Collaboration in Manufacturing Engineering

Collaboration

Many of the projects that are tasked to manufacturing engineers are typically assigned to a group of engineers. If a group can dynamically work together, the quality of the work can be astounding. Most of the projects performed in the field are for multiple people. These groups typically have a hierarchy
of order when it comes to responsibilities. The team leader is typically known as the project manager, who distributes the work and leads the team in the proper direction. Below the project manager is the Sr. Manufacturing Engineers, Sr. Mechanical Engineers, Works Manager, and Accounts/Administration. For the practical application of the typical manufacturing setting, stores are not typically directly involved in any projects typically. The following picture is a representation of the type of hierarchy involved in engineering.

Project Management Hierarchy

 This is applicable to many types of project, if a team leader can be assigned one should be. A team leader brings a sense of control to a project. The leader is able to keep scheduling and tasking organized to get from start to finish. The members that are listed in the level below the project manager can perform one of two things. The first is being the actual work and development for the project, or they can be in charge of the levels below them and prepare that information.

For the application of this type of group work for the re-design project, the project manager position was split between two of the four group mates. The other two were the second level of the hierarchy, but the two project managers performed tasks that the second level performs. So it was a mixed use of both for them.

Usability & Design

Lee's Seed Farm is a small family seed company that my father owns that was chosen for the website. The usability for the website re-design was derived from questionnaires that peers have filled out. A brief explanation and use of the website was given to the peers to help with the questionnaire. The questions were geared for the appearance and design of the website. The CRAP Principles were a main focus for the appearance and overall layout. The simplicity of the website was another critical aspect for the focused group of users. The users are farmers who may not all be tech savvy, so the questionnaire also asked about the user friendliness of the website. This meant the tabs and links were relevant and easy to access. The feedback of the usability was incredibly helpful to get a nice, well laid out website.

Design Principles for Improved Electronic Communication

CRAP Design Principles

Contrast

Contrast is the element of change or difference that catches the attention of the eye. This helps direct the flow of the reading to keep readers focused and intent on what they will and are reading. Contrast can be utilized in many ways using different spacing between pictures and words, to the change in colors throughout the document, changes in font size and style to recognize the importance of something.

Repetition

Repetition is exactly what it means, but not in redudency in pictures or words. It means to use similar elements throughout the design of the document, this being repetition in heading style or picture usage. This aspect of the CRAP Principles can help the flow seem natural and on the same path that it started on.

Alignment

Alignment helps bring order to the content, if pictures are stack one above the other the sizing should be similar. Edges should meet and align to not feel jagged and unorganized but continue with the flow similar to the other aspects. The best description of alignment is like a teeter totter and the content is the weight. Which side of the paper will sink and which will rise? If it doesn't seem like it would, the overall alignment is symmetrical.

Proximity

Proximity is best explained by the overall organization of the document relative to spacing and placement. Congestion must be avoided to aid in the flow of the paper, if proximity is disrupted the difficulty will increase for the reader. Keeping everything equally spaced and placed in good relativity completes the aspect of proximity.

Uses in My Blog 

I used the CRAP Principles throughout my blog, the main aspect was alignment. The alignment was used in each blog with reference to the use of pictures. I believe the alignment was supplemented by the proximity with pictures to text which help make the blog look neat and organized. The repetition and contrast were attempted to be best matched in the color scheme, best seen in the first blog. I think these principles were great design guidelines when trying to make the blog interesting and worth reading.

Manufacturing Engineering as a Field of Study

Manufacturing Engineering

Every product you have ever purchased was once processed or made in a manufacturing facility. The process in which the product was created was designed by an engineer, more specifically a manufacturing engineer. Not every manufacturing process has been designed by a manufacturing engineer, but that is the primary focus of the field of study.

Overview

With a manufacturing engineering degree, there is a lot of flexibility of what an official job title could be. The job could retain to the design and testing of the product, or it could the design of the

Automotive Production Line

processes used to make the product. The job could potentially include both aspects of these and make a more involved engineer. It is also known for manufacturing engineers to be in charge of the whole production floor of a facility. These different job titles vary company to company, but ultimately depend on what the manufacturing engineer wants to have for a primary focus.

Aspects of Engineering

Engineering Thought Process

The aspects that has been taught thoroughly at North Dakota State University is the Process and Production Engineering. These both involve other aspect of engineering but are the foremost popular focuses in the field. Process Engineering is the thought process and utilization of tools and resources to create a process that is not only efficient, but effective. Production Engineering is the thought process and utilization of tools and resources used to create a whole facility containing multiple processes. One is heavily dependent upon the other because the Process Engineering will help derive machines needed, the tooling involved, time restraints, and other important characteristics. Another aspect that brings the Process and Production Engineering together is called Product Engineering. Product Engineering is thought process that helps derive key information to aid in the Process Engineering. Some examples are material composition, key feature of the parts, how the product is designed to work, and a general idea of how the pieces might need to be manufactured. The chart below helps describe how all the aspects of engineering work together.

