The steps one company took to ensure their new ARC Workwear roll-out was hassle free and saved them money

Are you looking to do an ARC flash workwear rollout and don't know where to start? Are you wanting to make sure you get the best value for money on your ARC flash workwear rollout?

The issue with buying arc flash PPE for a high number of employees for the first time is that it can be an enormous undertaking in terms of time and resources. There is a lot to understand, from collecting sizing information to sourcing a supplier who can help you unravel it all; when you are new to the world of arc flash protection... More so, there are a lot of bumps to be hit in the road if you don’t have the people power to overcome, and vanguard these issues.

LION has been helping clients successfully implement new workwear kits for over 30 years, and over the last 5 years has focussed on arc flash protection. We know that the 3 key ingredients to a successful rollout are:

• Good communication between the end user client, supplier, and stakeholders (especially when collecting initial data and information)
• The selected supplier has proven their capability to deliver the project, to minimise stakeholder risk within the client's business
• Trial and/or sampling the proposed product, or choosing a product that fits the requirements

Full Circle, a wind turbine repair and maintenance company with a global spread of technicians and clients, was looking to roll out arc flash protection for the first time. The challenge was that with over 50 technicians to cater to, and with a unique clothing set-up and employees based in small pockets around the UK rather than a single distribution centre or hub, they had to ensure this rollout was well organised and capable of setting self-ordering service into the future.

When Full Circle invited us to take part in a competitive bidding process, they had clear expectations:

• Standards that each item must comply with
• Range of sizes from S - XXL with sizing and measuring charts
• Branding
• Safety footwear (standards they must comply with and sizes)
• Standard clothing (polo shirts, t-shirts, hoodies, soft shells)

• Each employee has a login for ordering workwear
• Approval of orders by a nominated manager once an employee has reached their limit.
• Data extraction (for budgeting purposes)
• Admin rights to add or remove people from the system and adjust points allocations of employees
• Points system to control and limit what an individual can order
• User-specific delivery addresses for ordered clothing - worldwide capability
  
  Was LION the cheapest option?

No. Full Circle trusted Lion due to the demonstration of our ability to meet their criteria and showing we cared.

After submitting our response to the competitive process, we were shortlisted and Full Circle’s Karl Sollis and Steve Davis came to visit us. We presented our solutions and laid out clear next steps for moving forward.

How did Full Circle achieve success?

Following their visit to review our offer, Steve secured all relevant employee numbers for LION, via an online form, so that we could begin setting up Full Circles ordering portal that would contain the approved products. The form had options for quantity of products and sizes (with a size guide), with clear contact details for LION should any of the technicians need to contact us directly.

Once their employees had filled out this form, we exported the info to our system and from there delivered the first kits within 3 weeks. Each worker received their kit in a named and labelled parcel which was delivered to the residential address of their choosing.

Full Circle had a seamless first-time rollout for two reasons:

1. They were very clear on what they wanted
2. They were great communicators. Everything we needed from them to get the ball rolling, they provided, and that sped the process up enormously.

The success of this roll-out was due to their dedication to collaborate with us. With any first-time arc flash PPE rollout, there are hills to climb and potential pitfalls in the road; but nothing that can’t be resolved quickly when you work with us to meet your goals. By working together, we were able to help Full Circle avoid price increases and long lead times.

How does Full Circle plan to continue its workwear success into the future?

After the initial kits had been delivered, we were lucky enough to play host to Karl Sollis again at LION HQ in Falkirk. This time, we met to discuss plans and requirements for 2023-24.

To prepare for the future, we agreed it would be best to set up Full Circle with the Personnel Packs module on our online ordering portal. This module would allow an allocation of points per product so that Full Circle could control how much spend was available per technician and could tie this back to their budgets and forecasts for 2023. We also set up additional teams who required different points allocations due to job application per employee. The best part is, when a new employee is set up on the system, they can now be assigned to a specific department or team which means that they are only able to order which products have been specifically assigned to their team.

Full Circle‘s Review & Feedback

Name:  Karl Sollis.

Job Role: Global Head of QHSE

Company: Full Circle Wind Services

This is what Karl had to say about his experience buying from LION Safety and the reason Full Circle made their final decision to work with LION on this project.

“During the tender stage of finding a PPE/Clothing Supplier we visited all of the short-listed companies, although this was time-consuming we thought it was invaluable to a) meet the prospective people we would potentially be working with in the future & b) get our hands on the clothing feel the quality, try a few items on. I thought this part of the process was beneficial for both parties.

Our final decision to go with Lion Safety was not just a financial decision. Lion Safety was not the cheapest supplier we approached.

The Lion Safety website/portal is really impressive, whilst it pretty much does everything that any other supplier’s website/portal does, the Lion Safety website/portal was far more intuitive and easier to navigate your way around.

Another major contributing factor for Full Circle going with Lion Safety is the fact that it is a family-owned and run business. There is an absolute vested interest in making the company a success, a real passion that comes through when talking to Lion Safety…in short they care and it shows.

Right from the get-go the process of rolling out new PPE Clothing felt like a collaboration, there was quite a tight deadline to get our orders in before a price rise. Lion Safety worked very hard with us to hit that deadline, saving a significant amount of money.”

Making sure your first arc flash PPE rollout is a success

As with all of our clients, our efforts with Full Circle continue to be based on working together to meet its future goals. Building lasting partnerships is what we do, and with our framework for long-term success and a team dedicated to helping guide you through it, we are sure that we can help you towards success, just like Full Circle.

If you are looking to get arc flash for the first time and need a bit more guidance and structure to the buying and procurement process, get in touch with our Director of Business Development and find out how LION could help you.

Alternatively, have a read of the article "How much does ARC Workwear & PPE Cost"