Machinery & Manufacturing
THE HUMAN TOUCH
Universal Composite Doors ’ technical department and support underpins the company ’ s mission to continuous improvement and innovation . Here , Dean Human , head of that department lets us in on his work at UCD , life before his role there , and a few more of his favourite things …
I had a ‘ typically normal ’ upbringing : Mum , Dad and an older brother . I didn ’ t enjoy school much and always got the teacher ’ s “ could try harder ,” but I did play single handicap golf at the age of thirteen as our house backed onto the local course .
After school I worked on the fruit and veg markets , as this was the family business - having six stalls - so I was always busy . Then I moved to London where I first started in the industry manufacturing aluminum windows in the mid 80s before getting married and moving to Cambridgeshire , where I worked on site erecting timber frame houses for a few years .
I met Neil Peck ( MD at UCD ) as we lived in the same village , played for the same cricket team , and socialised together . Neil ’ s business was growing , and he wanted people he could trust to do a decent job for him . I ’ ve worked with him ever since apart from a 12-month period .
I have been with UCD since the start up . Neil sold it to me that it would be a small team making maximum of 30 doors per day ; no further north than Peterborough or west of Oxford . We are now in our third factory and producing more than 100 doors per day . We deliver from Plymouth to
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Glasgow and everywhere in between . Despite that , working at UCD has always had a family feel , and we have a strong leadership structure which helps tremendously with the day-to-day pressures .
I don ’ t believe there is a typical day or week for me at UCD . I usually get in at 6.30am and then do everything from compliance to queries to ongoing questions and training . I also spend a lot of time on the shop floor testing new products and helping the team produce the best we can consistently . I spend quite a lot of my time talking to customers on how to resolve issues , such as fitting issues and as a department we have worked on several items to help improve our door offering , from aluminum lock carriers for auto engage locks , extended thumb turn to internal rose handles for standard position auto . We want to help the customers like fitting our doors and as this is all about repeat business then they keep coming back .
Our factory manager , Andy , is very structured , so as much as we do not have meetings for the sake of meetings , everyone has their part to play , and knows their role in ensuring we do our best to get it right first time . It helps also that we have a great production manager , Pav who I work very closely with from a technical point of view ; he ’ s a great guy and always ready and prepared to listen and help .
If I went back to my first day at UCD , one thing that sticks out would be Neil saying “ we aren ’ t looking to grow too much ”. My favourite thing about UCD is watching it grow and its success and knowing that we are seen as a ‘ proper company ’. Over the years I have worked with so many people , firstly at Phoenix with Neil and now here that it really does have that family caring feel to it , and everyone is always up for a laugh .
Out of work I enjoy cooking , playing golf and an occasional pint with the boss . If I didn ’ t work here and money wasn ’ t an issue I ’ d be a greenkeeper ; working outdoors and I ’ d get my golf for free !
universalcompositedoors . co . uk
82 JUNE 2023 CLEARVIEW-UK . COM