This article is from page 71 of the 2008-08-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
NEW JOBS are on the way for Shannon in a welcome good news announcement from a Smithstown even er DENA
Bolgers, a leading supplier of fabri- cated products from has completed a €4.5 million expansion and plans to increase it’s workforce by 25 per cent by the end of 2009.
The firm recently completed the building and commissioning of a second production facility at their base in Smithstown. Capital expend- iture on the investment was €4 mil-
lion which has brought total invest- ment on their Shannon site to €10 million.
Currently, Bolgers employ 75 peo- ple. It is forecasted that this will increase to 85 people by the end of this year and to 100 by the close of paulo?
The firm contributes in excess of €2.5 million per annum to the local economy.
Jan Bolger, the firm’s joint manag- ing director, said the move will allow them to launch a range of new serv- ices, including laser-profiling.
“Our success is a result of anticipat-
ing and responding to our customers’ needs and keeping our organisational capability aligned with the market.”, he said.
Bolgers have a turnover of €10 mil- lion, with approximately 87 per cent made up of export sales. This is up from 60 per cent in 2006. In the last two years, the acclaimed fabrication company has more than doubled in size. At present, they are experienc- ing strong growth in export markets, particularly Northern Ireland and the 1S
In March this year, Bolgers became the first European fabrication com-
pany to receive Silver Certificate for Caterpillar’s Supplier Quality Excel- lence Process (SQEP).
Caterpillar introduced this stand- ard in response to rising warranty costs. As a result, the company in- troduced the SQEP standard for all international suppliers.
Currently, Bolgers is the only Eu- ropean fabrication supplier to be recognised by Caterpillar with its ‘silver’ level certification.
“This 1s a tremendous achievement due to the hard selection criteria in place”, a spokesman for the company said.