Komatsu UK Technology Olympics
Berco UK has for the first time taken part in the Komatsu Technology Olympics.
The 11th Komatsu UK Technology Olympics took place on 15th April 2009 at Komatsu UK headquarters in Birtley, County Durham. The competition comprised of skill testing in four disciplines; fabrication, painting, inspecting and assembly. All Komatsu UK employees were invited to compete for a place in the Osaka plant internal event in Japan, as well as the International All Komatsu Technology Olympics which is also held in Japan later in the year. 
Employees of partner companies and suppliers were also invited to take part in the event.
Competing on behalf of Berco UK was Team Leader, Andy Crossman. Andy took part in the painting event and, although he is at a competent level of painting at Berco, found it beneficial in the run up to the contest to visit Komatsu UK learning different techniques from their 'expert' time served painters. This training will prove invaluable to Andy and Berco UK in the future. The actual practical test entailed preparing the final test piece for painting, masking off pre-set areas, spraying and applying decals, all of which were subject to very stringent inspection.
Several members of the Berco UK team attended the event in order to offer support to Andy. They were given a factory tour on which they were given a chance to sample for themselves some of the tasks in which the competitors would be completing. These tasks included activities such as arc welding and application of decals. At the end of the tour there was a rare opportunity to drive an excavator in the Komatsu demonstration area.
The day came to a close with a presentation of awards to the winners. Competition was very tight and Andy was placed runner up in the painting category of the competition. For this he was awarded a medal as well as a £50 voucher. He said "I feel that I have learned a lot of new skills which I can transfer to my working environment and pass on to my colleagues in order to improve paint quality, good housekeeping and downtime reduction."
Berco were the only supplier to participate in this event, which was regarded very highly by Komatsu UK. It demonstrated again the strength of the relationship between the two companies.
Berco UK will compete again in the Komatsu Technology Olympics in upcoming years, maybe even bringing home the gold.