How Product, Process, and Production Engineering Tie Together

Purpose of Manufacturing Engineering

Manufacturing engineering isn't exclusive to the products that have mechanical uses, manufacturing engineering is huge in the medical, food, and chemical industries for example. Processes for these different things must also be designed for the use in everyday life. The importance of this field is what attracts many people, it is in everything that everybody uses.

Automation in the Manufacturing Setting

Introduction

With today's advances in technology, many companies are starting to implement processes involving robots and advanced machines. Many people believe it is at the expense of many workers jobs. This ethical dilemma between automation and human interaction has been ongoing for the last couple decades.

Automation

The use of automation in the manufacturing industry has heavily impacted the productivity of some facilities. RobotWorx is a company that manufactures automated industrial robots, and explains the many benefits of these machines. There is an astounding variety of different uses for robots including
welding, material handling, packing, palletizing, dispensing, and cutting for examples.

The benefits for automation seem to add up considerably from a manufacturer's stand point.

• Reduce Production Cost- The quick return on investment overcome the cost of initial setup.
• Decrease in Part Cycle Time- Robots can work longer and faster to increase production rate, this is especially important for facilities practicing Lean Manufacturing.
• Improved Quality and Reliability- Automation is precise and repeatable. This ensures the product is manufactured with the same specifications and process everytime
• Better Floor Utilization- By decreasing a footprint in a work area by automating parts of your production line, you can utilize the floor space for other operations and make the process flow more efficient.
• Reduce Waste- Robots are so accurate that the amount of raw material used can be reduced, decreasing costs on waste.
• Saves Local Jobs- Instead of moving your company to a location with lower labor costs, incorporate automation in a few key areas. This will increase your product through-put and increase your profit so you can keep your company in the current location.
• Stay Competitive- Reduction in schedule and cost attracts customers. Automation helps provide the highest throughput with least amount of spending.

All of these benefits seem great when weighing out the decision to put in automation into a manufacturing facility.

Hired Workers

Humans can be as reliable, but unfortunately not as efficient as robots. Robots still have problems, which does mean down time and decreases in profit. These workers would be able to keep
working when a robot would be down and needs repairing. Retaining jobs for humans gives not only a good image for a company, but gives jobs to many people. This helps stimulate the community the factory is located in with other jobs to fill the needs of the workers. One of the many things that comes from having actual human workers is a strong relationship with those people and the community. This is better than the unemployment state that some workers might find themselves in.

My View

Programmer Working With Robot

As an aspiring manufacturing engineer, a lot of automation will be incorporated into my job. I believe that if robots can be implemented where they are most needed that it should be done. It is said that robots will not take all the jobs away. The robots must be programmed, maintained, and also monitored for any problems. Those things cannot be done by another robot, at least not yet, they have to be done by a human. There are some examples portrayed in numbers of how robots created jobs that I found through Industry Week. One example shows how Wing Enterprises acquired welding robot systems from Lincoln Electric, and productivity increased 30%. That number isn't even the impressive part, this helped build a new facility that was three times larger than the last and expanded employee size from 20 to 400. I believe that proves that the added efficiency leaves larger room for profits, which in turn calls for larger production therefore more jobs.

Experts in the Field of Manufacturing Engineering

Big Names in Manufacturing Engineering

Eiji Toyoda

In this day and age the changes in manufacturing processes are so rapidly changing due to automation that manufacturing engineers aren't doing any ridiculous huge changes. This being said, the big change in the approach of manufacturing engineering was the introduction of lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing was developed by Industrial Engineers Taiichi Ohno and

Taiichi Ohno

Eiji Toyoda, Yes Toyoda as in Toyota. The idea of lean manufacturing was created through the Toyota Production System which was a whole new way to look at manufacturing. The system was refined throughout the 1950's, 60's, and part of the 70's to about where it is at today. Lean Manufacturing was created after Henry Ford put the first moving assembly line into play in 1913 and there were still some pieces that didn't click right. Lean Manufacturing, is a method to eliminate waste within a manufacturing system.

 Women in Manufacturing Engineering

Connie Rokke is a Supply Chain Manager at John Deere Electronic Solutions in Fargo, North Dakota. She is also a part time lecturer at North Dakota State University, which she teaches quality control. She was told by her boss at the plant that she needed to start a quality department from scratch, and that she did. She started with one worker and now runs her own quality control department focused on design engineering. While also doing this, the company paid for her to return to school to acquire a masters degree in quality engineering.

Writing in Manufacturing Engineering

I also asked Connie about the types of technical writing she does in her field. Her primary source of communication is Email, which she uses to acquire new parts for her development projects. She uses the email to act as liaison between design engineering and her suppliers. Email seems to be the most common form of communication when it comes to the professional setting. She also utilizes power point presentations to put together training, inter department communications, or updates to higher levels of management. She says they are by design very concise, to get the information across. Power points were her biggest area of struggle because she had to change the style and information they contained. She used to have a very detailed and data focused power point and now uses a more brief power point utilizing more pictures, smart art, and etc. Her last area of writing is her reports that must be written to reflect their activities and how to continuously improve. She monitors workloads, support areas, timeliness, and other things that must be written about monthly. They contain a lot of data and are very simple because it is in a concise format. These different types of communication each display a different directive of writing. The emails being on a person to person basis to the power points and reports being to a general audience.