Insights from industry

From Innovators to Industry Leaders: A 30-Year Perspective at International Syalons with Mick Bell

insights from industryMick BellOperations Director International Syalons

Gain insights from 30 years of innovation at International Syalons, where pioneering ceramic solutions and trusted client relationships have driven industry advancement.

You’ve been with International Syalons for 30 years, an impressive milestone. What about the company and its mission made you want to build such a long-standing career here?

To have the chance to be part of a British company who are among the leading experts in the field of advanced silicon nitride-based ceramics, which were already renowned for their outstanding products, was impossible to turn down.

Belonging to a great company from its infancy, with such a welcoming, family-run environment, was an opportunity I have never regretted.

International Syalons has been a leader in advanced ceramic solutions for extreme environments for nearly four decades. What sets the company apart from its competitors in the ceramics industry, in your experience?

Manufacturing our own sialon grades from high-quality raw materials gives us a deep understanding of our products, and within the Syalon team we have the knowledge to build a working relationship with our customers to help them develop their business.

We are also known throughout the industry for our price, quality, and especially our lead times.

Mick Bell (left) is congratulated on his 30 year anniversary by Syalons’ Managing Director, Alain Ennen (right)

Syalons, the advanced ceramic alloys your company produces, are known for their strength and durability. Could you tell us about a particularly challenging application in which Syalons provided a breakthrough solution for a customer?

Recently, we received an inquiry from an engineer within a pharmaceutical industry leader with a ground-breaking idea for a conceptual dry-run compressor that required very specific technical ceramic components.

Despite being told by several larger ceramic manufacturers that their design would be impossible, we met them to discuss their project and its challenging requirements. The outcome was to develop a novel production method resulting in successfully mass-producing a precision sialon component our competitors claimed could not be manufactured.

As the UK’s leading silicon nitride-based technical ceramics manufacturer, what would you say is the biggest advantage International Syalons provides to its clients regarding product performance and customer service?

As we use only the highest quality grades of raw materials, we can be extremely confident in the quality of our products, and, along with full traceability, we can quickly analyze each batch of material and advise our customers accordingly in very little time. We pride ourselves on being honest with our customers, which helps build a high level of trust with each other.

Finally, unlike many manufacturers, we are open to producing medium- to low-volume bespoke solutions and regularly accept orders for just one component from our customers.

Reflecting on your 30 years here, what do you think has been the most important factor in International Syalons’ ability to build long-term relationships with clients?

Above all else, good communication helps to build a long-term partnerships with our customers. Education is also extremely important, particularly when supplying niche materials with interesting thermomechanical properties and very specific manufacturing processes, which requires careful design considerations—we frequently work with engineers to redesign existing components to be better suited for use in silicon nitride.

Looking to the future, what excites you most about where International Syalons is headed, both in terms of new innovations and continuing to meet the evolving needs of industries that rely on advanced ceramic solutions?

We are continuously looking at how and where we can evolve by improving our capabilities and portfolio of materials and products. In 2018, International Syalons was sold to Calsitherm GmbH, as the previous board of directors wished to retire.

Calsitherm and its network of sister companies, including SILCA and SRS Amsterdam, share our enthusiasm for development and, with their experience, support us in our ambitious plans for sustainable growth.

About Mick Bell

Mick Bell is Operations Director at International Syalons following a 30 year career, originally joining the specialist grinding department in 1994 as a time-served toolmaker. He oversees all production and sales functions at Syalons, working closely alongside the parent company Calsitherm Verwaltungs GmbH to deliver high quality silicon nitride-based ceramic engineering solutions for a wide range of global industries and applications.

This information has been sourced, reviewed, and adapted from materials provided by International Syalons.

For more information on this source, please visit International Syalons.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited (T/A) AZoNetwork, the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and Conditions of use of this website.

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