Delivering Your Projects The TAP Way

Total Automation & Power, TAP, is a one stop shop work share joint venture set up over 10 years ago between Technical Control Systems and Actemium Automation Ltd.

Our job is to take away your project problems and deliver you the industrial control and information system you need. Whether you simply need a small change to an existing PLC programme or an entire new automation system for your facility our aim remains the same: to take away your project problems so that you can concentrate on running your business. As TAP, we are one of the largest industrial system integrators in the UK with more than 60 professional engineers we have an immense depth of skills in all aspects of automation projects. This includes all major brands of PLCs and SCADA systems as well as industrial information systems using both MES packages and web based Microsoft SQL Server systems.

As you would expect as well as being accredited by all of the major control system vendors all projects are managed under our certified business management system. This includes our ISO 45001 Health and Safety System, our ISO 14001 Environmental System and our ISO 9001 Quality System.

Here are some of the things we do to make a real difference:

When you come to TAP you get the assurance and professionalism of a large organisation and at the same time you get the personal service of a small dedicated team. To achieve this we organise our engineers into fixed teams of between 4 and 6 people. Each team has a leader who acts as the overall project manager for your work. These teams are located in our regional offices spread around the UK. So, you get to build a relationship with a local dedicated team who will be there to work with you in the long term. People who will get to know you, your systems and your needs.

Dedicated teams go a long way to ensure that the people you work with take ownership of your projects. But on top of that we also make sure that the project team is involved in designing and pricing your project at the sales stage. Indeed, once we have done a few projects together you may never see a sales person again as your dedicated project team will respond to all of your needs for initial designs and pricing.

One of the most important aspects to delivering a successful project is having the same people involved right from the start to the end. This is another reason for having small dedicated teams who take ownership right from the sales stage. If we had a large centrally managed pool of engineers it would be all too easy for remote managers to switch engineers between projects in the name of efficiency or fire fighting. Having dedicated teams helps us to keep the same people on your project from start to end.

Of course you want our engineers to have great technical skills, and they have, but that is not enough. You also want us to have the right attitude. You want us to take away your problems and help you to succeed. That is why when we recruit, we select for attitude just as much as we do for technical abilities. We believe that you deserve great engineers who love helping you succeed.

But you deserve even more from us. Yes, you deserve people with great skills, and people that love helping you succeed, and as well you deserve people who have a natural gift for doing the work. It’s what we call ‘playing to our strengths’ and it’s a simple but amazing concept. We all have things that we love doing, and other things that we loath (and a fair bit in-between). While we may be reasonably good at doing the things we don’t love, it is a chore. Our minds wander and we are not very efficient. We have to push ourselves to get the work done. But when we do the things we love we don’t need any pushing. We get loads done and time simply flies by. Isn’t that the kind of people you want on your projects? We think it is, which is why we recruit for strengths as well as attitude and skill.

So, we have great people in dedicated teams who with the skills, attitude and strengths to help you succeed. We know they will do a great job. So, we get out of the way and set them free to deliver. That is why we have devolved control to the project teams and the engineers. Our people that are working with you know the most about you and your project so we trust them to do the right thing.

While you deserve the great service, relationships and ownership that come from your local dedicated team, you also need to be able to tap into our deep and rich pool of engineering expertise. That is why we have built a culture of supporting each other across the whole business. We do this by bring everyone together via Skype for regular companywide meetings, as well as getting everyone together to meet and socialise at our annual Awards and Company Day. And to make sure we all feel like one team everyone shares in the overall company profit. We work hard to ensure people in different offices know each other, know what is going on and are very happy to help. So, with TAP you get the best of both worlds: the personal service and responsiveness of a small and the strength and depth of a very large system integrator.