Engineering For Improved Productivity in Manufacturing
- Glenn Stevens, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia has recently been quite vociferous in linking Australia's future manufacturing success to improved productivity
- Worldwide, first world countries all face the same issues when competing with the low cost third world countries
- I believe that in an effort to cut costs, many manufacturing companies have created inefficiencies by reducing or completely eliminating their Engineering capabilities in the area of engineering drawings and systems
- I often see rotable spares, improvements and projects being hand drawn, “back of an envelope” sketches or the worn parts being given to a tradesman with the instruction to “make a new on of these”
- Typically – the trades do their best to guess the unknowns, they generally accept that - “this is the way of the world” - and (to their credit) they generally “make it work”. Very likely with suitable help from maybe an angle grinder, gas axe, some form of on the job adjustment
- Lets not go into the potential for problems caused by the “knock on” effect of parts being “force fit”
- Initially companies who reduce their Engineering capability may not see an immediate impact because typically the existing process will run on momentum. There are drawings and systems already in place and being used by people who understand them
- Just as a driver does not notice that the brakes on a car are getting progressively softer - there is often no immediate impact
- However – over a period of time these inefficiencies become accepted and as personnel leave and new personnel enter the company – the current way of doing things becomes accepted as “the norm' and the previous system progressively dies
- Typically the inefficiencies which result from operating in this manner are hidden in the overall cost of production and contribute to a general reduction in Productivity – by reduced “Machine Up Time” together with increased maintenance costs
What Can Be Done ?
- Whilst in most cases the ideal solution is to have engineering and drafting resource “on site”, the reality is – It's not going to happen
- To overcome these problems - I believe that functions such as engineering drawings for rotable parts, process improvements and projects can be effectively outsourced
- CAD drawings and 3D modelling provides greatly improved visualization plus internet access and communication mean very easy integration and availability of functions
If any of the above points hit a “raw nerve” - maybe it's time to start looking for a contract engineering/drafting company who can provide “A Better Way” to manage these functions
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Monday 25 June, 2012 02:00 AM |
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Is there Humor In Engineering ?
My one word answer – No
But this would be too simplistic. Just like beauty, humor is in the eye of the beholder.
Having said that – people tell me that it is important to never loose your sense of humor when working in engineering.
But generally they are not the ones under great stress at the time
I believe that typically we tend to become so involved with the work or solving problems that humor usually gets overlooked as we bury ourselves with the burdens of the work
The value of humor is to humanise what is normally a very sterile environment and it can serve as a very useful stress breaker. And we all need ways to reduce the stress in our working day.
I thought about this and made a determined effort to change.
For example, my natural expression is usually a very serious face. My typical day is full of
comment such as – “Gee you must be having a bad day” or “Lighten up, it can't be that bad” when funnily enough, I generally feel quite happy inside – it's just that I don't show it on the outside.
Now this started to have an impact and I started to get a complex and I was concerned that people in general saw me as a miserable, negative sort of person and I thought that I really need to change and to project a positive 'friendly” happy side.
So I started to smile and went around with a constant smile and grin.
“What are you grinning at ? - “Take that stupid smile off your face” - “This is no laughing matter we have serious problems” etc etc where the comments I started to get. And I must admit that it was an effort to keep a smile on my face.
So I thought – what the hell – I am what I am – thats the way it is – If I come across as a miserable old bastard – c'est la vie (such is life) – people need to manage it.
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Thursday 14 June, 2012 08:40 AM |
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If you are a seller of engineering goods and services - do you have a process in place to get feed back and to measure the success (or not) of each job. To critically evaluate the results of the measures.
Then to analyze and put in place corrective actions - or congratulate your team on a "job well done" and look for ways to do it even better
Some companies do - some companies don't
If you are a buyer of engineering goods and services - are you asked for formalized feedback - and if so - do you give "honest" feedback on a project
I've just finished a smallish project - $350K - and a major part of that was to supply and install a piece of plant. There where a number of problems which where directly attributable to the supplier and which resulted in a delay to the install date and cost over runs.
The people who I dealt with at the head office level where very nice and friendly - but a number of technical and installation details at shop floor level failed
I am eagerly awaiting a feedback survey from them asking - "How did we do ?"
I have a gut feeling that it's not coming.
