As most of our readers know all of our products are made to measure, what they might not know is that they are constantly checked for any quality issues. The Production Technician’s carrying out the manufacturing tasks continually check their own work. The screens when assembled are then final checked by a fully trained Quality Inspector. Our Production Manager Ron Taylor also carries out random daily checks and our Operations Director Carl Johnson carries out random weekly checks, all to ensure that only the highest quality products are being dispatched to our customers.
Just last week the company held its Annual Quality Meeting. It is here that any quality issues are discussed (amongst other things). One of the agenda items is Non Conformities. While no one likes to admit that they have them, I am pleased to say that this year the number of non conformities to orders ratio was only 0.6%. We ensure that each non conformance that Solar Solve receives is logged and fully investigated, then if necessary remedial procedures are put in place to ensure that the problem is not repeated. Obviously if you are one of the unfortunate few that felt we failed to meet your expectations in the last year then we sincerely apologise. When things do go wrong we strive to put them right. If a problem has been mechanical we dissect every part of the screen to see where the fault may have occurred and then test and re-test this to ensure that it won’t happen again.
We continually have various research and development projects ongoing at any one time. These often lead to improvements in our products. Most of the time these improvements are internal components, for example a reinforced roll tube or a more durable adhesive tape. Any changes that are made are thoroughly tested and reported on. Let’s take the adhesive tape tests as an example. We manufacture a screen with the new tape applied to a join in the film. We then apply as much tension as possible to the join. Finally the screen is placed inside a heat test box (where temperatures reach 100˚C) for 8 hours, this is then allowed to cool overnight before re-starting the next day. Alongside this a cycle test will be carried out where a motor is applied to the bottom of another screen to pull it up and down continuously while also under heat. This will continue for a number of weeks/months with regular readings taken throughout the tests to assess the quality of the join. If these tests prove successful then our Technical Team will give final approval, the tape can then be introduced into our manufacturing process.
Since February 1991 Solar Solve has been synonymous with high quality products. It was way back then that the Directors felt that supplying the best quality anti-glare sunscreens would not only be of great benefit to our customers, but would help build the SOLASOLV brand into the market leader. All of the above combined with SOLASOLV being the only anti-glare sunscreen in the World that is type approved by 3 approval bodies – DNV-GL, Lloyds & ABS – means that over 20 years later that ambition has been more than realised. We are so confident in our brand leading SOLASAFE anti-glare sunscreen that we offer a 7 year warranty with them. We strive for perfection and whilst we may not be 100% yet, we are 99.4% perfect and that’s got to be an achievement in itself!
