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Whilst the last year has been extremely challenging for all of us, we are pleased with how our team has been flexible and has adapted to working in a COVID-secure environment, using remote working on occasions to ensure that we can maintain social distancing whilst still maintaining high standards of service to clients.
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“The company ensured that measures were put in place to protect both its staff and visitors to the lab over the past year. This included the introduction of movable screens, encouraging hand washing, provision of hand sanitizer and masks throughout the laboratory and reduced on-site staff numbers. We have introduced digital signing of test reports and have encouraged remote witnessing of testing as opposed to witnessing in person to reduce numbers in the laboratory to a minimum.” – Rahul Wadher, Metallurgist (pictured)
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During this time in addition to delivering our full range of world class mechanical and corrosion testing along with failure analysis, in response to client needs, we have also been expanding our range into testing of welds on reinforcing steel to BS 8548, which should be of great interest to prefabricated reinforcement manufacturers in structural and civil engineering. Please spread the word to any of your HQSE managers, Structural and Civil Engineer contacts.
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Please contact us to find out more about our services and how we can help you.
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Reinforcing Steel Test Update
We note that one of the priorities is to get any weld testing services completed in a swift and timely manner. We believe that we have the edge to be able to provide great service for your requirements for your testing of welds in reinforcing steel to BS 8548 enabling you to meet CARES requirements. These accredited services include Tensile, Weld Shear, Bend, Macro and Hardness testing and we are excited to be able to engage with more clients from this sector. Client feedback has been very positive, particularly with regards to turnaround and accuracy of results.
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For more than 30 years ASAMS has developed its reputation for accuracy, reliability and professionalism with friendly service. One of the next goals is to develop our focus on sustainability. This means addressing the impact that ASAMS has on the environment and society.
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As one of the UK’s leading metallurgical laboratories, we believe that reviewing our practices such as our carbon footprint, water usage, community development efforts and team diversity will have a positive impact to drive our business. Our focus is to “Do well – run a profitable business” and “Do good – influence social and environmental problems in a positive way”. We believe that this should enable us to continue to support clients in line with their sustainability goals.
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Sustainable Metallurgy
We probably all recognise that metallic materials have been critical to human development over thousands of years. The unique properties of metallic materials mean that significant demand is forecast to continue. The processes to extract and manufacture these materials are energy, resource and waste intensive. Dependent on the material, significant savings in energy can be achieved by recycling metals and there is a large focus within industry on creating a circular economy, where resources are continually reused and recycled. There are also great efficiency savings being made with near-net shape manufacturing methods such as additive manufacturing and metal printing.
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Although the material testing part of the manufacturing process is a small component of the supply chain, it is important that all parts of the supply chain contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the process.
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Some examples of what we are doing at ASAMS to have a direct and indirect impact on sustainability in metals testing are:
- Any waste produced by ASAMS is sorted and separated to ensure as much waste material is recycled as possible. In excess of 95% of waste produced by the company is currently recycled.
- We work with clients to enable them to develop increased product. longevity by ensuring materials exhibit the correct properties. We also ensure that test pieces are extracted efficiently, minimising any waste produced.
- The ASAMS laboratory in Great Yarmouth uses green heating solutions and 30% of the energy used by the company in 2020 was from renewable sources.
- It is our intention to convert the company fleet to all electric vehicles by the end of this year.
- The move to electronic reporting has saved paper and the resources required to deliver hard copies of reports to the client.
- ASAMS has begun the journey to gain accreditation to ISO 14001, along with ISO 45001, we hope to complete the accreditation process by the end of 2021.
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Every year ASAMS supports the community and in recent years has donated funds to local sports teams, Cancer Research and Nelson’s Journey, a charity that supports bereaved children. Most recently we have supported the Great Yarmouth Food Bank, The Salvation Army “Toy and Tinsel Appeal” and Norfolk Headway. All staff get involved to decide which organisations to support as it is a key part of the staff engagement culture.
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“The effect the company has on the environment and community around ASAMS is an important part of what the company does. As a company with over a 30 year history, it is important to create a long-term sustainability culture.” Thomas Whiskin - Director (pictured)
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If any clients past, present or future would like to live video call - either to have a general chat, catch up or talk about how we can help with your testing requirements, please drop an email to Andrew Page (pictured) at andrew@asams.co.uk. It's nice to put faces to names especially as most companies are restricting site visits unless strictly necessary. Thank you to all who have contacted ASAMS for a video call, this has proved very helpful and cemented a better customer relations experience which is one of our key attributes. We all look forward to keeping this as one of our frontline approaches, speaking with our clients one to one and maintaining that personal connection.
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Visit www.asams.co.uk to learn more about the Amazing Service that ASAMS provides.
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Customer Feedback
We are always grateful for any feedback from our clients. We are always striving to improve our service and feedback helps us shape our offering to further meet our client needs.
“A big thank you to ASAMS for your continued support with our international testing requirements during the last 12 months. The flexibility of your testing laboratory and staff has been a great advantage allowing us to supply all the results in a timely fashion to our Clients which has not changed during these challenging times.”
– Multinational provider of professional project and asset services in the energy, chemicals, and resources sectors.
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Remote Witness Testing is Here to Stay
Remote witnessing of testing has been working well since adopted in response to the first lockdown. We now offer this as part of our normal operations, keeping clients and witness authorities safe whilst reducing any delays generally associated with travel/traffic.
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This also allows clients who previously could not find time for site visits to view from anywhere around the world in real time. It's also a very good interaction with our excellent technicians who carry out the testing to the highest standards, thus building even more confidence with our clients.
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This adaptation of our traditional service is getting good feedback so we confirm we plan to keep it as part of our regular service offering, with no additional costs to our clients.
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