My options are to -
A - Do nothing and make a point of never doing business with them again
B - Demand a feedback survey so that I can tell them what I really think about the job they did - in a constructive way of course
Whilst option A is appealing - I feel morally obliged to share my frustrations with them - in the hope that they will take it on board and that it will help them to improve
What would you do - ?
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Tuesday 5 June, 2012 11:29 AM |
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I'm a contract engineer and I have just finished managing a smallish project in a palletising/warehousing environment
There was a degree of complexity due to an older pallet selection and management system which had a number of pieces of ancillary plant integrated into it. Also, the company I was working for had zero electrical/plc knowledge of this particular system (at a higher technical level)
I freely admit that I under estimated the complexity of the control system. A 20 year old dinosaur. However, in my defense - there was no readily available support and if I had waited until I had all of the background data, the job would not have been completed on time and the money assigned to the supply and installation of new equipment would have been eaten up in pre work.
Obviously, this was not an ideal situation - but the guidelines where set and it was a case of "manage it and make it work" - and get the job completed during a scheduled Easter 2012 outage because that the only time we can give you and we need to make it happen.
Anyway, moving on - there was one major piece of plant which was a "supply and install" and I should have been more awake.
"Should have" how I hate that expression - But I digress - I fell for the "smooth talking sales routine" - I know that I should have known better and I have a personal rule to avoid the slick sales engineers who seem to good to be true - because they usually are !
But I was under pressure and desperately looking for solutions - and I needed them in a hurry.
So the "yes, we can do that " routine seemed like a godsend - manna from heaven and I placed the purchase order with them.
I'm sure that you can all write the rest of this story -
Once the technical guys got involved - the "yes we can do that" changed to "no we don't do that" and with time pressure building - the sales engineer was quick to explain that there was obviously a misunderstanding and my understanding of the terminology in the quote was not what his company actually quoted for.
I was not happy and could have spent a lot of time justifiably arguing the point or looking for another supplier - but time was of the essence and I had to manage what I had got - so I bit my tongue hard and I did what was needed to be done in order to make it all come together. And of course - further into the project - I paid the price
The point of my story is - beware the Slick Sales Engineer - get "buy in" from the technical guys BEFORE you write that purchase order
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Thursday 31 May, 2012 11:35 AM |
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When the going gets tough - the tough get going. But where do they go to. I often ponder this question as I sit cross legged under my desk (cuddling my teddy bear) and repeatedly flicking my bottom lips with my finger to make bubbub…. bubbub…. bubbub…. noises - every time something goes "belly up".
As Engineers - we check and double check - but sometimes …….. as they say in the best of circles -- "Sediment happens" and a "situation" needs to be "managed"
I started writing this as a comment on how engineering projects can go off the rails - but as I look back at what I've written - it sounds more like a CIA plot for the next "Bourne" movie.
I guess that is where the similarity ends . The movie is fiction, a fantasy. My problems are very real and need to be dealt with. However - taking a positive slant - I am very pleased to have these problems because - as we all know - in reality - they are exciting "opportunities for improvement". So moving forwards - I have many opportunities for improvement. It is all in the way you look at things
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Thursday 24 May, 2012 10:39 AM |
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Unfortunately, it is a sad fact of life that the world is going to suffer from a significant lack of new products, ideas and concepts
Engineers are the major source of innovation and there is a fundamental problem. We now have a significant lack of essential “tools of trade” and are breeding a generation of Engineers without the basic skills or training in certain essential facets of Engineering, in fact these key skills are on the verge of extinction.
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Tuesday 5 July, 2011 10:01 AM |
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You can be the hunter or you can be the hunted
The choice is yours - When it comes to deep and meaningful life changing advice - Be Proactive - Get out there and Do it to them - Before they do it to you
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Friday 17 June, 2011 11:52 AM |
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Process Improvement - Nearly
I'm a Contract Mechanical Engineer and often get asked to look at process improvement problems.
A few weeks ago a colleague asked me to help one of his customers. A small family business manufacturing printed and plain wrapping paper. They where struggling.
Originally they were distributers of paper products and had quite a good distribution business. One of their suppliers had gone bankrupt and they had bought one of his flexo printers, some rewinders and ancillary equipment at auction – very cheap.
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Tuesday 14 June, 2011 11:31 AM |
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