Smiley Monroe hosts Institute of Quarrying Technical Meeting

Institute of Quarrying Technical Meeting hosted by Smiley Monroe.

Tech Talk - Smiley Monroe recently hosted a Technical Meeting for the Institute of Quarrying's Northern Ireland Branch, on 5th December 2011 at the Dunadry Hotel near Antrim.

Pictured is Vaughan Monroe (Managing Director, Smiley Monroe) during his presentation to IoQ NI Branch members.

Presentation

Vaughan Monroe, Managing Director of Smiley Monroe, began by introducing key members of our sales and service teams - some of whom have been with Smiley Monroe for over 20 years. The presentation that followed provided an overview of Smiley Monroe's operations and 32 year history; from our beginnings in 1979 as a conveyor belt service provider to local quarries, through our first exports of manufactured rubber products to USA in 1997, and onto our position today as Europe's largest producer of endless conveyor belts for the crushing, screening and recycling sectors. In January 2012 Smiley Monroe is opening an office in India to support existing customers. Click here to watch a short video on YouTube of our India launch at the recent EXCON 2011 construction show, entitled 'Smiley Monroe ExCon India 2011'.

Safety first

Vaughan then explained the importance of our accredited Quality and Health and Safety Management Systems (ISO 9001:2008 and OHSAS 18001:2007) and in-house belt testing lab, all of which are essential in ensuring that Smiley Monroe's raw materials and finished products and services conform to the highest standards.

Smiley Monroe's presentation illustrated our commitment to Health and Safety best practice in all areas of our operations and to raising the overall standards of safety within our industry through our innovative products and training courses: 'Working Safely with Conveyors' is a practical 1 day training course beneficial to anyone exposed to conveyor systems; 'King Roller' is a self-cleaning polymer conveyor idler which is up to 60% lighter than a steel roller, delivering lower running costs and safer manual handling; and 'Site Reports' is a new service designed to reduce downtime through planned maintenance. Smiley Monroe's Site Service personnel are experienced in both vulcanising and conveyor maintenance, so reports can be carried out for all conveyor components and not just for belts and rubber products. Site Reports can help to highlight any problems, which can be dealt with before any potential health and safety incidents occur.

Finishing his presentation on how Smiley Monroe works with their local community and charity through the promotion of cross-community sport and Marie Curie Cancer Care, Vaughan added that together nearly seven thousand pounds was raised in 2011's charity football match and fun day.

Open Invitation

Before a lively Q&A session, Vaughan looked ahead to 2012, stating that Smiley Monroe are very keen to play a more active role in the IoQ, through regular attendance of meetings and extended an open invitation to members to visit Smiley Monroe's production facility in Lisburn, for a tour and lunch, from 11am to 1pm on Wednesday 15th February 2012.