Kevin Canlin - 45 Year Long Service Celebration.
Working in a time before computers and computer aided design is hard to image these days but this was the reality for Kevin Canlin- Production Operative at Inductotherm Heating & Welding.
Kevin is celebrating his 45-yearlong service record with the company and we have looked back at his progression through the company and the many changes he has experienced during his tenure. Kevin first began his career in 1976 with Radyne before its amalgamation into Inductotherm Heating & Welding. Having finished secondary school on the Friday, 16-year-old Kevin started with Radyne the following Monday thanks to the connections the company had with local schools in the area. At the beginning Kevin initially thought he would “give it a go” for a month and then if he didn’t like it he would move on.
After completing an initial aptitude test Kevin’s first taste of working life saw him complete a broad base education programme, working 6 months in each department including, heat treatment, coil production, welding fabrication and specific machine shop skills.
What made him stay was “the people I worked with really took me under their wings and helped nurture and train me, instilling in me the highest quality and standards of my work. The company was like a big family and the social club activities helped to mould the team and made coming to work a pleasure.” Kevin was a member of the company darts team and even went on a 10-day company holiday to Spain. Such was Kevin’s love of the company that even today under his work station is an original brick from when the Radyne buildings were demolished.
The biggest lesson Kevin learned in these early day was “to do it right first time”. The precise and high standards instilled in him by an ex forces work colleague is a mantra that Kevin works to 45 years later and is a lesson he now imparts to trainees and apprentices that he teaches. Ensuring the highest quality for our customers. “If you don’t double your efforts you end up doing double the work and that is not good for the customer or the company”.
Kevin now works mainly in copper work creating the vitally important coils and busbars needed for a range of our induction equipment but during his time with the company he has worked on a wide range of equipment including Banyard and Newelco products. He has also travelled to many customer sites in Brazil, the USA and across Europe often ensuring newly developed equipment was working to specification.
The biggest change that Kevin has seen was the amalgamation of the Radyne company into Inductotherm Heating & Welding as we know it today. “It was difficult to say goodbye to work colleagues and good friends during this time and the physical move to new premises took some adjustment, but my love and passion for my job has never changed and has seen me through all the new challenges.