Blue Cedar – Ten years of providing training and support to manufacturing and process industries. In September 2007 Blue Cedar was acquired by ATS Applied Tech Systems. Whilst the acquisition has meant that the Blue Cedar name will not be as prominent, as ATS we now offer customers a far greater breadth of experience, knowledge and global support.• Assessment & Verification • Documentation • Training •

Blue Cedar started as a family business in 1997 delivering bespoke training within the food and drink industry. The directors’ engineering experience enabled the company to expand into providing solutions for manufacturing and process industries and over the years many successful projects have been completed for companies world-wide. Blue Cedar is at ease dealing with very small companies or the world’s biggest corporations.

Blue Cedar’s specialties’ include software validation and documentation, for system integrators and end users of automation and technology based projects.

If a project has been completed and there is not the capacity within the company to produce full documentation, or it is preferable for staff to be employed on the next project, Blue Cedar will take care of the tidying up process.

In a new factory, Blue Cedar will assist with machine commissioning and the testing and quality assurance of machinery.

If new personnel are required, Blue Cedar will organise a complete assessment program to a suitable level and prepare a detailed report.

Blue Cedar also run training programs and carry out coaching of staff within the factory or business environment. Customer satisfaction is taken very seriously, so if a flexible training regime is necessary, Blue Cedar trainers will ensure all of the client’s staff are included, whatever shift they are working. Where companies have their own trainers, Blue Cedar can produce the training packs and train the trainers.

Your people are your strength. Blue Cedar is the solution to empower your people to perform competently, thus ensuring the cost-effective smoother running of your business.

Below are some of the areas we can assist companies with. For case studies please read our Customer References.

ASSESSMENT & VERIFICATION

THROUGHOUT BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY, INCREASING REGULATION AND RED TAPE MEANS THAT YOU NEED TO GET IT RIGHT AND BE ABLE TO PROVE YOU GOT IT RIGHT.

Customers and regulators see credibility and validity in having processes checked by external auditors. All involved get the assurance and confidence that those systems will continue to work safely and efficiently. ATS will check your processes and system management software to ensure that they are current, fit for purpose, and maintain integrity and relevance in the operational environment.

Your customers need to know that you can fulfil their needs efficiently, quickly and safely to allow them to entrust you with their production requirements.

Regulators require you to demonstrate safety and security.

With ATS, there is more to the Assessment and Verification process than simply ticking some regulatory boxes.

Testing your systems and processes will also provide invaluable data to support your own planning and improvement processes.

All processes inevitably involve people, so it is essential to be sure that your people are competent. Using recognised training and needs analysis techniques, ATS assess skill levels within the operational and engineering maintenance teams and will create individual and team competence and capability reports.

With these tools you will be in a better position to know when your systems need to be updated or replaced, giving you all the economies that forward planning create.

DOCUMENTATION

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES? ALL OPERATING PROCEDURES MUST BE CAREFULLY MAPPED AND DOCUMENTED. THEY HAVE TO BE, TO COMPLY WITH STANDARDS, REGULATIONS AND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS.

Process documents, procedure manuals and technical manuals are only relevant to the processes they describe. When new machinery arrives on site, new working practices are adopted or new ways of getting the most out of the equipment are implemented. The documentation that supports these processes must be updated or replaced.

Safety. Compliance. Efficiency.

Having accurate and up to date safety and operating documentation in place will ensure that everyone in the organisation knows what they need to do to “make it work” and “do it safely”.

ATS will analyse systems and processes in the operational environment to identify everything needed for efficiency and safety, providing demonstrable proof of compliance with industry standards, regulations and legal requirements.

Documentation provided by independent experts not only adds credence to its validity to industry regulators and customers alike, but also frees your team to do its own work.

TRAINING

WHEN NEW SYSTEMS, PROCESSES OR MACHINERY ARRIVE ON SITE, YOU NEED TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. EXTENDED DOWNTIME OR PROJECT OVERRUN IS NOT AN OPTION, AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT.

Early on in the project, the ATS team of experts will assess the system and its environment to develop bespoke manuals for operator training, machine operation, risk reporting and process mapping.

ATS will provide the tools to manage the new system in a real world environment.

Our planning and training will ensure maximum efficiencies from the new systems are achieved within the minimum possible timescales. Our assessment and verification service assures that the right training is provided to optimise the efficiency of every project.

Our process documents, procedure manuals and technical manuals ensure all of this will be achieved safely, with a rapid handover of knowledge and responsibility to the operations and maintenance team.

Training can be provided face-to-face, either on site or via fully facilitated off site sessions. ATS also provides a series of distance training options including correspondence courses and a series of on-line workbooks. The ATS training solutions are tailored to individual projects, meaning personnel will receive the knowledge they need to make the systems work best.

ATS customer support services will ensure that any ongoing operational issues can be resolved rapidly and with minimal disruption.