TATA Steel, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, produces coated and uncoated products from their Port Talbot and Trostre based facilities, sitting on the south coast of Wales.
Both operations have worked in partnership with COMMSPEC for over thirty years to ensure the safety of thousands of employees and contractors with wireless critical communications equipment.
Today, TATA workers and contractors maximise the functionality of two-way radios and multiple repeater links by incorporating some of the emergency features of digital radio. These include lone worker, man down and GPS functionality as well as intrinsically safe handheld radios across the variety of operational units.
With a history stretching back to 1914, welsh transport moved from trams to buses and all South Wales operators consolidated to form First Cymru in the 1990’s.
Nowadays the company operates around 200 bus services in the south Wales area, in and between Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Tenby, Carmarthen, Llanelli, Swansea, Pontardawe, Neath, Port Talbot, Maesteg, Bridgend and Cardiff.
Keeping drivers and passengers safe, as well as keeping buses on time and in contact in the growing Swansea city is made easier with wireless radio systems.
COMMSPEC supply analogue and digital equipment, installation services, maintenance and hiring services to First Cymru buses in the Swansea area, and in 2017 helped to equip their new double-decker fleet with GPS tracking through their wireless Communication system.
Harsco Metal & Mineral’s operation at Port Talbot and Cardiff work with industry leaders such as TATA Steel for essential services such as metal recovery, scrap management, briquetting, slab handling, coke crushing and machine scarfing.
Harsco have also developed a range of co-products for specialized applications across industry, construction and agriculture, which utilize Harsco’s expertise in mineral materials.
COMMSPEC provide Harsco Metals & Minerals division with Licensed equipment as well as lease and maintenance services across multiple plants. Having a good relationship with the equipment users and the on-site maintenance teams allows COMMSPEC to gain a real insight into Harsco’s changing demands on wireless communications to drive improvements in safety and productivity.
GD Harries is one of Wales’s largest independent suppliers of aggregates, and a civil engineering company delivering multimillion pound infrastructure projects.
GD Harries owns six quarries as well as concrete and tarmac plants. Providing stone, concrete and tarmac for construction and highway maintenance projects as well as polished and decorative aggregates for domestic customers.
COMMPEC supply GD Harries with mobile and handportable digital radio systems across their multiple sites. As well as installing & maintaining equipment safely at sites, COMMSPEC also provides a licensed wide area digital radio network that ensures all drivers of GD Harries’ fleet of transport vehicles stay connected across the breadth of South West Wales.
As a respected industry leader and trusted partner PCI Pharma Services provide a comprehensive range of outsourced pharmaceutical services that stretches all the way from early stage development to long term commercial supply.
Committed to best-in-class technologies, cutting-edge research, an exceptional team of outstanding people and a consistent record of meeting the highest regulatory and quality standards, PCI Pharma have worked with COMMSPEC to deliver a wireless communication system that integrates fully with other critical operational systems at their drug manufacturing facility in Wales.
A bespoke safety system integration developed by COMMSPEC, uses a network of digital radio, repeater and beacons to ensure every staff member in the manufacturing space is a step away from alerting the team of a safety issue, without compromising the integrity of their contained manufacturing facility.
The Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the Pro14 and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Their main home ground is the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, and the regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.
The Ospreys are the most successful Welsh team in the history of the Celtic League or Pro12 tournament, having won the competition four times. They also became the first and only Welsh regional team to beat a major touring side, defeating Australia 24–16 in 2006.
The Ospreys coaching, medical and operational staff opted for two way radio as needed a communication system that worked effectively despite the inevitable bad weather and rugged treatment expected during the Rugby season, with voice clarity and reliability in the outdoor setting better than mobile phones.
The Ospreys coaching and operations staff use digital handheld portable radios on training days to work player groups independently, focusing on different skills for different roles, yet remain in contact.
On match days, a bank of radios in the coaching booth, connects each coach with body-worn radios of coaching and medical staff on-field, assessing play from different angles and getting immediate feedback on player injuries.
Operationally, the radios have become an integral part of training and match day communication and performance.
Aberdare Community School is a secondary school in South Wales housing nearly 1400 pupils in a state of the art campus, providing pupils with access to high tech equipment, extensive sports, arts and technology facilities.
The School worked with COMMSPEC to implement a wireless communication system that allows immediate communication across the campus, throughout buildings and outdoor areas, between teaching and operational staff.
The digital two-way radios help co-ordinate everyday tasks such as continuity of pupil supervision or event management, as well as ensure the team provide a co-ordinated response in the event of an emergency or mass evacuation.
Mr Mark Davies, School Finance Director said: “Once we experienced how the instant radio contact improved our group co-ordination and response times, we gradually increased the number of units on site, as well as integrated the use of radios into our safety procedures.
For a reasonable and scalable cost, this system has had a very positive impact on our day to day operational, security and safety measures.”
Set in the beautiful Carmarthenshire countryside, the Garden is a fascinating blend of the modern & historic.
An inspiring range of themed gardens, play areas and a national nature reserve housing the world’s largest single-span glasshouse, a tropical Butterfly House, the British Bird of Prey Centre and awesome encounters with amazing animals every day sit alongside a Science laboratory, library, herbarium, aqualab, a DNA barcoding & genetics research facility.
COMMSPEC has worked with the National Botanic Garden of Wales to implement a two-way digital radio system, networked across the entire site and several groups of staff.
Whether staff are indoors or out, managing the car park or co-ordinating an event, all are connected clearly and immediately with the handportable digital radios and accessories.
Walters provide a compliance led, self-delivery based service across a range of sectors centres around civil engineering, plant and development.
Operating and maintaining the largest independently owned heavy plant fleet in the UK and based in Wales, Walters provides contracted plant based services at some of Wales’ key development and heavy industry sites.
COMMSPEC have supplied Walters with a variety of two-way radio equipment and maintenance services over many years, including large multiple-sites with multiple repeater systems.
In 2017 COMMSPEC worked in partnership with the Walters subsidiary Lloyd Walters Industrial Services to commission a wireless communication system across a fleet of plant vehicles at the TATA Steel Port Talbot facility.
Project Manager, Mike Gittings said: “COMMSPEC supported us from the initial site survey, system specification, through the tender process, licensing arrangements and completed all installations in just over a week. They know the equipment better than anyone, so continue to provide ongoing radio maintenance on site.
The digital radios allow our plant operators to get instant information and advice right across the working zone. Even at the edge of our network coverage area, on a very noisy site, we can rely on clear audio from our radios.
If our demands on the system change, we know COMMSPEC are only a phone call away and have the expertise to ensure our equipment fits our business so our business runs smoothly and efficiently.”