MVO Articles
Paper Tiger Or Top Cat?
Well both actually, because the Bobcat S220 skidsteer really is the "top cat" when it comes to handling recyclable paper at Keith Cornell Waste Paper. Malcolm Bates went to see why…
Determination must be built-in to Kentish people. In Keith Cornell's case he really did start at the bottom, working as a driver's mate on a lorry collecting waste paper. By hanging on in there he progressed to the position of area manager for Severnside which, for many people, would have been good enough. But with over 20 years experience in the waste paper business, Keith had an ambition - to start his own company. So did he go to the bank and borrow £4.5m to buy one? No. He packed in his steady job and bought his own lorry, single-handedly collecting waste paper himself.
That was in 1997. Today KC Waste employs over 20 staff, works from a recently expanded site (taken on in 2007, but already very busy), has a license for 75 000 tonnes, a fleet of over a dozen lorries and a Bobcat. The significance of the Bobcat? That's what I'm here to find out.
It's 8am on a Monday and I've just driven down from Bedfordshire. On arrival a cheery voice informs me I've left my lights on and proceeds to offer me a brew. It's the man himself.
Formal introductions completed, Keith explained his business philosophy in the office before the phones started to ring. Top of the list? Work hard and start early, it seems, as like me he was also up at five that morning. Be nice to people? Coming from Kent myself, you'd expect me to say that most people from my home county are "diamond geezers", but as Keith's current customers still include some of the first he dealt with all those years ago - like Aylesford Newsprint - he must be. A diamond, that is.
It clearly takes a good deal of hard work to build up a successful business from zero. If you don't believe me, just ask Keith and his wife (and business partner) Joanne, especially when you don't have anything else in the resources file other than enthusiasm and experience. After all, the waste and recycling business is dominated by large multinational PLCs and they can make life difficult for small-fry newcomers out to win business. Even survival is tough, so expansion is something special.
Looking For Partnerships
It's interesting to note that not only does Keith now work nationally in conjunction with some other highly successful waste and recycling industry independents - such as Countrystyle Recycling - but he's also negotiating to take over several specialist waste and recycling contracts from some of the biggest corporate names in the business on a sub-contract basis, although naturally he's not keen to see those names in print, just yet. "We're currently looking for more recycling partnership arrangements with local authorities in other parts of Kent and further afield, too," he adds. Interesting.
So what do we have thus far? An ability to get up early in the morning and crack on; a dogged commitment; an ability to be nice to customers; not to mention some corporate bravery and hard-won respect from the big boys. Anything else? Well, how about the long-term vision to invest in good quality kit? That's not always easy to do when you start from scratch, but the business has now shifted from local to national - with end-customers for processed materials all over the UK - so KC Waste clearly can't afford to let its customers down, which helps explain why you'll find top brands such as DAF, Mercedes and, more recently, Volvo trucks in the fleet. And that Bobcat.
So where does the Bobcat fit in? Well, being small and nimble, the smartass answer is that it fits in everywhere! Brew slurped and camera fired up, it's immediately obvious that the whole recycling process at the Lympne site - from trimming the stockpiles to feeding the OK Conveyors system, ending in a Persona baler - is almost entirely dependent on this one machine to feed it, which helps explain why KC Waste expects (and gets) top class support from local Bobcat skidsteer dealer, Versatile Equipment. The S220, which is now just coming up to 12 months old, was supplied on a running 12-month full service contract with solid tyres to avoid downtime.
Significantly, as Keith explains, the Bobcat was the first new item of specialised plant that KC Waste invested in. Prior to that the company relied on a selection of forklift trucks with rotating carriages, Moffett "Mounty" forklifts to speed up loading at customer's premises and, only more recently, a JCB 531.70 "Loadall" telehandler to help with ever larger quantities of materials and to load heavy bales of cardboard onto curtainsider trailers for onward dispatch.
But because the Bobcat is a key part of the production process, Lee Chater from Versatile Equipment has called by to make sure everything is running smoothly. "It's really racking up the hours, but it's been no trouble," confirms business development executive, Nicky Avis. Nicky should know, as she's spent most of her working life in recycling. So while Keith insists he can multi-task with the best of them (fair play, he did make the tea!), Nicky looks after the day-to-day issues at the plant, keeps the workforce focused and looks after existing customers… while helping to find new ones.
Smooth Running
A key part of Nicky's job also involves making sure everything runs smoothly, so on current usage levels Lee has suggested a replacement strategy of three to four years, rather than the five or more normally expected. He confirms Versatile Equipment will honour the service contract, however many hours it racks up. The 1 035kg lift S220 was specified with a Bobcat-supplied 72in grapple bucket but, as he chats to the regular operator Fred Matilatis, Lee confirms that as well as Bobcat skidsteers, Versatile Equipment can now supply a range of Montebert attachments for any make of machine throughout London, south and south east England.
He also notes that while more recent machine types - such as specialised tracked loaders - might have a role in composting-type operations, it's easy to forget how useful a compact skidsteer can be. Certainly watching Fred charge into the stockpile to get a bucketful of material one minute and then delicately release just the right amount onto the belt to avoid spillage the next, it would be hard to think of another type of machine that could do the job as efficiently, especially within the confines of this busy site.
The Bobcat is used almost continuously to feed the belt, while forklifts scurry around with stillages. Then, one-by-one, the fleet of DAF and Volvo-based Multilift hooklifts, come in to tip or swap containers. Outside the yard one of the latest units, a three-axle Volvo hooklift with a close coupled drawbar trailer, unhitches, backs onto the weighbridge, then reverses in to tip. Once the load of cardboard has been cleared the second recently purchased new item of kit, the Loadall, will be used to load bales onto the flagship of the KC Waste fleet, Frank Fensome's new Volvo artic curtainsider. This is used to deliver bales to paper mills and other end customers. The fact that a curtainsider is used underlines the "clean" nature of KC Waste's production, although by the time you read this, the next new purchase will add a slightly grubbier dimension…
"We've decided to look more closely at the collection process, following requests from some of our customers," Keith informs me. The "tailored collection" idea started with the in-house design of a clever, side bin-lift-equipped Mercedes Benz 7.5-tonne tipper used on waste paper collections where access was an issue. But a brand new, four-axle Volvo, fitted with Heil "Big Bite" rear-end loader body for trade waste collections, will be in service, giving the collection fleet a new waste compaction flagship.
Keith Cornell is already negotiating with local councils in the south east of England to take over specialist recyclable materials collections where quality of service from larger commercial operators - or rather the lack of it! - has been an issue, and is looking at adding both green waste and dedicated food waste collections as the next possible areas for expansion, putting KC Waste in the frame for even more new kit.
So there you have it. If you want to be successful in business, it seems you have to get up early. And come from Kent. But it might also help if you run a Bobcat!
Contacts
Lee Chater, Versatile Equipment:
+44 (0)7739 137396
Keith Cornell Waste Paper:
+44 (0)1303237031
