Jake Lancaster

Background

About Jake Lancaster

During my time as a Moulder Coremaker, I have been able to develop a solid foundation of reading drawings and visualising three-dimensional objects from two-dimensional plans. Attention to detail is a key skill that I have developed over the past 9 years to ensure tasks are completed to the highest standard. Coaching and assisting apprentices is a regular requirement in my current role as everyone who enters the work environment is required to have a full understanding of the risks associated with our work to minimize the potential for dangerous incidents to occur. A couple of examples of this are ensuring PPE is used and using knowledge from experience to assess situations. This has helped me learn how to build and maintain relationships with a wide range of people at different levels within our business environment, especially knowing when to intervene and when to take a step back and let colleagues complete their own tasks. I have also undertaken the responsibility of being the foundry’s Environmental Representative, reporting issues, taking weekly environmental audits. In addition to being the Environmental Representative, I am involved in continuous improvement, this has included being part of and taking the lead on continuous improvement projects. I regularly run audits in the foundry as well as preparing monthly reports on activities and projects, including key milestones for senior management. Attending and running continuous improvement meetings to monitor targets and new projects involves a large amount of teamwork but also the ability to work on my own initiative, taking accountability for any issues that may arise. In order to put lean and efficient processes in place I have to practice methodologies such as 7 wastes, Kaizen and Kanban, with an emphasis on liaison with production, quality and suppliers. The main priority for me within this role is to introduce and sustain a culture of continuous improvement within the organization.