At Hubron (International) LTD in Manchester, 57 employees manufacture approximately 17,000 tonnes of black masterbatch per year—a concentrated plastic pellet that is added to other synthetic polymer materials.
With over 90 years of experience in compounding, Hubron is one of the world’s leading suppliers of black masterbatch, with over 85 percent of production exported through distributors around the globe. The company’s products are used across a wide range of industries, including construction, automotive, textile, and insulation. “During COVID-19, we had a lot of customers that wanted black face masks,” said Tom Clayton, operations director at Hubron.
Anything that’s black could come from us, including what goes into an ActivPanel.
-Tom Clayton, operations director
From paper to panel
Tom was first interested in introducing Promethean’s interactive flat panel displays (IFPDs) for the company’s customer experience space in early 2024. “We bring customers and suppliers here, so it was important to make sure we didn’t just buy another TV,” he said. “We wanted something that was a bit more interactive and looked a bit smarter.”
Employees at Hubron use Promethean’s ActivPanel display for daily tasks like Microsoft Teams and management review meetings, customer and supplier presentations, root cause analysis, and problem solving. “Anything that requires somebody to be at a whiteboard, you can now do it here in this meeting room with other people to get to the bottom of problems,” said Tom.
Initially, for phase one, the company experimented going digital with downtime recording. The Hubron team used to use books that would be transcribed into a spreadsheet, which would later be transcribed into another spreadsheet, taking up time and leaving more room for error. “Now, we input that data directly into an iPad, which goes onto a dashboard around site. Anybody can see what’s going on at any time,” said Tom. “We’ve gone from paper to completely digital in the span of eight years.”
Striving for sustainability
With the ongoing criticism of single-use plastics, Hubron is looking to be more sustainable by using recycled polymers and reducing waste. Hubron meets ISO 14001:2015, ISO 9001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018 standards that help businesses manage quality, the environment, and occupational health and safety. “That’s something that we’re recognised for, and we want to make sure that we’re living what we say we’re doing.”
Phase two of the digital transformation is all about implementing the Promethean ActivPanel and increasing environmental efforts. “We’ll take the TVs in the meeting rooms and change them for panels to remove paper, to allow people to be more interactive, and to work collaboratively on projects,” Tom said. “The panels help us with sustainability, as they’re pretty low power consumption.”
In the past, it was easy for employees to forget and leave a TV or PC on all night. Promethean panels turn themselves off after a set idle time. “The panels will also reduce the number of pens and paper we’re going through, rather than having to go to a printer, scan it in, and then throw that piece of paper away,” Tom said. “We can easily bring the file up on the screen and write on it. You can have multiple people interacting with it and then save it and share from the panel itself.”
Partnering with Promethean
With five meeting rooms across the site, employees are often spread out. People working from home need to be dialled in, and everyone needs an easy way to connect and collaborate remotely. With the panel connected to a computer, it enables Hubron to use Microsoft Teams for interactive meetings. “It’s nice and bright and clear for everyone to see what’s going on,” Tom said. “You can annotate and save or take screenshots of material. I can just write directly onto the meeting whiteboard itself. It’s useful.”
The Promethean ActivPanel also solved various audio issues, eliminating the need to use headphones or headsets. The built-in microphone array and speakers allow everyone in the meeting to hear things much more clearly, removing the costs of extra hardware. “I can just talk straight to the panel and if I’m talking to the person on the other side of the world, it’s like almost being next to them,” Tom said.
One of the largest hurdles when implementing new technology is the learning curve. “If you know how to use Microsoft Excel or Word or Adobe Acrobat, it’s relatively simple,” he explained.
It’s almost just like having a big touchscreen PC. It’s really easy to use.
With Promethean’s long history and roots in Blackburn, England, it was also easy for Hubron to partner with Promethean and the ActivPanel as the workplace gears up for the digital world.
“Historically, being in schools is where I have seen Promethean before,” Tom said. “I know the products are quality, and they’ve been around for many years. They’re a trusted brand that hundreds and thousands of other companies and schools use.”
Are you interested in an ActivPanel to help increase collaboration and teamwork for your workplace? Learn more and request a demo today.