Manufacturing Engineer Review

I found my placement at LPSD Caterpillar very enjoyable and insightful. It was great to learn so many transferable skills, seeing ways in which a Manufacturing team can improve production through process improvements, line balancing, and different methods of tracking. I have enjoyed being able to project lead my own Capital projects that have had a positive impact on the business.

From the start I have been welcomed into the team and been involved in many group projects. I am seen as not just a student but a valuable member of the team. I have been given tasks and responsibilities that have been challenging, but has allowed me to develop skills and knowledge as a manufacturing engineer.

Throughout my year I feel have been given the right amount of guidance needed to help me develop. While working though projects and tasks I have been given enough support to allow me to learn from mistakes but also not let me mess up completely. It has helped me gain confidence to work on these aspects in the future.

Most days I have been very busy working on projects and communicating with suppliers. There has not been a time in the year where I have been sitting around doing nothing or making the tea and coffee. At the same time I haven't had so much work where I don't feel in control or uncomfortable.

As soon I started I was put on some team and individual projects that I was responsible for that helped me gain confidence and learn the way Caterpillar manufacturing engineers run there projects. As the year went on and I gained confidence and I was asked to be part of some high budget capital project which I had major involvement in and was responsible for implementing these process changes and improvements.

The transferable skills I have learned at Caterpillar will massively help me for my future career. It has been great to do an industrial placement with Caterpillar as most of the skills I have learnt over the year cant be taught in a lecture hall. I have been trained on many different manufacturing tools and procedures that are requirements for many manufacturing engineering jobs.

I have been in the manufacturing team for the past year and I have felt welcomed from the start. Always a great atmosphere in the office and shop floor. Have approached people from many different departments throughout the year and they have always been happy to help me with any request.

When I started at Caterpillar I spent a half a day on my induction and then a following 5 meetings to go through the Caterpillar Production System giving an overview of how the business is run. I feel the meet up I had before starting at Caterpillar was useful to get to know the other placement student before I started. I did feel that it could have been quicker to get me ready at the start as I spent the first 2 weeks setting up my laptop and installing software that I required for day to day jobs.

I was included in a few training courses throughout the year that I completed alongside my team for example ergonomics training and Caterpillar Production System presentations. But I do feel I could have benefitted from some more training courses, for example PFMEA training. With training in some more areas I could have completed some jobs quicker and more efficiently.

I feel that coming back to a big company like Caterpillar will be a great opportunity for me. There are many attractive perks that you receive once working at Caterpillar on a permanent contract. For example, the shares scheme will be a great way to save and invest some money, and the annual bonus is a great perk.

I got on well with all of my department and also made many friends around the site. Thanks to the meet up before the placement started I was able to meet other placement students starting at the same time as me and we became friends throughout the year. I also joined the 6 a-side football team consisting of people from the whole factory so that was a great way interact with others.

I looked through Rightmove and Spareroom to find a place to stay for the year and managed to rent a room just around the corner from the facility. There is loads of places to rent in Stafford and at a good price range. Being in a small town meant nothing was expensive.

Around the Stafford area there was plenty of pubs and bars, as well as a couple of nightclubs that were a great night out. If you fancied going all out there is a cheap direct train straight to Birmingham city centre, where there is endless bars and clubs to go out in.

I have been playing for the 6 a-side football team every Monday throughout my placement which has been great for some exercise but also get to know more people from around the factory. We also have a kick around game on the 4G pitch around the corner from the facility every Thursday which has anything from 10-20 people playing each week.