Transferable Skills

(Courtesy keithparnell.com)

With many out of work or looking to find a better position, it is one of the busiest hiring periods in recent times. Those working in Human Resources (HR) know all too well that the sheer volume of resumes for just one position can reach well over one hundred resumes.  So in order to narrow the possibilities, the HR professionals word the job posting so that no one really has all the "minimum qualifications" that the hiring company is seeking to find.

Not to be overlooked are transferable skills.  Here are some of the common mistakes found in hiring and what fixes the issue:

• "No experience in our industry".  I was once told I didn't have any food industry experience for a manager's position at a local yogurt plant.  What I did have was many years experience in a manufacturing operation.  My experience was in a regulated industry (FAA) that is comparable to another regulated industry, food manufacturing (FDA).  So the skills I learned at Boeing (management, dealing with machines that go down, raw material issues, etc) are transferable to other manufacturing industries.  In fact an outsider may very well bring fresh new insight to the position.  In addition, the learning curve is not so steep that an experienced person can quickly get up to speed.
• "You aren't experienced in our 3D CAD system".  If you have had any training in one  3D CAD system, you can easily learn another.  The commands for doing operations are different but make sense once you get into the nuts and bolts of the CAD system.  In fact with many icon based programs like CATIA V5, all that is required is to know the icons.
• "You have never been a manager before".  Maybe not but every manager out  there was working at a staff level before being promoted.  They were not managers before either.  Many managers join a company with preconceived ideas on how things should be run in the new company.  Often it is better to take an inexperienced face and  mold that person into the leader your company deserves.

(courtesy:csuitementor.com)

Prototype Shop

(Courtesy www.rpmaustin.com)

When you need quick turnaround for manufacturing operation it is often impossible in the normal flow of operations.  You may have experienced a delay in materials, a last minute design or repair change that necessitates the urgency of accelerating a part through the manufacturing process.  That is why you need a prototyping shop.

At Boeing it was referred to as "blue streak" shop named after its color code in the manufacturing operation.  The shop was usually a small area in the factory that had small drill presses, lathes, and other required equipment that could do 1 -2 small jobs at a time in a hurry.  The machinist or mechanic in the blue streak shop was an experienced person with at least 20 -25 years experience.  This was helpful not only for utilizing his or her machining skills attained during that period, but also to tap into how to best plan and execute a machining operation in fast order.

Utilizing experienced, skilled machinists can help you in a time of crisis
(Courtesy wwwinvestcastinc.com)

Granted smaller companies may not have the luxury of dedicating their top machinist to a prototyping shop.  But with careful planning and coordination, an urgent job can be seamlessly scheduled within everyday operations so as not to disrupt the entire operation.

Testing

(courtesy www.beaed.com)

A critical but often overlooked element in operations is testing.  It is an activity that doesn't relate directly to full production but the results gained from testing will prove or disprove a design or process.  That will determine whether your chosen design will be allowed to full production.

For larger companies,  testing is scheduled and run by a separate test group. The design groups have some say into how the testing will be done.  The testing group will be able to determine the location and specification of measuring devices, the accuracy of the measurements, and ultimately the validity of the results.  It is important for the design or manufacturing group convey the purpose of the test to the testing group, otherwise the testing group may assume the wrong objective and this will potentially invalidate the results.

For testing purposes the testing group will require that one or more people from design and manufacturing groups be available on site during testing.  Testing lasts anywhere from one day to a week so you need to make sure staff is available to support the testing.  Those supporting the testing should be knowledgeable of the purpose of the test; preferably more experienced personnel rather than a junior engineer or mechanic.

(courtesy www.knifilters.com)

Once testing is complete, immediately evaluate the results to determine validity.  A thorough operation will have predicted (hopefully accurately) the results prior to the test.  Then there are no surprises once testing is done.  With the right planning, a testing operation will proceed smoothly and results will validate the design successfully.

Change Boards in the Operations Process

In the operations world, no design becomes static once it is released. Although most designs are well developed before initial release, there are a number of reasons why a design must be changed:

• The released engineering is difficult to manufacture, causing a modification or change to dimensions, materials, or process.
• The design is costly to produce and cost savings programs dictate that it needs to be produced at cheaper cost,  This also applies to weight savings (i.e aircraft) where extra weight hampers technical performance and/or fuel consumption.
• Other reasons that improve the manufacturability or delivery of a part, such as inspection criteria, inclusion of new reference notes, etc.

(Courtesy of mountainvision.blogspot.com)

To get operations and engineering to agree on a new go forward path, a change board is set up.  The change board can be used for any size company but is especially necessary in a larger company (greater than 1000 employees).

To start the process, a kickoff meeting is set up to explain the "problem" and outline the solution to it.  This is usually initiated by engineering or manufacturing because one or both of these two groups will be the catalyst to the change.  Invite representatives from any affected group to attend the meeting.  Inviting "extras" doesn't hurt: they will leave the meeting if the change doesn't affect them.

During the meeting explain the change in full detail, especially explaining the cost/ schedule benefits to proceeding with the change.  Upper management will want to see "the numbers" and will balk at changing the status quo if there is no a good case for it.  After all have given input (hopefully they all approve the change), then the schedulers can decide when the change will be implemented.  Of course good communication to the group is essential with PowerPoint slides and other documentation shared along the  way.

A successful change board meeting will please eveyone!
(Photo courtesy of chaicagocitylimits.com)

Engineers on the Shop Floor

(a Boeing 747 being assembled - courtesy of hotcharchipotch.wordpress.com)

In an earlier post I explained how it is essential to have the base of engineering operations as close to the manufacturing operations as possible.  In a ideal case, would be to have the engineering and manufacturing in the same building or in buildings next to each other.  Proximity to one another is what makes a successful operation.

But it is not enough for engineering and manufacturing to be near each other.  The organization must make an effort to encourage (hopefully not force) engineering to spend time on the factory floor.  There they can learn about how different stages of the operation work and can spend time talking to mechanics to learn what their challenges are in fabricating and building parts.  At Boeing (and at other large companies I would assume the same), young new hire engineers often do not want to visit the factory and learn.  Because of organization attitudes they are led to believe that engineers design the product and "throw it over the fence" to operations to build.  Not very efficient.

On of the best ways to get engineers to engage the factory is to put them in a liaison engineer role.  The liaison engineer is a degreed engineer who is works on the factory floor and helps bridge communication between engineering design and  manufacturing.  Often the liaison engineer has authority to repair parts damaged during manufacturing which expedites operations immensely.  At Boeing I was a liaison engineer for a little over a year and that experience made me a better design engineer by learning how to design a part that could more easily manufactured and later installed in the aircraft.

(Engineers on the factory floor)

I served as a liaison engineer later in my career and would advise organizations to schedule the new hire engineers to rotate as a liaison engineer after 1 - 2 years design experience.  An early exposure to shop practices will make them better design engineers which improves the entire operation.