Joe Condon
Technical Adviser

Joe has spent more than 40 years with us, joining the business in 1980 to handle plant maintenance and project engineering. Over his long career, he has worked in other aspects of our operations including production management, but his real passion is machinery. Now, semi-retired, he remains involved with projects requiring his electrical or mechanical engineering skills. He also handles customer orders that require complex volume and design calculations. Furthermore, with his exceptional track-record and knowledge, he trains and mentors members of the team.

“My work varies from day to day and from week to week,” he says. “I enjoy the flexibility and the variety which means that at one moment you may find me sitting at my desk preparing quotations, checking orders in progress, and following up on equipment deliveries and suppliers. Another time, I might be managing a project on site here assisting with technical issues, or I could be at a customer’s site overseeing and auditing an installation.”

The challenge and rewards of working with machinery

As a mechanical engineer, Joe continues to enjoy the challenge of working with machines. This was exactly what he faced recently during the transfer of equipment from a site in Northern Ireland – which was achieved in record time against all the odds: “Reinstalling it here was quite a project. It was a puzzle to fit the machines into our set up while integrating the logistics and infrastructure for smooth working flow. We also needed to implement it in what is a working factory, with little or no interruptions to daily production. A big challenge - so it was very rewarding to get it all up and running successfully!” he says.

It’s not just production machinery that keeps him busy. Joe was involved in the original installation of our hydropower plant in 1984: “We are lucky that the river changes level as it flows over weirs through our site. By trapping the water at high level and diverting it through the turbine, we produce a substantial amount of renewable electricity in periods of high flow.”

Of course, Joe has seen many changes over his career, not least in manufacturing systems and materials. Over time, extruded packaging and even cling film production have made way for expanded polystyrene products. His engineering expertise has kept pace with development, although he retains a fondness for the current machinery, having been so involved in installation and operation. His dream would be for future innovations to be able to run on the existing plant.

Mixing it up with small-scale farming

In view of his passion for machines, you might be surprised by Joe’s hobby: he looks after a small herd of cattle. However, don’t imagine this is too far removed from engineering – one of his pleasures is keeping his tractor in operation!