Working at Denca is nothing if not varied. There is a wide range of small jobs and large projects running at any one time. Furthermore, we receive new enquiries and orders every day and must deal with them all correctly. We thrive on being professional, yet approachable – this is the Denca way.
Our Quality Management System, accredited to ISO 9001:2015, enshrines our customer and project delivery processes.
Handling your enquiry
Typically, Denca’s involvement starts with an enquiry for electrical controls and or instrumentation support.
Over the past few years, based on our experience handling industrial instrumentation and control projects over more than 20 years and with access to our own team of skilled software engineers, we have developed DencaWeb. DencaWeb is a bespoke Business Management System. We have designed the system specifically to manage all our key business processes. Enquiry, quotation and project management are central to these requirements.
Every enquiry be it large or small, is registered onto DencaWeb. Depending on the scope and size of the enquiry, a site visit may often be an appropriate first step. This gives us the opportunity to size up the location and discuss first hand, and in more detail, what the client is looking to achieve. Additionally, by having close involvement from these early stages, we can immediately bring our experience to bear, potentially saving time and money from the outset.
Clear, appropriate quoting
Denca always bases its quotes purely on the defined scope and how we see the job. We don’t pad out the price to cover any later negotiation or add any additional contingency. This does not mean that we are inflexible. We recognise that projects evolve and sometimes variations are necessary and appropriate. If a variation will impact on the agreed quote, we will always discuss options with the client’s engineering team. Our goal is ‘no surprises!’.
Managing your project
Once a quote is accepted and an order confirmed, a Denca Project Manager is designated to the project to lead and manage the delivery. Their first job is to assess the defined project scope and allocate the appropriate resources from across our 5 core service delivery areas:
- Electrical Controls Design
- Software Engineering
- Control Panel Design & Manufacture
- Installation & Support
- Traceable Instrument Calibration
While not every project requires input from all 5 areas, it is surprising how often initial consideration of all five helps to develop the most efficient approach for a project.
As the project moves forward there are regular reviews. We are often asked to make variations and changes to the planned outcomes. Here, our capability to deliver an end-to-end service can also have additional benefit. It may be that modifications to the project scope call for additional skills which can still be resourced from within the Denca service portfolio rather than having to call on third-party contractors.
These can create extra work so we continually audit workflows to ensure all project elements are completed efficiently without unnecessarily compromising overall timescales. Being approachable, responsive and imaginative are key features of Denca.
Every project has planned milestones as the work progresses. At these points, the status of the work is assessed, as well as opportunities for planned testing etc. to be carried out ensuring that everything is on schedule and operating to specification!
Commissioning and Handover
Once the build and install phases are complete, the testing and commissioning can start. Project documentation is completed. Any subsequent changes are logged and documents updated accordingly. On handover, ownership of the whole system, including the software, passes to the client (subject, of course, to our commercial terms!). Denca retains copies of all drawings and software, held in secure digital storage. This allows us to provide full back up and support in the future.
It’s very important for Denca customers to know that they will take full ownership of software developed by Denca on their behalf. After all, you’ve commissioned and paid for it! In recent years, there has been a trend from some service suppliers to retain ownership of software even though its development has been 100% funded by their customer. Sometimes this scenario will only come to light weeks or even months later when the customer finds access to core system files blocked by password protection. This is not how we operate. Denca firmly believes that once a customer has paid for work, then it is their property. Should any Denca customer choose to use a different contractor next time, or any time, they are free to do whatever they need to do with their own systems.
We are proud of the many long-term relationships that we have with our customers. However, it is important to us that these are based on mutual respect and confidence rather than frustrating contracts. It’s a philosophy that works for everyone.
If you would like to discuss how the Denca way can work for your business, give us a call.