with Japan one of its largest markets.

In its 40th year of manufacturing in Barnstaple, SFL's Pottington site includes research and development, laboratory testing and manufacturing facilities employing 80 people.

Sami concluded: "We are looking to expand in export markets, keep market share in the UK and to supply the best quality solutions to customers at an affordable price."