Update on the DDR Devils !

Kevin called into us yesterday - he is one of the DDR Devils. He came to our office and we gave him the camera and the T-Shirts we are sponsoring for them. He really appreciated it and promised us lots of photos from exotic locations! Moreover, he gave us some details about their route to Mongolia. Amongst other places they will pass through are Nuerburgring in Germany, Prague, Istanbul, Tehran and Samarkand. They will be following the old Silk Route - it all sounds very adventurous and dangerous! They will start their epic journey on the 14th of July in London. We are looking forward to following their progress.

Summer is on the way – a brief history of the office fan

The summer is near. The days are getting longer and the temperature will rise. But what to do when it becomes too stuffy in your office or in the warehouse? Get yourself a fan to cool down!

The history of office fans starts between the years 1882 and 1886, in New Orleans, when LA resident Schuyler Skaats Wheeler invented a fan powered by electricity. It was commercially marketed by the American firm Crocker & Curtis electric motor company. In 1882, Philip Diehl introduced the electric ceiling fan. During this intense period of innovation, fans powered by alcohol, oil, or kerosene were common around the turn of the 20th century. 

Window and central air conditioning in the 1960s caused many companies to discontinue production of fans. But in the 1970s, with an increasing awareness of the cost of electricity and the amount of energy used to heat and cool homes, Victorian-style ceiling fans became popular again as both decorative and energy efficient units.

In 1998, Walter K. Boyd invented the HVLS ceiling fan. It was a slow moving fan with an eight-foot diameter. Due to its size, the fan moved a large column of air and continuously mixed fresh air with the stale air inside. They are used in many industrial and agricultural settings, because of their energy efficiency.

So if it becomes too stuffy in your office, feel free to contact us to order a nice cooling fan. And do not forget to drink a lot. You can order bottles of water in our office too. Just give us a call and we can deliver it to your office.

Study Time - The Exams are Coming Soon !!!

Top 5 Tips

1. Good organisation is the key to being a successful student. Plan your tasks using a study timetable, daily planners and to-do lists. 

2. Creating SMART goals (Specific, Measured, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) will propel you forward with purpose and show you the way to reach your desired results in the Leaving Certificate.

3. Identifying and breaking down common study blocks, such as practical problems with a part-time job or feelings of self-doubt and anxiety, can be the key to unlocking excellent results.

4. The five steps to quick and clever note-taking are to listen actively, select the relevant information, summarise it, organise it logically and ensure that it is easy to understand when revising.

5. Work out if you are an auditory, a visual or a tactile learner. Then use the appropriate memory techniques – idea mapping, flashcards, acronyms, acrostics and so on – to make sure you are not wasting study time. This will greatly improve your information recall come exam day.

Essential Items of Stationery for Studying and Also to bring to Exams 

Pens

Note that we have written pens, not just pen. The last thing you want is to run out of ink during your study and have no other pens to hand. This will also break your flow and concentration.  It’s worth getting yourself a pen you are familiar with too. It sounds slightly temperamental, but using a comfortable pen for hours on end can really make the difference .

Pencil

Classic wooden pencils are just fine for studying. You will usually need pencils during exams as you may want to change your mind on questions you may not be sure about. You should also ensure that they are all sharpened beforehand to avoid fiddling with sharpeners and pencil shavings during the exam.

You may also want to bring some coloured pencils with you in case you need them, such as for geography exams. If you’re allowed to take notes in your exam, colours are a fantastic way of memory association too.

Eraser

Bringing in an eraser is always a good idea in case you need to make any changes to your answers, especially in multiple choice exams and exams that require additional workings (like maths and physics). Be sure to take any wrapping off beforehand

Small Sharpener

Buy a good quality sharpener, such as a metal one. These are cheap, easy to find and you won’t have to worry about them breaking like with plastic ones. 

Ruler

Many exams will require the use a ruler, such as maths, physics and geography. Choose a sturdy or bendy ruler that won’t run the risk of snapping. 

Highlighter

Highlighters can come in handy, especially in highlighting important notes and in English exams where you may need to read long pieces of text. You can highlight anything you feel will be relevant when answering the questions at the end. 

Maths Set

You will usually be asked to bring in a geometry set with you if you are taking a maths or physics exam. This includes a compass and protractor, so be sure you have them with you. 

Calculator

Usually, a scientific calculator will be sufficient. 

Bottle of Water

Finally, you should bring a bottle of water with you to the exam. 

Now that you have all of your essential stationary items for your exams, you should be ready to give your study and the exams your best shot.

Best of luck everyone!

We are delighted to be Sponsoring these mad lads as they drive across Asia to Mongolia !!

The DDR Devils are Kevin, John and Fionan. They are a trio of Irish school friends who are taking on the 2017 Mongol Rally. The Mongol Rally is a 10,000 mile adventure from London to Ulaanbaatar the capital of Mongolia by car on very rough and difficult terrain through Europe and Asia. The trusty car for this adventure is a 26 year-old Trabant 601 Kombi, called Uwe. The Devils finally met little Uwe in Erfurt, a town in eastern Germany. They have recently pimped Uwe in full DDR Devil Regalia. You can find out to pimp a Trabant in 10 easy steps on their website www.theddrdevils.com.

Their team consists of Fionan the Team Captain, a mechanical engineer, John the Team Doctor and Kevin a Quantity Surveying student who will do the Navigation. As this is a big adventure for the three guys they want to be sure to capture as much of it as possible. Therefore, we in Office Supplies Ireland are sponsoring their team with camera equipment so that they can record the best of it. We look forward to sharing photographs and updates on their adventures during the summer. The race starts on 16th July 2017 and finishes in August.

