It’s been tricky to pin him down since his recent appointment as Electroplating Manager, but we had the opportunity to chat with Dan Sharp and discuss all things Electroplating, Quality Management and his other passions besides Diamond Tooling.
Hello Dan, congratulations again on your well deserved promotion to Electroplating Manager – how have the first few weeks in the role been?
“Hi Julia, and thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself. I’ve been a big part of the Electroplating Department for many years now. My understanding of our plating processes was already in place, so my first few weeks have been mainly spent familiarising myself with our computer systems and brushing up on the admin side of things.
Everyone at DK has been very supportive and I’m grateful to them all for their help and guidance. I’m looking forward to putting the new skills and knowledge I’ve obtained to good use in bringing the Electroplating Department forward in the future. I’m sure we, as a team can achieve great things together in the upcoming months.“
You’ve been a part of the Electroplating Team since 1995, how has the department changed since you joined?
“Well, as you can imagine I’ve seen quite a bit of change over the years. The company as a whole has grown extensively in that time, and our Electroplating department has needed to expand to be able to meet the needs and demands of our global customer base.
We always say it on our social media pages, but our team is definitely our strength and we are constantly looking at training opportunities for our staff.
We like to keep their workload as varied and interesting as possible with our customers challenging us with some of their Diamond Tooling needs.
I guess the biggest change I’ve seen would be the huge improvements made in Health and Safety within the laboratory. We are committed to continually monitoring our processes and through the use of risk assessment, reducing such risks to our employees.”
DK Holdings continues to deliver precision diamond tooling to its global customer base with a recent customer survey conducted garnering fantastic feedback across the board – how do you ensure that the Electroplating Department follows its ISO9001 commitments?
“Here at DK Holdings, we pride ourselves on our ISO9001 compliance. As mentioned before, our continuous introduction of training for employees helps to incorporate ISO standards into daily operations.
We also break them down into clear, actionable, and easy to update checklists that are readily available to the team.
Conducting regular internal audits is also a great way to assess whether we are following our ISO commitments. These help to identify and pinpoint any “gaps” and areas of nonconformance. “
What’s in store for your team over the next 12 months?
“To satisfy continuously growing customer demand, we are looking to strengthen the Electroplating Department over the next 12 months with the addition of new staff.
Whilst the team we have in place runs like a well oiled machine, I’m keen to bring in some “new blood” and “fresh ideas”. The success of any department is the continued development of those working within it, so I also want to bring forward and promote the skill base we have in place already.”
Fishing, biking and motorcycles are your passion – which one is your favourite and why?
“Well, I’d hate to have to choose!
I just love to be in the great outdoors, we live in such a beautiful part of the world so should take the opportunity to enjoy it.
I like nothing more than taking my dog for early morning country walks, or a days fishing if I need a bit of downtime. But if I’m looking for a bit of excitement, then I’ll dust off my mountain bike and head to the forest.
Alternatively, for something less strenuous I’d get my motorcycle out of the garage and head to the coast for a ride (only if the sun is shining, I’m a fair weather rider). ”