Quality assured as Nexgen meets ISO 9000 standard

Nexgen are proud to announce that their quality assurance system has been awarded the prestigious ISO9001:2000 accreditation. And we've also been singled for special praise as a model of best practice.

After more than six months of assessments and the introduction of new systems, meterology and equipment the standards organisation we were finally granted accreditation at the end of may. The assessors were so impressed with our quality system that they're talking about using some of our quality manual as an example of “best practice”.

Our customers can now feel comfortable that the equipment they order will be fully checked and approved to an internationally recognised quality standard.

____________________________________________

Keeping cool in icy conditions

Now it may seem a bit silly to be talking about icing whilst here in the UK (and most of Europe) we're experiencing heatwaves, but it really is an important issue for all of us. Infact, it's the number one design criterion for remote monitoring masts. We had this in recently from our General Manager:

"I 've just been speaking to Paul who bought a 50-metre mast. He has a small helicopter that he uses to keep a check on the mast, so I was intrigued to hear from Paul that he had checked on his mast when he saw on his PC that the anemometers had stopped. He found that there was about 4" of ice all over the mast and guys. He calculated that there was about 6 tons of ice hanging on it!

He said the instruments were cased in a ball of solid ice that looked about a foot in diameter. He checked again after the ice melted, and says that it all looks OK. Not too much slack in the guys, and nothing has broken - sadly no-one on the chopper had a camera to record it."

Now where did I leave the lock de-icer...

_____________________________________________

The New 12-metre Lightmast

Due to an increased number of enquiries for a slightly taller Lightmast, we're pleased to announce our brand new 12m Lightmast. There's not much point in dressing it up with marketing speak - it's a 10m Lightmast only two metres taller!

The new mast has still undergone a full computer design analysis and a thorough proving programme. The 12m addition to the wind mast family still comes with a maximum section length of approx 2m and with stainless steel guys.

For more information on the 12m Lightmast please give Wendy a ring on 01453 759408 or email her

____________________________________________

Price of Zinc drives up our prices

Unfortunately we are still being affected by significant price increases in raw materials. Over the past quarter steel coil (from which tubes are made) has increased by 20% in Europe (more in the Far East ), but most significant has been the increase in the price of Zinc. All Nexgen steelwork is hot-dip galvanised giving you, the customer, the security of a 20 year corrosion-free coating. However, this does mean Zinc is a significant cost element in our process.

We have tried to absorb recent increases as best we can but there seems no possibility of present high prices decreasing in the immediate future. We have therefore had to increase the prices of all our masts by somewhere between 3% and 5%. We hate having to do this, but we really have no alternative given the present, continuous rise in raw material costs.

____________________________________________

Got any good ideas?

We've still got some Idea Pads left so you can jot down those brilliant insights which occur just when you don't have anywhere to make a note.

If you'd like a pad then send Wendy an email and we'll post you one.

Best wishes

Nexgen Team - www.nexgenwind.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You have been sent this e-news in good faith as a customer or subscriber of Nexgen.

If you no longer wish to receive our e-news, please send an email to: info@nexgenwind.com and put 'Unsubscribe' in the subject field.