My Internship by Office Supplies Ireland in Ireland

Hi everyone

My name is Pia and I work in an Office Supplies company in Germany called Gescher. Here is our website http://www.gescher.com/. We have two shops, the first is the Printshop and the second is the Stationery shop. In the Stationery shop, we have office supplies, school supplies, premium writing utensils like Lamy pens, paper and religious items, such as christening cards.  I have come to Ireland for three weeks to improve my English and I am really enjoying it. 

Office Supplies Ireland is a great company. They have a shop in Ballymount and in Deansgrange. The shop in Ballymount is bigger than Deansgrange. In Ballymount they have more furniture stock and a bigger shop. In Deansgrange is it a bit smaller but they have many products, from pencils to furniture. They sell printers and toners and they have a website with an online shop. The company in Ireland is not too different to my company in Germany.

We have some different folders, notebooks, pencils, exercise books, hole punches, staplers and many other things. Also, we have many different envelopes in different sizes for example  C4, C5, C6, etc. 

In the Printshop, we do copies, binding, scans, fax, personal print, stamps, visiting cards, sympathy cards, diaries, photo printing, print and design  and layout. We also create a newsletter called "Vredener Anzeiger" for every Wednesday and all of the customers can put an advertisement in the newspaper and we create the design and layout for it. We also print birthday cards, wedding cards or lots of other things. 

My TY Work Experience

As part of my Transition Year course, I am required to participate in work experience. For my final week, I chose Office Supplies Ireland in Deansgrange. As the week is coming to an end, I am very happy with where I chose. The staff down here are lovely, which makes everything easier. I learned lots of different things about the shop, including how they sell 35,000 products, everything from paper towels and soaps to an office desk and filing cabinets. I learned that there is a lot of different types of inks, folders, envelopes and printers.

For my week down here in Office Supplies Ireland, I did and learned a lot more than I thought I would. I went out on delivery runs through many parts of Dublin. I also learned a lot about computers, especially how to use them! I sent out 200+ emails to potential new customers. I also learned how to make the perfect cup of tea and coffee. On Tuesday, we took a trip to the other branch of Office Supplies Ireland out in Ballymount. The overall shop layout is the same, however as this shop is bigger, they have more furniture on show.

Overall, my week here was brilliant. I took away computer skills that I didn't have before, including how to make a spreadsheet. I learned a whole lot more about the company itself and how things are run. I also got an insight as to what it would be like to work in an office.

Jessica

Newpark Comprehensive School

Office Morale

Office Morale

Posted on May 8, 2017 by officesupplies2017

How to boost morale in the office

We all know one’s mood can have a significant impact on productivity and therefore mean the quality of work is compromised and perhaps mistakes are made due to a lack of care. It’s crucial to keep a positive atmosphere within the workplace to make the most of each day; here’s some top tips on how to boost the office morale.

1. Consistently encourage employees, let them know their work is more than just a job and give them praise for how they do. Everyone wants to feel as though their work has a higher purpose and that everything they do counts towards a goal. It’s so easy to lose sight of the purpose of a job role in the day-to-day grind and this makes it so important to remind your employees how much you appreciate them.

2. Don’t just tell them; show them! It’s natural to focus on the bigger picture and keep looking to the future and what’s ahead rather than taking a step back and reflecting on how much has been achieved so far already. If you want to prove how much you appreciate one’s effort, it’s important to take the time to creatively celebrate this. One way in which a company has pushed the boat out when thinking of ways to celebrate achievements is how Groupon encourage employees to wear anniversary milestones on their sleeve/ belt so that no employee milestone goes unnoticed and you can feel proud you’ve served the company for the time you have.

3. Now, obviously, everyone needs a break from their work sooner or later. Personal projects can provide a revitalising break from regular responsibilities and can serve as a source of innovation for the company. Atlassian, a developer of collaboration software in Sydney, encourages creativity during it’s ‘FedEx Day.’ In the brief period of 24 hours, all employees can work on anything that excited them – if it relates to Atlassian products/ processes. From this, participants then show off the results of their projects and Atlassian has adopted more than a dozen projects, ranging from product upgrades to process improvements.

4. Always encourage employees to hold themselves with positive attitudes. During the height of recession in 2009, many companies started to see employee morale fall significantly. This opened a doorway for companies to start thinking of ways to revamp the workplace to make employees happier as soon as they come through the door. 4Imprint, a maker of customised promotional products, decided to try and boost morale by setting up classes for employees to watch and discuss videos that shared inspiring themes. This created a friendlier atmosphere between employees and thus made them feel more at ease.

5. Mix it up! It’s crucial to a person’s mental well being to include some variety into the day. Departing from the mandatory routines of meetings and cubicle life can go a long way in the eyes of an employee and in terms of their morale. Something as simple as saying hello to someone new within the workplace can be proven to improve one’s state of mind as it allows you to connect with a larger range of people and feel more comfortable in the workplace. One example of this would be the accounting firm Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman, who include the concept of neighbourhoods to get the ball rolling on employee relationships. All employees are organised and separated into neighbourhoods, based on the floors/sections in each office. Personally, I think this is a great idea to keep employees talking with each other and improving relationships within the office.

These are just a few simple ways in which you can start turning those frowns upside down! After all, a valued employee is a productive employee.