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Combining quality, safety and the environment

Interacting with the production teams and ensuring the compliance of the precise manufacturing processes and their possible evolution

04-06-2022

Interacting with the production teams and ensuring the compliance of the precise manufacturing processes and their possible evolution: such is the mission of Stephen Corcuff and Paul Rudelle, respectively a manager and QES engineer, who must guarantee that the quality and safety processes are applied right across the Lorient and Port-la-Forêt sites. We interview Stephen Corcuff to explore their spheres of activity which, for the past two years, also include the development of the company’s environmental approach.

Stephen Corcuff Paul Ruedelle Qes ingineer

As part of his remit, Stephen Corcuff must keep on top of the technical aspect of the company’s business, together with any standards and regulations in force in terms of quality, safety and the environment. This requires the utmost rigour to ensure the various processes are fully adhered to. “It’s particularly important in a domain like the one CDK Technologies is involved in, where the slightest oversight can have serious repercussions”, explains the engineer, whose main role is to check that the instructions and processes are fully compliant for all the different parts built at the company, whatever their size. “To do this, I coordinate with management and the engineers, then I oversee the implementation with the workshop managers. This inevitably requires good communication skills”, says Stephen, who is essentially at the hub of all the company’s procedures.

So, what are his actual tasks? These can be broken down into three components, which may initially appear isolated, but are actually closely linked: quality, safety and the environment. “One of my key roles is to ensure the traceability (destination, certification…) of any raw materials used in the construction of the boats, namely the rolls of pre-preg carbon and core materials like honeycomb and foam. It also involves checking the parts manufactured at CDK Technologies or companies the yard contracts out work to, in a bid to avoid any setbacks, defects due to poor workmanship or unfortunate repercussions,” underlines the engineer, who analyses and prepares the documentation for any non-compliant elements encountered during the manufacturing process with the aim of implementing the necessary corrective measures and then updating the manual for the various procedures. “Anticipation is definitely one of the keys”, says Stephen Corcuff, who joined the company as a laminator back in 2014, before shouldering his current responsibilities. “This initial 18-month experience in the field gave me the chance to get to know all the yard’s associates, as well as discover all their jobs, the way they operate and also their constraints, and that has given me a certain technical credibility”, admits the engineer.

Following up the periodic checks on any equipment at the production sites (lifting apparatus, electrical installations, pressure equipment, cooling tower, etc.) is also part of my remit, as is the implementation of corrective measures and the development of projects aimed at improving safety in the workshops”, explains Stephen, who is also tasked with monitoring standards, regulations and technologies, guaranteeing employee safety and warning of any potential hazards. “I’m constantly evolving in the formulation of the chemical products we use, and one of my roles is to ensure any associates are aware of the precautions they must comply with when using these products and suggest the most reliable and most comfortable personal protective equipment”, states the engineer, for whom one of the current projects involves the pumping out of resin stations. “In a job like mine, you’re constantly learning”, assures Stephen, who must endlessly adapt his working methods as a result, as well as demonstrate a deep understanding of the skills involved.

Back in 2018, we organised a system for sorting and recovering our waste at the Port-la-Forêt site. We make regular inroads into improving this system and, in 2020, we duplicated it at the Lorient site. At around the same time as that, we began collecting data with a view to creating a lifecycle analysis of any boats in build: the quantity of material used, the cooking number of the parts, the amount of left-over scraps or remnants… What this means today is that we can automatically calculate the CO2 emissions, the water consumption, etc. and come up with solutions that have less of an impact on the environment. As a result, it’s a very varied, wide-reaching and exciting job”, concludes Stephen Corcuff.

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