Contact Celab Contact

    Quick contact

    Tel: +44(0) 1420 477 011





    Written by Mimi Lunt on 15/12/2021

    Interview With Steve Dewey, Stores Supervisor

     

    Our staff are incredibly important to us at Celab, their expertise and skills are what makes our business successful and innovative in the custom power supply field. This month, we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary and we’ll be interviewing team members to understand what their roles are, how life at Celab has changed and their expectations for the future.

    Our next interview is with Steve Dewey.

     

    Introduce yourself – your name, background, role and how long you have worked at Celab?

    I am married to Bernadette and have two stepsons plus four grandchildren. Earlier in the year I turned 50, but could not celebrate this milestone due to COVID-19 rules, I have lived in the same house for 50 years in a local market town called Petersfield, I am currently carrying out several volunteer roles which include: Petersfield Town Councillor, Chairman of East Petersfield Community Group and Petersfield Streetwatch co-ordinator.

    I have worked for Celeb for 34 years. My current role is Stores Supervisor, for which I look after a small team who manage all our different material parts. We receive, store, supply to the shop floor for manufacture, and then ship the finished product around the world.

     

    Can you remember your first day – what were you driving, wearing, and eating for lunch and how are they different from today?

    Monday September 27th, 1987. This was a very long time ago. I was 16 at the time starting my first full time job after leaving school, I left early in the morning to cycle the 10-mile journey from Petersfield to Bordon.

    September weather can be quite nice, so I likely would have been wearing jeans, a t-shirt, trainers and a thin coat. I would have brought a packed lunch with me, but we did at the time have a canteen on site which served some snacks. Today I have given up riding to work only because I bring my wife Bernadette to work.

     

    What do you enjoy most about working at Celab?

    The different daily challenges, the variety of workload, the people I work with, plus completing difficult challenges. I also enjoy supporting others and helping guide new members along their working path. It is also good to be involved in setting up new products and seeing the projects through from start to finish.

     

    What is one of the most memorable moments from working at Celab so far?

    10 years ago, a small group of staff was asked along to Farnborough to celebrate 40 years in business. We visited the Farnborough Air Museum, had lunch and visited the displays. We also visited the Farnborough Air Show. This was a great opportunity to see where Celab products are used, plus it provided a better understanding of the different applications power supplies were needed for.

    There have also been some personal achievements during the time I have worked at Celab, such as winning the Unsung Hero Award for East Hampshire, becoming a Town Councillor, and more.

     

    How has working at Celab helped your career development?

    As I have only worked for Celab during my career, they have encouraged me greatly during my many different roles within the company. They have provided me with the training required to carry out each and every role, plus training to improve myself as an individual.

     

    Tell us your biggest accomplishments since starting your role with Celab?

    One of the biggest accomplishment was a major re-layout of the factory owing to a new product this was around eight years ago now, I was tasked to move the Stores department and all the stock around, this involved lifting the stock, shelving etc. on to a new floor plus install pallet racking, to enable us to store a vast amount of new stock, this took several months to complete actioning the tasks in stages while keeping the business running.

     

    What was the biggest “lesson learnt” in your career?

    I don’t know if it is the biggest but, a few smart lessons which have made life easier:

     

    What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in electronics manufacturing over the years?

    I believe the biggest challenges have been Brexit and Covid-19. The pandemic has resulted in many delays and Brexit has caused many difficulties in shipping products around the world.

     

    What are the challenges faced by electronics manufacturing and custom power design currently?

    Currently we are finding difficulties in obtaining new stock from several sources, price increases, plus many delays in receiving material to enable us to manufacture our product. This is not just electronic components, but sheet metal and other similar materials. Obsolescence is also a concern.

     

    How do you think the electronics manufacturing market will change in the next 10 years?

    I hope the electronics market is a lot stronger than it is today, with major companies investing in future technologies to make things smarter, quicker and cheaper for the new demand that the future is likely to bring. Electronics are now so vital to everything in life today.

     

    Contact Celab Today

    Celab’s expert staff all work together to create long-lasting rugged custom power solutions for use on land, in the air and at sea. Discover more about our power supply products or speak to a friendly member of the team about your requirements today.